Wednesday, October 16, 2024

SAL Hierarchy Case Studies

 

Chapter 21


SAL Hierarchy Case Studies 




To illustrate how one's Existential Growth develops over time from the Education Stage (Level 1) on up to the Creation Stage (Level 9), consider the following THREE (3) theoretical case studies that follow the career trajectories of a Doctor, a School Teacher, and a Stay-at-Home parent. 

As you review these case studies, keep in mind that these examples represent relatively generic and IDEAL existential scenarios. As such, they by no means capture or represent the extraordinary diversity of background, circumstance, and experience of persons throughout a massive planet of eight billion souls, each of whom carries a unique SAL Variables Quotient and otherwise treads a singular pathway through life. 

While we at Freedom Focused are firm believers in the theoretical potential of ALL human beings to rise to the highest levels of Existential Growth as described in the SAL Hierarchy, we also recognize and acknowledge that practically speaking, not everyone will have access to all of the necessary opportunities and resources required to complete this climb during their lifetime. 

In light of this reality, we encourage SAL practitioner's everywhere to avoid comparing themselves to others and focus instead on their own unique journey. SAL is not an interpersonal competition. Rather, it is an intrapersonal toolkit for individual development, growth, happiness, success, and inner peace.   


Maria's Story: A Doctor

As a little girl, Maria learns of her potential to someday become a doctor (Education Stage).

As a child and adolescent, she throws herself into her studies to lay the foundation for her college and medical school pursuits (Beginner's Stage). 

After graduating from high school, she enrolls in a pre-med undergraduate program at a local university (Practitioner's Stage).

After college, Maria prepares and applies for, and then attends medical (graduate) school. She also "pays her dues" by completing her internship and residency.

Along the way, she faces and overcomes a series of unexpected challenges standing in the way of her ambitious aspirations. These challenges include: dealing with difficult teachers and colleagues, having to retake several courses she did not pass the first time, and issues with social and test-taking anxiety (Refiner's Stage).

She also faces a variety of personal and familial obstacles that make this pathway even more difficult. For example, a crushing romantic breakup, a death in the family, and the loss of a scholarship all serve to make her road even more difficult. These (and other) fiery blasts test and try her during the time she spends in the Refiner's Stage

After overcoming every obstacle placed in her pathway by the rough retinue of her refining crucibles, Maria finally lands her first official job as a board-certified DOCTOR. Here she enters the Polishing Stage, where she begins to enjoy the fruit of her many years of diligent study and underpaid labor. It is also where she begins to fine tune and hone her credibility and reputation—and begins paying back her massive student loans!

Years after her crushing romantic letdown, she finds love again, and gets married. Her spouse brings two children to their union, and they decide to add a third through adoption and a fourth through natural birth. The grounding of her personal and familial life adds strength and vitality to her successful professional career, despite taking maternal time off to have her baby.  

After a decade-or-so has passed, Maria is personally successful, professionally respected, debt-free, and making a handsome salary. As a noted physician who has helped thousands of people with their health and well-being, she has fulfilled the core of her personal, career, and family goals to enter the SAL Actualization Stage

As Maria's career progresses, she increasingly secures roles as a coach, leader, mentor, and teacher of others on their own medical journey. She provides further guidance, love, and leadership to her four children—and later on, to her grandchildren as well (Leadership Stage). 

Later in life, having earned plenty of money, acquired much recognition and many awards, and helped all the people she has set out to help, she realizes she has truly become the doctor of her dreams (Self-Transcendence). 

With nothing left to achieve at the hospital, Maria decides to partially retire and invest her surplus time, effort, and resources in doing field research in areas she is most passionate about. Along the way, she co-authors several influential papers in medical journals with respected colleagues. Some of their findings influence positive contributions in practical settings within the broader medical field (Creation Stage).

She also begins engaging in philanthropic work, and aims to spend the rest of her life gradually gifting away generous chunks of her ample retirement portfolio to worthy causes she believes in and is passionate about (Creation Stage).

Maria is excited about her capacity to build and give back and is confident she can contribute meaningfully by lending her expertise to creative pursuits aimed at serving others and promoting higher causes.

She spends the rest of her life thus engaged while splitting time with her spouse, children, grandchildren, friends, and colleagues in service, hobbies, and other pursuits she enjoys (Creation Stage).


Jason's Story: A School Teacher

While attending grade school, a young lad named Jason learns about his potential to someday become a school teacher (Education Stage). 

Throughout his formal education, Jason takes his schooling seriously and closely watches his many teachers and professors to glean ideas for his own future leading a classroom (Beginner's Stage).

After completing his undergraduate coursework, he completes his "Student Teaching" and lands his first job as a high school instructor teaching his favorite subject: MATH (Practitioner's Stage).

Like most first-year teachers, his first nine months turn out to be incredibly challenging. 12-15 hour workdays are common throughout his first semester, and there are days when he questions whether he chose the right career field (Refining Stage).

Jason has a great mentor, but also a very demanding principal. His many miscues and stumbles prove embarrassing and painful; but he persists and doesn't give up. By the end of the school year, he starts to get the hang of things, makes significant improvements, and regains the trust of his supervisors, including his principal. Over time, he begins to gradually glean more joy and satisfaction from his job (Refining Stage).

In his personal life, Jason fell in love and got married very young, while still in college. Things went okay at first. However, incompatibility issues conspired with financial stresses and other issues that ultimately led to a divorce after a couple of years (Refining Stage).

After graduating from college and beginning his teaching career, he gets remarried after he has gotten on top of his finances and matured as an individual and partner. He and his spouse have two children and adopt one more over the years. Family is important to both of them and they work together to ensure that their family relationships remain a top priority in their lives (Polishing Stage). 

Professionally, Jason spends the next ten years focusing on becoming an outstanding classroom teacher and gets a little better with each year that passes. His confidence grows and his enjoyment of the students and subject matter mature along with it. His salary is modest and always will be compared to many other career fields; nevertheless, he does receive marginal raises with each year that passes. He also goes back to school and earns a masters, then a doctorate degree, thus expanding his knowledge, skills, expertise, and salary—albeit again, only marginally (Polishing Stage). 

After fifteen years, he is named Head of the Math Department at his school. Things have really started to come together for him as an educator and he is genuinely enjoying his career. He's not getting rich, but he and his wife and family are financially secure, and are patiently and proactively preparing for a modestly comfortable retirement (SAL Actualization Stage).

