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Self-loathing is a strong and often intense feeling of dislike, disgust, or hatred directed toward oneself. It involves a negative self-perception and can manifest in various ways, both emotionally and behaviourally. 

In the most extreme cases, self-loathing leads to self-harm. The underlying cause is either because there is something you hate about your physical appearance or because you hate yourself for not doing more with your life. 

If your inner voice feels you are meant for more, but you resist bettering yourself, either through fear, laziness, or self-doubt, self-loathing is a sign that you are not fulfilling your true potential. 

People experiencing self-loathing may constantly criticise themselves, have low self-esteem, and view themselves as unworthy or inadequate. This could be due to a subconscious program or an innate energy urging you to make more of your life.

This emotional state can have a profound impact on an individual’s mental and emotional well-being, potentially leading to depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. It may also affect relationships, as self-loathing can make it difficult for individuals to trust or connect with others. 

Self-loathing often stems from various factors, including past experiences, low self-image, societal pressures, trauma, or criticism from the Superego. This latter cause is deeply rooted in individuals who had strict, critical and authoritarian or abusive parents (or caregivers). 

Thought-Provoking Quote

“The self-judgement which declares that the ego falls short of its ideal produces the sense of worthlessness…” [1]

~ Sigmund Freud, The Ego and the Id, p.31 (1923) 

The toxic energy that underlies self-loathing is an irrational belief or feeling that you are not good enough. This comes hand in hand with having low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness. 

Self-loathing can influence how you view the world and interact with other people. You may have obsessive tendencies and ruminate on negative encounters or arguments that you have with people. 

What are the Signs of Self-Loathing?

1. All-or-nothing thinking

Also known as black-and-white thinking or dichotomous thinking, individuals who harbour intrinsic feelings of self-hate view situations, people, or events in absolute, extreme and polarised terms. There is no grey area or no middle ground. Things are either good or bad. 

The tendency to categorise things as absolute success or complete failure, perfection or total inadequacy, shares similarities with maladaptive perfectionism, which as previously mentioned is associated with the wounded qualities of the Sage archetype.  

Individuals who engage in all-or-nothing thinking often have unrealistic ideals and set rigid standards for themselves and others to adhere to.

unrealistic ideals

If you constantly fall short of unrealistic standards, your self-loathing inner voice can erode your self-esteem and self-worth. You also heap pressure on yourself because you do not feel worthy of success.

This takes us into the territory of the Everyman archetype, personified in Greek mythology by Hephaestus who is abandoned by his parents Zeus and Hera — the Ruler archetype or intellect — and later rejected by the goddess Athena.

Athena shares the attributes of the Sage, your inner wisdom, or conscience. This is the critical voice that is programmed by authoritarian parents and teachers. 

This aspect of consciousness is what Sigmund Freud called the Superego, or ego-ideal. This is the voice that tells you what you want to be — which in truth could actually be what you could be if you apply yourself in the right way. 

However, because the Superego is partially conscious, your self-image is created from external sources. When you see you are falling short of what you expected or you see other people having more perceived success than you, self-loathing can develop. 

Most of the time, the reason you are not achieving your potential is because you haven’t focused your attention and your energy into pursuing your dreams and passions. You have fallen short of the hurdle because you didn’t take the leap. 

The Hero archetype is associated with taking action, motivation and the compulsion towards self-development. If you fail to take action, you don’t develop and fulfil your potential. 

And this is why your inner voice rebukes you and makes you feel a sense of self-loathing. Self-hate is a call to action.

2. Negativity bias

Negativity bias is the tendency to give more weight or attention to negative information or experiences than to positive ones. In other words, people are more sensitive to, and more affected by, negative events, comments, or emotions compared to positive ones. 

This bias can have a significant impact on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Part of the reason for this is that our evolutionary development naturally programmed thought processes to start from the worst-case scenario. 

Essentially, your natural survival instincts are kicking in. Mainstream media and the geopolitical theatre play into this innate fear of the environment by bombarding us with fear-provoking stories. 

Individuals who buy into this idea of fear, danger, concern and failure live in a fixed mindset and prefer to stay in their comfort bubble. This is what is known as survival mode. 