After twenty years in the classroom, he is offered a new job at the District Office that involves training other math teachers at schools throughout the district, then the region, and eventually the State. He ends up publishing a book as a resource accompanying his training; the book becomes a modest best-seller in his field throughout the State and Nation. The extra income from modest royalty payments is most welcome (Leadership Stage). 

After 15 years of success in his District Training and Consultant's job, he decides to retire—to great acclaim and praise—after 35 years as a professional educator (Self-Transcendence).

Still a relatively young man in his mid-50s, he spends the rest of his life as a part-time traveling speaker and consultant around his State, Nation, and even the world further promoting the same material that he made popular in his district training job. He never becomes "famous" or "rich" in a traditional sense, but he does become well known and respected in his field and wisely guards his allocated resources to retire comfortably in due time (Creation Stage).

Just as importantly and meaningfully, Jason remained similarly devoted to his marriage and family relationships. As a result, he found success there as well. This afforded him great joy and satisfaction as a husband and father throughout his career, thus setting him up pleasantly and rewardingly to spend his retirement spending quality time with his spouse, grandchildren, friends, colleagues, and church community where he was involved regularly in productive service opportunities.  As an old man, Jason looks back with pride and satisfaction on all he accomplished and the countless lives he positively influenced through his teaching, speaking, writing, and example (Creation Stage).  


Jack's Story: A Business Builder and Stay-at-Home Parent

Growing up, a boy named Jack had wanted to follow in his father's footsteps of being a Construction Foreman and General Contractor (Education Stage).

When he wasn't in school, Jack often watched and/or worked with his father in the construction industry. Later on, in junior high, high school, and college, he worked as a salaried laborer on his father's construction crew (Beginner's Stage). 

After graduation, he enrolled at a local state college to study 
Construction Management. He earned his degree and then got a job as a foreman of a small framing crew in his hometown (Practitioner's Stage).

During college, Jack met, dated, fell in love with, and decided to marry a young architect named Lisa. She was unusually intelligent, talented, and performed at the top of her class. While he attended a local State College, she was enrolled in a neighboring university that was ranked in the top #5 in the nation in architecture.

Jack's dream was to start his own construction company. After Lisa graduated and got a job with a big-name firm in a distant city, he quit his job and began to pursue his dream of starting his own construction company in the same city where his wife worked.

Accomplishing his dream, however, proved to be much more complicated and difficult than he had anticipated. In the meantime, he and his Lisa had a couple of kids while she continued to work full-time (part-time for six months-to-a-year following each maternity leave). 

After a couple more years of struggle and toil trying to get his construction company off the ground, Jack and Lisa decided that it would be best—for the time being—if he set aside his entrepreneurial dreams and focused on being a stay-at-home parent to their two kids. After going back to work full-time, Lisa's salary alone was sufficient to support the family and the two of them determined together that having at least one of them raise their children up-close-and-personally was more important to them than having two incomes or starting a business right now (Refining Stage).

At first, raising two small children proved even more difficult than trying to start a new construction company from the ground-up. Then, to make matters even more challenging, Lisa had another couple of babies, again working part-time for six months-to-a-year following each maternal leave. With these added family responsibilities, they decided he would continue to be a full-time stay-at-home dad for the foreseeable future (Refining Stage).

Over time, Jack gradually got better at being a stay-at-home dad by building a routine and finding a groove in his process, which continued for the next decade until all the kids were in school. The more experienced he became, the more he enjoyed his work at home, and the less he missed his past business building endeavors (Polishing Stage). 

However, he still wanted to pursue his professional dream. Once all the kids were in school, there was enough time and money for him to go back and begin building his own construction company. After five years of diligent ground work, preparation, and sweat equity, he and his crew were finally up-and-running and turning a profit (SAL Actualization Stage). 

After 10 years of successfully leading his construction crew, his last child graduated from high school, at which point he and his wife decided to start an organization together that incorporated both architecture and construction elements and services (Leadership Stage). 

After five years of this additional business building, the couple had risen to the point where they no longer had to be intimately involved in the day-to-day operations and decided to appoint a leadership team to take over while still retaining ownership (Self-Transcendence).

With an empty nest and plenty of time and money on their hands, they decided to spend the rest of their lives devoted to their colleagues, friends, and most importantly—their growing family of grandchildren and later great-grandchildren. They remained loosely involved at the top of their organization, but eventually sold it completely, while still doing the odd business consult and/or teaching/training from time-to-time. In their later retirement, they enjoyed traveling the world together, often accompanied by one or more of their adult children and their families. They also served three missions for their Church, including in two international destinations and one domestic location (Creation Stage). 


Don't Despair if You Aren't the IDEAL

These three fictional "Case Studies" in several ways represent IDEAL circumstances and scenarios. 

Obviously, "Life Happens" and not everyone will be fortunate enough to "Have it all" as these three individuals seemingly do by the end of their lives. 

Colonel Theodore Roosevelt
Commander of the First U.S. Volunteer
Cavalry Regiment (Aka: The Rough Riders)
Spanish American War, 1898
That's OKAY!  

It is not necessary to check every single IDEAL "Box" in order to progress in your own Existential Growth. A host of life difficulties and challenges reminiscent of the "Refining Stage" can (and often will) arise across a spectrum of life stages to make life messier than you'd like and otherwise throw "Curve Balls" that complicate, interrupt, and disrupt well laid-out dreams and hopes and plans. When that happens, as it assuredly will for all of us in various ways, don't despair!

Just keep going and remain ever committed to doing the best you can with what you have where you are.   


"Do the best you can with what you have, where you are."  

Theodore Roosevelt


IDEAL case studies are presented here not to make you feel undo pressure, stress, or to unduly influence you to compare yourself with others, but simply because IDEALS serve as loadstars to which we can principally and collectively hitch our wagons. 

After all, the purported value of IDEALS is a fundamental hallmark of this entire Life Leadership textbook. Thus, I invite you to derive inspiration and motivation therefrom.  

It is also important to remember that while failure to realize an IDEAL may sometimes be the result of bad luck or unfortunate birthing or other unfavorable life circumstances beyond your control, sometimes the exact opposite is the case. In other words, sometimes you fail to realize an IDEAL because of a very real moral failure or other preventable blunder for which YOU must ultimately take complete personal responsibility.

In the case of the former scenario, do your best with what you have and make peace with your imperfect reality—while always striving to improve that reality in the direction of an IDEAL. In the case of the latter scenario, take complete responsibility for your own unwise past decisions and then do the best you can to make the best of your present and future.

In all situations, you cannot change the PAST. As such, your best will always involve moving forward with determination, persistence, and positivity toward a brighter FUTURE.    




In Your Journal

  • What pathway (career / lifestyle) lies in your mind, heart, and soul? 
  • What pathway (personal / family) lies in your mind, heart, and soul?
  • If you make it to the Creation Stage, what would you like to contribute and/or create?



Dr. JJ

Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA


Author's Note: This is the 413th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 222nd consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 412 FF Blog Articles 

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL QUOTES  

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL POEMS   

Click HERE to access the FULL TEXT of Dr. JJ's Psalms of Life: A Poetry Collection

Click HERE for a complete listing of Self-Action Leadership Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Fitness, Heath, & Wellness Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Biographical & Historical Articles


Click HERE for a complete listing of Dr. JJ's Autobiographical Articles

.........................

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

To sign up, please email freedomfocused@gmail.com and say SUBSCRIBE, or just YES, and we will ensure you receive a link to each new blog article every Wednesday.  


Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks  


Chapter 21 Notes

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Creation Stage

    

Chapter 20


CREATION Stage




LAYER 9:  Planets and Stars Beyond

As you travel beyond Earth's atmosphere into deep outer space, an innumerable host of astronomical bodies—namely planets and stars—are housed within different space classifications known as superclusters, local groups, galaxies, solar systems, asteroid belts, stars, planets, moons, comets, space stations, etc.

All of these objects or collections of objects can be found throughout the Universe in various stages of creation and expansion or contraction and destruction. 


LEVEL 9:  CREATION Stage 

Something truly wonderful awaits YOU on your journey beyond the realms of Self-Transcendence. 

That something is the CREATION STAGE, where you get to take a prominent—even a leading—role in creating new ideas, things, relationships, families, organizations, communities, states, regions, nations, and even the world-at-large in the form of global-enhancing projects.

These creative pursuits are likened to the creation of various astronomical bodies throughout the universe.

In the Creation Stage, you have acquired and/or honed all of the abilities, experience, knowledge, skills, talents, and wisdom necessary to become a builder of structures and/or organizations, a creator of constitutions and cultures, a producer of philosophies, and—most importantly—an influencer and molder of human lives and relationships.

In this most important realm of your life's work, YOU spearhead the Existential Growth and development of other self-action leaders in hopes of helping them to one day join you as a Self-Transcended being in the Creation Stage themselves.

In the Creation Stage, there is no longer any jealous threat of competition, and one-upmanship ceases to exist. Self-action leaders in the Creation Stage value each other as much as they value themselves, and they take as much joy and satisfaction in the creations of others as they do in their own—if not more so.

Men and women like Jesus, the Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Florence Nightingale created whole new religions or movements upon entering the Creation Stage. In short, they changed the world in significantly positive ways. 

Many other men and women have done likewise throughout human history. While their names are not always widely known to history, the nature and kind of their accomplishments and creations are possessed of a similar substance to those whose names are commonplace. Moreover, the quantity of ordinary men and women who achieved extraordinary Existential Growth, development, and achievements—up to and including the Creation Stage—dwarfs the number of men and women who did so and are well known to history. As such, don't fall prey to the erroneous notion that you must ink a salient or prominent mark on the history books in order to reach this lofty existential status.    

Self-action leaders who arrive at the Creation Stage change the world and make it a better place in which to live and work. You can usually identify these people because they possess lasting legacies that are burnished ever brighter with the passage of time. These remarkable and venerable individuals achieved their masterpieces through commitment, consistency, constancy, continency, and continuance to the end.    

Depending on the scale and scope of one's visibility and influence in a social setting, such contributions may impact circles ranging from small groups of people (relationship, home, neighborhood, organizational) to immense masses (state, nation, world). 

The reason that Buddha, Christ, Confucius, Muhammad, et cetera, are so well known is because they combined substance with a massive scale and scope. But remember: the scale and scope of one's influence or creations is not nearly as important as the substance thereof.  


Financial Standing as a Metric for

Measuring Existential Growth

In general, financial status can be a useful metric by which to judge Existential Growth; but it is an imperfect and often unreliable method. This is because some people obtain wealth through avarice and other morally dubious means and then use their wealth for selfish and/or nefarious purposes.

In short, there are almost always exceptions to any given rule.

Nevertheless, the general rule is that financial solvency, security, success, independence, and prosperity/affluence can be meaningful benchmarks for measuring Existential Growth. This is only true, however, when wealth is earned honestly through productive industry that benefits others.

Wealth that was merely inherited or gambled into likely has little, if any inherent positive effect on your Existential Growth. In many such cases, money may even contribute to your existential atrophy and regression.

While many exceptions exist, the Beginner's Stage is typically marked by financial dependence on one's parents/initial caregivers. If you're on your own, you are likely struggling to make ends meet, as I was at that point in my life.

Basic financial stability is typically reached in the Practitioner's Stage, but may be challenged again in the Refining Stage. 

A more solid and reliable means of financial stability and security is typically reached in the Polishing Stage. From there, a self-action leader may become increasingly secure along one's way to financial independence and/or prosperity and affluence as they progress to higher levels up to and including the Creation Stage. Many, but not all, self-action leaders who reach the Leadership Stage and beyond are financially independent. 

As you reflect upon these approximate benchmarks, always keep in the forefront of your mind the possibility for legitimate exceptions to exist.

Suffice it to say, one can rise to the highest levels of Existential Growth without being financially wealthy, even though fiscal well-being often is a hallmark of such development and growth.  

In the next chapter, we will provide three case studies in order to further illustrate and illuminate the SAL Hierarchy's NINE different levels (or stages) in the dynamic interplay of real life. 







In Your Journal

  • Would you like to someday rise to the Creation level? Why or why not? 
  • Are you willing to pay the high price required to rise to the Creation level? Why or why not?
  • What are ways that we can help each other rise to this lofty level of Existential Growth?  