People with an underdeveloped ego typically live in survival mode because they don’t have the knowledge, tools or confidence to cope with their environment. They feel they lack competency and don’t try to better themselves.

That’s when the Superego kicks in to say, ‘Come on you can do better than this.’ Because you can. You just haven’t tried. A lack of self-confidence and self-esteem does that to a person.

A fixed mindset falls in opposition to a growth mindset which is typically found in individuals who are more successful in life. People with a growth mindset pop their bubble and live from a place of striving and thriving. 

This is what the energies of the healthy Hero bring to you. 

3. Low self-esteem

Self-esteem and self-loathing go hand-in-hand. Whilst they are not the same, one can contribute to the other. 

Having low self-esteem corresponds to negative evaluations of yourself. This is often developed in childhood due to a lack of emotional support or nurturing from your primary caregiver. 

Because self-loathing involves a harsh and critical view of oneself, individuals who hate themselves find it challenging to see themselves in a positive light. This negative self-perception contributes to low self-esteem.

This is not helped by negative self-talk. Self-loathing usually involves berating yourself for perceived flaws, mistakes, shortcomings or something you don’t like about your body or the way you look. This constant self-criticism reinforces feelings of low self-worth.

People who develop low self-esteem at an early age may not make strides to better themselves because their initial feeling is they will fail anyway so they don’t try in the first place. 

But it may also be that you simply don’t have the resilience to try harder. You give in too easily because you have a subconscious program that is coded with rejection. Failure is often perceived as a form of rejection that fuels pain in people with a lack of self-esteem. 

Internalising negative messages from your past experiences, such as childhood trauma, bullying, or abusive relationships, breeds perpetual criticisms which reinforces feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem.

4. Difficulty accepting compliments

A trait you often find in people with self-loathing is a tendency to dismiss or downplay positive feedback, compliments, or achievements, believing that they don’t deserve recognition or that it’s insincere. This behaviour further contributes to low self-esteem. 

If someone says something positive about you through a compliment, and you discount what they say or think they’re just being superficial to appear nice, you are showing signs of self-loathing. 

Learn or accept compliments graciously, and recognise that you earned just praise. You build self-esteem by recognising your achievements, the value you offer the world and, in some cases, the way you look.

5. Overly critical of yourself

If you are overly critical of yourself and attack your character (“e.g., “I’m a failure who will never amount to anything”), your self-loathing Superego has reared its ugly head. 

However, this type of internal chatter is often a misguided notion that is incorrectly interpreted by the ego. 

In his book, Freedom, the Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith points out that the evolutionary development of consciousness created a divide between the intellect and the instincts.

Whereas our earliest ancestors were obedient to their guiding instincts, the development of the nerve-based learning system became sufficiently developed for the conscious mind to effectively manage our environment. [2] 

However, once we started making our own decisions at the behest of the ego (the nerve-based system), the original gene-based system which is instinctive became repressed. Griffiths argues this was due to the criticism aimed at the intellect by the instincts — which know best. But the conscious mind thinks the intellect knows best as feels criticised. [3]

Thought-Provoking Quote

“When we humans went in search of knowledge we were initially criticised for not obeying our instincts, and then secondly for responding to that initial criticism in a way that offended our cooperatively orientated, moral instinctive conscience, and, then thirdly, by that behaviour defying the very integrative, co-operative theme of existence that our intellect could so plainly see existed in nature. We defied our instincts, we offended our moral conscience, and we insulted the very meaning of existence / God!!! We humans could hardly be more guilt-ridden. And all this guilt, which we can now understand was completely unjustified, made us extremely, excruciatingly upset — absolutely furious, in fact” [4]

~ Jeremy Griffith, Freedom: The End of the Human Condition

The feeling of being unjustly criticised is thought to contribute to how we act out. Griffiths postulates our “defensive, retaliatory reactions of anger, egocentricity and alienation, with some angry, aggressive nastiness creeping into the child’s behaviour” as the ego tries to defend itself against the criticism of the Superego. 

Thought-Provoking Quote

“We discover at the very end of our journey to enlightenment that conscious humans, immensely corrupt as we are, are ‘good’ and not ‘bad’ after all, and that which was ‘good’, our moral conscience, turns out to be the cause of our sin.” [5]

~ Jeremy Griffith, Freedom: The End of the Human Condition, p.166 para 283, (2015)

However, the Superego, or as Carl Jung calls it, the Self, is the central ordering principle of consciousness. It is your essence, your guide through life. 