Dr. JJ

Wednesday, October 9, 2024
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA


Author's Note: This is the 412th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 221st consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 411 FF Blog Articles 

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL QUOTES  

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL POEMS   

Click HERE to access the FULL TEXT of Dr. JJ's Psalms of Life: A Poetry Collection

Click HERE for a complete listing of Self-Action Leadership Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Fitness, Heath, & Wellness Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Biographical & Historical Articles


Click HERE for a complete listing of Dr. JJ's Autobiographical Articles

.........................

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

To sign up, please email freedomfocused@gmail.com and say SUBSCRIBE, or just YES, and we will ensure you receive a link to each new blog article every Wednesday.  


Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks  


Chapter 20 Notes


Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Self-Transcendence

   

Chapter 19


SELF-TRANSCENDENCE




LAYER 8:  OUTER SPACE

Beyond the Exosphere, the Earth's atmosphere ends completely, leaving a rocket or spaceship free to travel in the air- and gravity-free zones of deep outer space—where a spacecraft can maintain its propulsion and speed indefinitely without the aid of additional fuel. 

LEVEL 8:  SELF-TRANSCENDENCE 

The Self-Transcendence Stage, also known as just Self-Transcendence, or the "Freedom Zone," is the penultimate stage of Existential Growth in the SAL Hierarchy.

It is analogous to deep outer space.

Just as a rocket ship is no longer subject to gravity beyond the Exosphere, self-action leaders who reach Level 8 are no longer subject to Existential Gravity. This means that self-action leaders at this level have become so fully actualized they are no longer candidates for regression for lower levels. Having fully conquered their enemies both within and without, they've truly "Arrived" existentially and have therefore become thoroughly free

On the first seven levels, even the strongest self-action leaders remain susceptible to moral entropy and existential regression. But upon reaching Self-Transcendence, YOU have finally "Made It" in the sense of your existential journey to character development and moral maturation.

This does not mean you are perfect in every particular—no human being ever is. It does, however, mean there is no longer any danger of colossal moral failure or significant existential regression.

Achieving Self-Transcendence doesn't mean your proverbial "Ship" has come in. Rather, it's a signal that you've voluntarily swam out to your ship and successfully conquered the rough seas and storms along the way. As a result, those who transcend themselves and reach this elusive level enjoy almost unlimited personal and professional freedom within a context of existing Universal Laws of physics and metaphysics.

Self-Transcended persons are almost always financially secure, if not financially independent. 

They have also often received and embraced outlying opportunities to positively influence and meaningfully contribute to the lives of others.

They have many relationships with other people that are deep, rich, and founded on mutual respect and impeccable trustworthiness. If they have a significant other, they have probably been with their mate for decades, are more in love than ever, and have a happy, healthy, and mutually satisfying union. 

By the time you have reached Level 7, YOU typically have an enormous amount of freedom to choose where and when you spend your time and money. While you may not be an organization's executive leader in a formal sense, you will undoubtedly exert a significant influence on growing (and sometimes vast) numbers of other people with whom you work and associate.

Self-Transcended persons leave a deep and lasting legacy of greatness, honor, love, and service for others to admire and replicate in their own lives. 

Sadly, only a relatively small percentage of the population ever reaches this lofty level during the course of their lives. It doesn't have to be this way, of course. Theoretically speaking, everyone has the potential to transcend self over the course of their lives, but many choose to tread other pathways that fundamentally miss the mark. Some simply lack the basic building blocks (i.e. food, shelter, safety, education) so necessary to support existential advancement.

Confucius
551-479 BC
Examples of those who have reached Level 7 are very well known figures in religion and culture, such as Jesus Christ, Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha), Confucius, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Florience Nightingale, Mohandas Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and others like them. 

Other examples are far less famous, but similar to those mentioned above in terms of their character and commitment to moral and ethical living. Indeed, you don't have to be famous to reach Self-Transcendence. 

In reality, the number of obscure individuals reaching this top stage far exceeds the number of high-profile persons who've done so. Such existentially advanced persons may not be known beyond their families, friends, organizations, and communities; however, this fact does not diminish the value and importance of their achievements and contributions. Nor does it negate the very real metaphysical achievement and advancement they have made. There's no specific scope of influence required to reach Self-Transcendence. Seemingly ordinary mothers and fathers are often among the finest of candidates for Level 7.

In the insightful interrogatory of one theological sage:

"When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling that what happened in congresses?" (1)

Never underestimate the potential of any human being to eventually reach this advanced level of Existential Growth—no matter how inauspicious their beginning or how lowly their station. Moreover, don't ever let the simplicity of your own life's backstory, current social status, or present profession lead you to believe you can't rise to this level of existential greatness. 

Theoretically, those who are currently homeless, starving, or drug-addled possess as much existential potential as presidents, potentates, and princes. Human change is always possible; that is perhaps the single most important paradigm and thesis of this Life Leadership textbook. But change doesn't happen by magic. There are FIVE (5) Fundamentals that must ultimately be in place to ensure the transformation actually happens. 

FIVE (5) Fundamentals of Self-Transcendence

1). Secure basic Safety and Survival Needs
2). Obtain an Education in SAL
3). Cultivate a cadre of Advocates willing to assist
3). Develop a deep Desire to Grow and Succeed
4). Nurture an Inner Drive to never give up

Anyone able and willing to obtain and pursue these five (5) basic stepping stones can eventually progress to Self-Transcendence. You will inevitably need some help from others to accomplish the first three steps. But once you and others have ensured these steps have been taken, then YOU and SERENDIPITY can take care of the last two, thus ensuring that you eventually reach your goal of Self-Transcendence.  

With only nominal help from others, a truly driven and motivated self-action leader possesses the liberty—and can earn the freedom—to advance as far as one desires, intends, and is willing to chase after.  

Confucius Quote

That's
the GOOD NEWS of Self-Action Leadership.

When you truly transcend yourself through SAL and SERENDIPITY, extraordinary moral authority is earned as a by-product of your diligent and focused efforts over time. You become, in short, a person of authentic GREATNESS. Whether your greatness influences eight billion people, just eight folks, or only a single, solitary soul, it may still be a greatness of the same kind and degree

REMEMBER: Christ and Confucius did not transcend self because they founded popular belief systems. They transcended self because they paid the price to become a morally-minded and principle-centered self-action leader determined to keep going and growing forever. Christianity and Confucianism were tangible and influential outgrowths of their deep, penetrating, and authentic inner accomplishments. The same could be said of the Buddha, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, or anyone else who has reached this extraordinary and elusive level of Existential Growth.




In Your Journal

  • What are some of the ways in which you would need to change and/or grow to eventually transcend self and reach Level 7?
  • Is the high price of Self-Transcendence worth it? Why or why not?


Dr. JJ

Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA


Author's Note: This is the 411th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 220th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 410 FF Blog Articles 

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL QUOTES  

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL POEMS   

Click HERE to access the FULL TEXT of Dr. JJ's Psalms of Life: A Poetry Collection

Click HERE for a complete listing of Self-Action Leadership Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Fitness, Heath, & Wellness Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Biographical & Historical Articles


Click HERE for a complete listing of Dr. JJ's Autobiographical Articles

.........................

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

To sign up, please email freedomfocused@gmail.com and say SUBSCRIBE, or just YES, and we will ensure you receive a link to each new blog article every Wednesday.  


Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks  


Chapter 19 Notes

1).  Maxwell, N.A. (1978). The Women of God. URL: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1978/04/the-women-of-god?lang=eng

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

LEADERSHIP Stage

  

Chapter 18


Leadership Stage




LAYER 7:  EXOSPHERE


Earth's last atmospheric level is called the Exosphere. It begins where the indefinite thermosphere ends. 

This level is by far the deepest atmospheric layer, extending to nearly 120,000 miles (200,000 km) beyond Earth's surface, or halfway to the Moon. 

While this layer is extremely deep and large compared to the other six atmospheric layers, it's hardly a layer at all because air particles are so far apart and Earth's gravitational pull is so weak. 

The end of the Exosphere marks the beginning of outer space.  


LEVEL 7:  LEADERSHIP Stage 

Earth's gravitational pull is almost non-existent in the Exosphere. Likewise, the tugs and pulls of Existential Gravity are typically slighter and less influential here than on lower levels—so much so, in fact, that highly developed and experienced leaders may hardly notice them at all.

It's not that existential crabs don't exist on Level 7, but only extremely bold existential crabs are audacious enough to try tangling with self-action leaders at this level, and those who do tend to be quickly marginalized or mocked by those who recognize an authentic leader on Level 7.

Self-action leaders on this level have developed—through much practice over time—the ability to disregard and otherwise care very little for what an x-crab might think or say about them. Thus, verbal barbs from x-crabs are akin to "water off a duck's back." They may even chuckle to themselves lightheartedly at whatever an x-crab may try to sling their way.    

The vast majority of x-crabs are too frightened and intimidated to open their mouths in the presence of an authentic and virtuous leader at this advanced stage of Existential Growth, development, and experience. There is a metaphysical energy and power that emanates forth from leaders on this level that repels and silences x-crabs.

In the rare case that an extra bold x-crab does attempt to explicitly nip at the heels of a self-action leader on this level, he/she will have little, if any, effect or influence upon you because YOU have grown so confident and secure in yourself. Plus, you are likely to have the backing and support of the majority, thus leaving the x-crab(s) vastly outnumbered.  

In the Leadership Stage, YOUR focus shifts from being primarily about your own growth and development to being primarily about the advancement and maturation of others. In fact, most of your own future growth will be a by-product of helping others to grow.

In your own rise to the Leadership Stage, you went to great efforts to seek out coaches, leaders, mentors, and teachers. Now that you are a LEADER, you become the teacher, mentor, leader, and coach. Sympathy, empathy, compassion, and a truly altruistic desire to see others succeed are a natural outgrowth of authentically inhabiting this stage.  

Self-action leaders at this level have a deep desire and remarkable capacity to "forget themselves and go to work" (1) on behalf of other people and organizational causes bigger than themselves. You are no longer "content with blessing [yourself and your] family alone, but range ... through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race." (2) 

In the Leadership Stage, you become increasingly aware of your life's legacy. More importantly, you begin to comprehend more fully the fact that a legacy centered on self alone is no legacy at all—or at least not an honorable one. 

Many (but not all) who reach the Leadership Stage have acquired sufficient resources to support themselves and their family without further employ; and many have become financially independent. This empowers them to further dedicate their surplus time and energy to philanthropy, service, and other enriching personal, familial, community, state, national, and global pursuits.

While the Leadership Stage is largely immune from Existential Gravity, it is not completely free of negative influences and temptation. Since those on this level are almost exclusively leading others, they often find themselves in positions of great power, authority, and influence. Thus, some may fall prey to their own "cult of personality" and stoop to reveling in the hero-worship heaped upon themselves by others.

If these temptations are not shunned and transcended, a self-action leader at this stage could end up succumbing to a host of vices, including, but not limited to: debauchery, greed, indolence, insolence, narcissism, self-worship, etc. If a leader on this level begins to give way to avarice, lust, or the practice of unethical or unfair dominion over others, that leader will regress backwards to lower levels.  

Unfortunately, some leaders who enter the Leadership Stage are seduced by whatever fame, fortune, popularity, or power they have achieved. These individuals regress backward to lower levels and/or turn to the Dark Shadow—an evil inverse of the SAL Hierarchy that will be covered in a later chapter. If amends and changes are not penitently made, such leaders will leave a tainted and tarnished legacy behind them marked by disappointment, shame, and unrealized potential. 

Fortunately, some leaders remain humble, steadfast, and true no matter how high they rise or how powerful and influential they become. These relatively rare persons are both self-action leaders and leaders in the truest sense of the word. Such leaders continue to pursue Self-Transcendence by helping as many people as they can.

These noble and remarkable leaders no longer care much, if they care at all, about who gets the credit for their many achievements. They're focused almost exclusively on lifting others, providing compassionate service, and otherwise getting positive and productive results in everything they undertake.



In Your Journal

  • Do you have a desire to someday rise to the LEADERSHIP STAGE? Why or why not?
  • If you were to eventually reach this lofty level of Existential Growth, who would you want to serve and what causes would you support?
  • What suggestions would you give to someone on this level to help them avoid falling from grace and regressing back to lower levels?