To be a well-developed and healthy individual, Jung said there has to be a compromise between the intellect and instinct. This requires a conversation between the ego and the Self, or Superego, to rationalise whether self-criticism and thus self-loathing is a fair and appropriate response. 

How to Stop Self-Loathing

To release the feeling of self-loathing, you need to be aware of your inner voice and the reasons for the criticism. Is self-loathing a program you developed due to a belief that you are bad and not good?

This can happen to children who are unfairly criticised by parents and teachers. If you were disciplined for expressing your instinctive nature as a child and told to “stop messing about”, “be quiet” and other reprimands of that ilk, your intellect cuts you off from your instinctive nature because it is deemed inappropriate for society. 

In this scenario, the Self rebels by way of a complex. Self-loathing is a symptom that reflects a complex is lurking in your subconscious. You may not be aware of why this energy is surfacing but its purpose is to build the character armour of your ego and drive you towards self-development. 

The Self tries to bring missing aspects of your personality to conscious awareness by creating challenges and disturbances through an internal conflict. Self-loathing is an internal conflict.

Thought-Provoking Quote

“The existence of a differentiating grade within the ego, which may be called the ego-ideal or superego… this part of the ego is less closely connected with consciousness than the rest…an object which was lost has been reinstated within the ego; that is, that and object-cathexis has been replaced by an identification.” [6]

~ Sigmund Freud, The Ego and the Id, p.21 Kindle Loc 295 (1923)

It can be useful to question your thoughts when that critical inner voice kicks in. Is it justified? Remember that you are entitled to make mistakes — if you learn from them. 

In these moments you may feel angry and frustrated with yourself, but you also have to that the ego needs to be trained to deal with certain situations. No matter what age you are, your ego can always be developed.

Are we ever the finished article? Very few people will attain enlightenment in this lifetime, so don’t beat yourself up because you made a mistake. 

However, you also have to ask yourself whether the criticism is justified. Are you actually striving to reach your full potential? Or are you walking down easy-street and settling for what you’ve got? 

If the latter is true, the criticism you are receiving from your inner voice is urging you to do more with your life. The inner voice is the critical Athena refusing to mate with Hephaestus — the Everyman archetype.

athena self-loathing

The archetype you need to develop in this scenario is the Everyman. The emotional goal of the Everyman is to develop the personality and overcome self-esteem. Developing your ego and engaging with life, primes you for success, happiness and fulfilment.

The golden rule is not to be afraid of rejection or failure, otherwise you abandon yourself. And this is the cardinal sin of the Everyman. In trying to fit in, this energy mimics everyone else instead of developing your own personality or trying to carve out the life you want to live.

The Everyman is synonymous with that part of the personality that Jung called the persona, the mask you wear in public to hide weaknesses, anxieties and other parts of your nature that you find abhorrent.

However, the parts of you that you think are not acceptable, take possession of the ego in the form of a complex. If the ego identifies with the persona, you don’t develop your personality, you become an abhorrent aspect of your nature. Complexes surface as aggression, jealousy, cowardice, fickleness etc.

“The danger is that they become identical with their personas..; henceforth he lives exclusively against the background of his own biography…One could say, with a little exaggeration, that the persona is that which in reality one is not, but which oneself as well as others think one is.” [7]

~ Carl Jung, CW9 Part 1, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious

Although Jung points out that successful people identify with their personas, the same is true of individuals who believe they are worthless and good for nothing. Insecurity harbours ingrained beliefs that you are mediocre, powerless and have no sense of purpose.

In Greek mythology, Hephaestus – the Everyman archetype – falls in love with Athena and attempts to sexually impose himself upon her. Athena resists, but in the struggle, Hephaestus ejaculates onto Athena’s thigh. 

Athena wipes the semen from her leg, and falling to the earth impregnates Gaia who gives birth to a hideous child, Erichthonius half man (intellect) and half serpent (instinct).