Dr. JJ

Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA


Author's Note: This is the 410th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 219th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 409 FF Blog Articles 

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL QUOTES  

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL POEMS   

Click HERE to access the FULL TEXT of Dr. JJ's Psalms of Life: A Poetry Collection

Click HERE for a complete listing of Self-Action Leadership Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Fitness, Heath, & Wellness Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Biographical & Historical Articles


Click HERE for a complete listing of Dr. JJ's Autobiographical Articles

.........................

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

To sign up, please email freedomfocused@gmail.com and say SUBSCRIBE, or just YES, and we will ensure you receive a link to each new blog article every Wednesday.  


Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks  


Chapter 18 Notes

1.  Advice of Bryant S. Hinckley to his son, Gordon B. Hinckley, during a trying period of Gordon’s full-time missionary service.

2.  Roberts, B.H. (1978). History of the Church. Volume IV. Salt Lake City, UT: The Deseret Book Company. Page 227. Quote of Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805-1844) in a letter written to the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in October 1840. 

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

SAL Actualization Stage

 

Chapter 17


SAL Actualization Stage




LAYER 6:  THERMOSPHERE

Sitting atop the Ionosphere is the Thermosphere. This is the layer of Earth's atmosphere where satellites and space shuttles enter orbit.

The Thermosphere "contains only a minute fraction of the atmosphere's mass." (1) The Thermosphere begins at a height of 50 miles (80 kilometers) above the Earth's surface and has no definite boundaries, (2) thus making it the deepest layer of Earth's atmosphere.

Temperatures increase dramatically in the Thermosphere. This is due to the low density of air molecules. Curiously, however, you would not tangibly feel the full extent of this rise in temperature (heat) because of a lack of air molecules.

Technically speaking, the Thermosphere incorporates the Ionosphere as part of its lower levels. However, space shuttles, space stations, and satellites must transcend to Ionosphere and enter the upper levels of the Thermosphere to officially enter orbit. Thus, the Ionosphere officially ends where ORBIT begins.  



LEVEL 6:  SAL Actualization Stage 

It is appropriate that the Ionosphere is technically part of the Thermosphere. This is because the Polishing Stage and Self-Action Leader Actualization Stage similarly blend. In other words, the process of SAL Actualization begins in the Polishing Stage and the polishing process continues on into the SAL Actualization Stage—and beyond.  

Just as human-made satellites and spaceships begin to orbit the Earth in the Thermosphere, entering the SAL-Actualization Stage launches YOU into metaphysical "Orbit" as a self-action leader. 

From this point on, you'll be able to maintain the same (or greater) levels of performance as you have in the past, but by expending far less fuel (energy and resources). In this regard, life really does become easier in many ways (especially physically and emotionally) upon reaching the SAL-Actualization Stage. This is part of what makes it such an appealing stage to eventually enter. 

This is the stage of YOUR personal development and Existential Growth where you can finally say with confidence to both yourself and the world that: "I like who I am, and I wouldn't trade places with anyone else on Earth—even if I had the power to do so."

In this sense, it is very much an "Arrival" stage.

And the arrival is immensely rewarding! 

Having entered your own personal "Orbit" in the SAL Actualization Stage, the probability that you will regress back to former stages is low. This is because your character, integrity, and confidence have reached such high levels of maturity, resiliency, and strength. 

Regression is still possible at this level; it is just unlikely. And while reaching this level unquestionably represents a significant "Arrival" in your existential trek, it does not by any means signal that your journey is complete; nor will it be the end of adversity, pain, and trials.  

It does, however, signal the beginning of a whole new life, one which will be accompanied by a new set of different challenges and obstacles to surmount, many of which will prove easier to navigate than difficulties in days gone by. This may be due, in part, to a tangible move or improvement in your physical circumstances and opportunities. It may also be due to your bolstered confidence, added security, and expanded toolbox of knowledge and skills by which you can more successfully adapt to, confront, and troubleshoot life's endless challenges.  

The SAL Actualization Stage is similar to "Self-Actualization"—the highest level attainable on Abraham Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" scale. According to Maslow, self-actualization "refers to the desire for self-fulfillment, namely ... the desire to become ... everything that one is capable of becoming." (3)

The SAL Actualization Stage is marked by a clear realization of who you really are and what your life's purpose is. Arriving at this lofty stage also represents a quasi-mastery of the full-range of SAL principles and practices. While you may still be a long way from perfection, you've nevertheless reached a high level of self-awareness, emotional and social intelligence and resiliency, personal capacity, and SAL understanding and application. Having become a self-action leader of great capacity and integrity, you've also begun to exert increasing levels of positive influence on others who seek the Existential Growth you've already achieved. 

Because everyone is unique, SAL Actualization will look different from person-to-person. This is why, as Maslow explains, "in one individual [actualization] may take the form of a desire to be an ideal mother, in another it may be expressed athletically, and in still another it may be expressed in painting pictures or in inventions." (4) But despite all the variations of SAL-Actualization, all actualized persons will demonstrate certain key attributes of CHARACTER, such as integrity, morality, and selflessness.  

The SAL Actualization Stage is likened to the Thermosphere, where satellites, space shuttles, and space stations ORBIT the Earth to obtain knowledge about outer space and transmit information to and from the Earth. 

Similarly, once YOU reach the SAL Actualization Stage and desire further Existential Growth, your focus will begin to naturally shift towards helping those at lower levels who seek their own development and growth. Having achieved a vaulted existential station yourself, you can now continue your own journey by leading others to where you are. Thus, moving forward, your own development and growth will largely come as a by-product of helping others rise in their existential journey. Moreover, the extent of your future success will hinge in large part on your success in effectively helping others in this manner. 

Persons entering the SAL Actualization Stage have developed high levels of personal integrity and moral character. They are proactive, resilient, emotionally intelligent, and possess an extraordinary capacity to respond maturely and wisely to a full spectrum of different people and situations.

Professionally, SAL Actualized persons have developed and honed skills and talents such that they are now rightly referred to as an expert, professional, or even a master

Becoming SAL Actualized means
becoming more YOURSELF
than you ever were before.
SAL Actualized persons are fully themselves in a way that highlights the gradual development of a singular and unique individuality that is attractive and pronounced without being ostentatious or overbearing. This fact flies in the face of the notion held by many—especially among the endless milieu of Existential Crabs—that upholding True Principles rooted in Universal Laws diminishes your individuality and inhibits your freedom. 