The etymology of the name Erichthonius means earth born, or trouble from the earth. The earth, Gaia, is symbolic of the subconscious, the body’s storage of past experiences, many of which are split-off consciousnesses that become complexes. 

As I mentioned earlier, self-loathing is a symptom of a complex. Jung classified a complex as an archetype and proposed that these unconscious energies take possession of the ego in an attempt to alert you that something is wrong. Releasing a complex involves getting to know the archetype and finding harmony between the Self-ego axis.

It is in the exchange between the ego and the various characters that rise up from the unconscious and appear in my imagination that I begin to bind the fragmented pieces of myself into a unity. I begin to know, and learn from, the parts of myself I have never known before.”

~ Robert Johnson, Inner Work

Erichthonius later became a heralded King of Athens. His crowning accomplishment was to invent chariots which helped people manage horses and make it easier for them to control. When he died, Zeus turned him into the constellation Auriga, known as the Charioteer. 

In symbolism, the Charioteer is tasked with controlling the direction of the horses, horses being synonymous with the raw energy arising from the unconscious id —passions, emotions, drives and impulses.  

In Tarot, the Charioteer is driven by Apollo, the Sage archetype, although some sources name the Chariot driver as Ares — the Hero archetype that is not in control of his passions or emotions. 

Whereas Athena is the critical judgemental aspect of the Sage, Apollo is self-awareness. Self-awareness can be reached through logic and reasoning, attributes of the healthy Sage. This is how you can bring harmony between the Self-ego axis. 

Apollo Sage

The other option is to activate the Hero and get up off your arse and take steps to fulfil your full potential. If you instinctively feel you are meant for more, the self-loathing is Athena urging you to better yourself. Your inner wisdom knows best. 

To overcome self-loathing by activating the Hero, you need to operate from a love-based centre. Understanding the reason for your self-loathing and using it as motivation to create a life you and the Superego can be proud of is a starting point. 

You may also have to overcome fear which you can do by engaging with life and learning the skills you need to acquire to transform self-loathing into self-love; which is what Ares does when he falls into the arms of Aphrodite.

Summary of Self-Loathing

Self-loathing can be a difficult thing to deal with. Luckily, there are effective strategies to help you quieten the inner voice, and use it to identify where you can improve your life. Expressing repressed emotions helps you to fight anxiety and depression.

Master Mind Content has designed a program specifically to address anxiety and depression. I healed myself and I’m confident I can heal you too! Not only that, but you will use the tools I give you for the rest of your life – because they empower you to make decisions with confidence and live the life that YOU create, not the life that is created for you.

References

[1] Sigmund Freud, The Ego and the Id, p.31 (1923)

[2] Jeremy Griffith, Freedom: The End of the Human Condition, p.143, para 248, (2015)

[3] Jeremy Griffith, Freedom: The End of the Human Condition, p.148-1489 para 258, (2015)

[4] Jeremy Griffith, Freedom: The End of the Human Condition, p.151 para 263, (2015)

[5] Jeremy Griffith, Freedom: The End of the Human Condition, p.166 para 283, (2015)

[6] Sigmund Freud, The Ego and the Id, p.21 Kindle Loc 295 (1923)

[7] Carl Jung, CW9 Part 1, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, paras 2nd ed (1968)

In this article, we explore how the availability heuristic works and take a look at its benefits and pitfalls.

We make a lot of decisions every day. Our decisions range from simple matters such as what to wear to more complex matters like attempting to determine why a particular incident happened. (This is where an understanding of esoteric symbolism pays dividends).  

But ordinarily, the brain has limits. The conscious mind is only capable of processing a small amount of information at any one time. 

So when you are faced with a complex situation, your brain may not have the capacity to consider all the variables, available information and possible alternatives. 

This can lead us to make important life decisions without a clear vision or path. Whilst this is not inherently a bad thing, it can sometimes mean that we set off in the direction in the first place.

One way of avoiding poor choices is a technique known as heuristics. The process behind this decision-making strategy makes the judgment process easier and more intuitive (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). 

The availability heuristic technique creates a shortcut that you can use to assess the likelihood of an event. The assessment is based on how quickly and easily examples come to mind. 