In reality, precisely the opposite phenomenon occurs. 

As C.S. Lewis one put it, "How monstrously alike all the great tyrants and conquerers have been; [yet] how gloriously different are the saints." (5). 

M. Scott Peck put it similarly, as follows:

"If one ever has the good fortune to meet a living saint, one will have then met somebody absolutely unique. Though their visions may be remarkably similar, the personhood of saints is remarkably different. This is because they have become utterly themselves. God creates each soul differently, so that when all the mud is finally cleared away, His light will shine through it in a beautiful, colorful, totally new pattern." (6)

On lower levels of Existential Growth, insecure persons often equate individualism and originality with aberrant and rebellious deviations from traditional grooming, fashions, and mores—and the stranger and more flamboyant the better. In reality, such strident personal actions have little connection to one's true and authentic character, identity, or potential—and are usually a cry for help. 

Have you ever found yourself wishing you could be someone else?

By the time you become actualized, such wishes will have vanished from your life. SAL Actualized persons sincerely like who they are and who they have become. By the time you have reached this level in your Existential Growth, you wouldn't trade your own life circumstances and opportunities for anyone else's, even if you had the power to do so. As a result, diffidence, immaturities, insecurities, jealousy, and vindictiveness have been almost entirely eliminated from your life and world.  

SAL Actualized persons no longer see the world through a mindset of danger and scarcity, but through a paradigm of abundance and opportunity. (7) Your embrace of this new mentality engenders genuine appreciation for, and satisfaction in, the growth and achievements of others. You may even find yourself gradually taking more joy in the accomplishments of others than you do in your own successes.

At lower levels of Existential Growth, it is hard to conceive that this could ever be possible. But the higher you rise and the closer you get to becoming SAL Actualized, the clearer you begin to see reality and the more you begin developing this remarkable transformation of positive feelings towards others.    

Knowing that everyone possesses the same Existential Worth, and therefore (theoretical) Existential Potential, you no longer feel the need to compare yourself to others after becoming SAL Actualized. Your own inner peace, maturity, and understanding make such comparisons irrelevant, uninteresting, and puerile. You have largely achieved what you set out in life to accomplish; therefore, the only primal goal that remains is to continue rising to higher levels of Existential Growth yourself—and help other people do the same. 

Arriving at the SAL Actualization Stage is a significant touchstone along your journey to Self-Transcendence and beyond. It qualifies as a significant personal and ontological achievement. It's the level of Existential Growth where, perhaps more than any other level, you can legitimately claim to have "ARRIVED."

It also serves as an important hinge-point of decision-making moving forward. 

That decision is this: Will you choose to live for yourself in the future, or will you dedicate the rest of your life to helping others to become similarly SAL Actualized?

If you choose to live only for yourself, you'll remain on Level 6, or, more likely, begin a regressive slide backward to lower levels. If, on the other hand, you opt to dedicate your life to helping others progress—which is what most SAL Actualized people do—you advance to Level 7, the Leadership Stage, which is where you begin to make many of your life's most meaningful, important, and lasting contributions.


SAL Actualization and Your Existential Train

At Freedom Focused, we believe that all human beings—including every person who has ever been born upon the Earth—has a definite, specific, and meaningful reason and purpose for being here. We believe that this purpose is, generally speaking, to become SAL Actualized as a self-action leader and then help others to do the same. 

Of course, SAL Actualization looks different for each of us in terms of its topical particulars. After all, we each possess a singular disposition, personality, and genetic makeup in conjunction with a unique set of aptitudes, desires, and talents. 

The process of becoming SAL Actualized is, metaphysically speaking, akin to catching and then boarding a train; and not just any train, but the singular "Existential Train" that Life itself intends for YOU—even your "Train of Destiny"—whose course is straight and narrow and whose engine is programmed to transport you to the highest levels of Existential Growth, even the pinnacle of your personal potential.

To "Catch Your Existential Train" refers to discovering your life's truest and most authentic, individual purpose. To "Stay on Board Your Existential Train" refers to pursuing that singular and unique purpose with all your heart, mind, soul, and might until the end of your life—and beyond if an afterlife exists.  

Unlike boarding a physical train, boarding your metaphysical "Train of Life" isn't easy. You can't merely show up to the train station, buy a ticket, and then hop on board at your leisure. This is because your train stops for no one—not even for YOU—its intended occupant! Hence, YOU must prepare and pay the price to "Catch" and then "Board" your train as it barrels down the tracks at a daunting and intimidating speed.

There's an old saying: when my SHIP comes in

Self-action leaders understand that their ship never comes in; YOU must swim out to your ship!

The same principle holds true for boarding your existential train. To succeed in catching and then boarding it, you must become well acquainted with how your train runs and works. You must also develop the speed, strength, agility, confidence, and daring required to latch onto it as it zooms by. In the process of doing so, it is helpful to remember that no one boards one's train on his or first attempt. 

For most of us, many attempts will be required over a period of many years, or even decades. Moreover, your initial attempts will likely end in failure, leaving you with all kinds of metaphysical bruises, lacerations, scars, and perhaps even some dislocated or broken bones. Failure to board your train will hurt, sometimes badly. In fact, the only thing that could possibly hurt more in the end is the loss and regret you will feel from having willingly forfeited an earned passageway on such a lofty locomotive.  

To succeed at "Catching" and "Boarding" your Existential Train, YOU must repeatedly "pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again" (8) each time that you fall short.

Doing so is not easy!

It is a wonderfully exhilarating, yet terribly challenging endeavor fraught with seemingly endless frustration and failure. There may even be times when you choose to turn your back on your train and stop trying to board it altogether for a while. Sometimes this occurs because you have been injured attempting to board and must take time out to heal and regroup. Other times, feelings of bitterness and disillusionment may camouflage the enormous benefits and rewards available on your train. 

In the midst of such poignant disappointments, you may even try to deny that your train exists. Some, and perhaps many, will deceive themselves into thinking that moseying along through the countryside in an ox-drawn wagon or on a dutiful donkey is preferable to the unspeakable thrill of zipping along the continent on an ultra modern, super speedy, bullet train. 

But for those hardy and determined souls willing to endure the trials of boarding their train, the ride is truly "out of this world."  

Once you have caught and boarded your existential train, you have earned a comfortable residence whereby you can live and work as you continually go forth to coach, mentor, serve, teach, and otherwise help others on their own journey toward SAL Actualization.

In many ways, helping others become SAL Actualized will be far easier and more enjoyable than your own crucible-laden and painful process of SAL Actualization. After all, it is usually easier to talk about something than it is to actually do it; but you won't have much credibility speaking about something that you haven't already experienced and overcome. Thus, the BEST TEACHERS are usually those noble souls who have already "walked the talk" and otherwise proved themselves "in the trenches" and "heat of battle."  

Catching and then boarding your own existential train—becoming SAL Actualized—is a tremendously significant event in your life. Moreover, as long as you choose to stay on the train, all tracks eventually lead to the highest levels of Existential Growth.  


A Paradigm Shift from Competition to Love

There is typically a big difference between what motivates YOU on lower levels (1-6) and what motivates YOU on higher levels (7-9). 

On the first six levels, self-action leaders tend to be driven by a desire to compete with and ultimately outdo others in a continual quest to "get ahead" and/or "win." This kind of motivation is referred to as a "Competition Paradigm" and to a certain extent is very useful in helping you to prove yourself to yourself and others. 

A Competition Paradigm is defined as: a desire to obtain Existential Growth in order to surpass others.


COMPETITION PARADIGM

A desire to obtain Existential Growth to surpass others. 


Every self-action leader is unique. Thus, some will be more (or less) motivated by the Competition Paradigm than others. Nevertheless, most self-action leaders are primarily motivated by the Competition Paradigm on Levels 1-6. 

By the time you graduate to Level 7, however, a fundamental transformation of your mind, heart, and soul has begun to take place. This transformation leads you to become increasingly motivated by a genuine care, concern, and love for other self-action leaders and human beings in general. 

Having already proved yourself and risen above many others (in an Existential Growth sense, or in terms of a specific skillset), your desires will increasingly shift toward helping others along their pathways of Existential Growth. Instead of being primarily motivated by the Competition Paradigm, you will find yourself increasingly motivated by the Love Paradigm, which is defined as: a desire to help others obtain Existential Growth.  


LOVE PARADIGM

A desire to help others obtain Existential Growth.


The development of this pure, sincere, and unsullied LOVE for others is inevitably a gradual developmental process that occurs by degrees over a long period of time. Most self-action leaders will begin experiencing sparks and vestiges of this authentic love in earlier stages of Existential Growth (Levels 1-6), but will not fully flower until much later on during the time they spend on levels 6-9.

The individual growth curve of a self-action leader's Love Paradigm will, of course, differ widely from person-to-person as one develops up the hierarchy. Personality, environment, circumstances, education, access to loving coaches, mentors, and teachers, and other variables will all play a role in the singular developmental trajectory of each individual. 

Nevertheless, by Stage 7, it will, like concrete in a mold, likely be sufficiently set up to begin a positive and lasting "curing process." If properly cultivated and persistently pursued, it will continue to cure (harden/strengthen/toughen) throughout one's continued development up through the three highest levels of Existential Growth, leading theoretically to a PERFECT LOVE for others at some distant point in one's existence.  

Depending on how powerfully one was motivated by the Competition Paradigm in earlier stages (1-6) of Existential Growth, the pouring, setting up, and curing process of love may occur more slowly or quickly; it all depends on the individual self-action leader and his or her unique SAL Variables Quotient. 

For those who experience a more gradual development and growth of love for others, there may be a protracted period of time where one wonders how one could ever be as motivated by love as one is by competition. Moreover, for those who reach Level 7 and then begin to atrophy and regress backward in one's Existential Growth, the Competition Paradigm may return to smother one's potential capacity for love. 

But those who continue to grow past the Leadership Stage into the Self-Transcendence and Creation Stages will discover that love is in fact an infinitely greater motivator than competition ever was—even in its most captivating and motivating stages on lower levels of Existential Growth. They will also discover that the fulfillment, joy, satisfaction, and inner peace that accompanies an authentic and pure Love Paradigm infinitely exceeds the lesser perks that accompanied the Competition Paradigm. 

At the highest levels of Existential Growth, competition no longer exists in a traditional sense. It has become completely swallowed up by LOVE for all people, living creatures, and other worthwhile things.  




In Your Journal

  • Where do you believe you currently stand in relation to being SAL Actualized?
  • What do you think would be required of you to eventually become SAL Actualized?
  • Describe your ideal Existential Train
  • What do you believe will be required of you to successfully catch and board your Existential Train?
  • How much are you presently motivated by the Competition Paradigm?
  • How much are you presently motivated by the Love Paradigm?
  • How might you decrease the Competition Paradigm and increase the Love Paradigm in your life?


Dr. JJ

Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA


Author's Note: This is the 409th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 218th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 408 FF Blog Articles 

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL QUOTES  

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL POEMS   

Click HERE to access the FULL TEXT of Dr. JJ's Psalms of Life: A Poetry Collection

Click HERE for a complete listing of Self-Action Leadership Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Fitness, Heath, & Wellness Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Biographical & Historical Articles


Click HERE for a complete listing of Dr. JJ's Autobiographical Articles

.........................

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

To sign up, please email freedomfocused@gmail.com and say SUBSCRIBE, or just YES, and we will ensure you receive a link to each new blog article every Wednesday.  


Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks  


Chapter 17 Notes

1.  Lutgens, F. K., and Tarbuck, E. J. (2010). The Atmosphere: An Introduction to Meteorology (Eleventh Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Page 28.

2.  Tarbueck, E J., and Lutgens, F. K. (2009). Earch Science (Twelfth Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Page 454.

3.  Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review. Volume 50, Issue 4, p. 370-396. Page 382.

4.  Ibid. Page 383.

5.  Lewis, C.S. (2001). Mere Christianity. San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins. Page 226.

6.  Peck, M.S. (1983). People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil. New York, NY: Touchstone. Page 264.

7.  Covey, S.R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. New York, NY: Fireside. Pages 219-220.

8.  From the Nat King Cole Song, Pick Yourself Up. Lyrics by Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern. Copyright by Reservoir Media Management, Inc. and Universal Music Publishing Group. 

SAL Hierarchy Case Studies

  Chapter 21 SAL Hierarchy Case Studies   To illustrate how one's Existential Growth develops  over time  from the Education Stage (Leve...