Self Development Healing

Because of how the brain works, when you remember something effortlessly, it must be important and happen frequently. Whilst this can be a useful tool for making quick judgments, it often leads to poor decisions. The reason for this is that memory recall is a habitual program. 

The goal of heuristics is to override the habitual program and drop deeper into the unconscious where your intuition resides. 

The main benefit of the availability heuristic is it allows you to assess risk and make decisions quickly and easily (Pachur et al., 2012). As mentioned above, sometimes you just don’t have the time or resources to gather enough information to evaluate fully. 

Troubleshooting The Availability Heuristic

The availability heuristic provides a foundation to draw conclusions fast, thus freeing up your mind to focus on other things. It simplifies complex decisions so you can take timely action. 

However, ease of memory recall is often a poor guide for judging risk. Memories that are recent, unusual, or have an emotional component stand out. 

But this doesn’t necessarily mean these types of events happen frequently. So it’s easy to see how this can lead to bias, errors in judgment, and poor decisions. Here are a few examples of what can happen:

Examples of The Availability Heuristic

Fear of flying

An often-cited example is overestimating the chances of being in a plane crash because of the extensive media coverage after one happens. This can trigger a fear of flying even though we’re far more likely to die in a car crash. 

After 9/11, the fear of terrorist attacks persuaded many people to travel by car rather than flying, even though the odds of another similar attack were minuscule. This upsurge in car travel led to an increase in car crashes, causing almost as many deaths as the terrorist attack (Blalock et al., 2009).

Fear of terrorist attacks

This also stands out in our minds due to extensive media coverage and its emotional nature.

Fear of getting in the ocean after seeing the movie Jaws: 

It’s more common to die from being struck by lightning or be hit by parts falling off a plane than being attacked by a shark.

Beliefs about global warming

In one study, participants ranked the seriousness of climate change higher if they were asked on a day that was unusually warm as opposed to unusually cold (Li et al., 2011).

​Medical misnomers

Another study showed that people invite unnecessary stress on themselves if a friend is diagnosed with a serious illness, we tend to overestimate our chances of getting it too (Pachur et al., 2012). Ironically, worry and stress can increase the risk of getting sick.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a case of Legionella pneumonia was mistakenly thought to be Covid (Kyere et al., 2022). This can be serious because it leads to inappropriate treatment.

How to Avoid The Availability Heuristic

The first step is becoming aware of it. Ask yourself: ‘Was this the first thing that popped into my mind? Is this memory emotionally charged or especially vivid? Is it something I saw recently in the news?’

If the answer to any of these filtering questions is yes, delay a decision. The choice you have in your head right now is recency bias based on memory. When you are trying to change your future you usually have to do something different. 

Memories are always built on things you have done in the past. 

memories availability heuristic

So, question your initial choices and think about possible alternatives.

There are several ways to do this. 

The first thing to do is to quieten your mind and ask your superconscious. Unless you are super connected it’s doubtful you will get an answer immediately. But it may come in a moment or two. 

However, the right choice may only appear to you later on. In my experience, it’s either when you actively gather more information and you sense the right answer through your inner knowing faculty which I call Sage energy.

Other times, the right information appears randomly. For example, you might be browsing the internet or reading a book on a completely unrelated topic but get inspiration that helps you make a decision.

It’s also not unusual for you to be speaking to a friend or work colleague about something completely unrelated and they say something that sparks an idea. Or you may even overhear a conversation between two strangers and your answer reveals itself. 

This is why they say the Lord (the laws of the Universe) works in mysterious ways. Also, watch out for synchronicity of symbols and numbers. Symbols serve as a guide to making decisions with confidence.

If you want to know how and why symbolism communicates with us, buy the Beginner’s Guide To Symbolism for just $33. In this course, you will learn how you can access all the information you need and how to interpret symbolism — the language of the Universe. 

Beginners Guide To Symbolism

As Plato and countless other philosophers noted, you have access to all the answers you will ever need, you just have realised them yet. In other words, you haven’t received the information you are looking for. But ask, and you will receive. 

“Brothers and sisters,’ he says, ‘the law will allow being united if the lot so fall, and if the Pythian priestess also sanctions it by oracle.”

~ Plato, The Republic

Alternatively, you may decide to speak to someone you trust. If they have a different point of view or idea, give it some consideration without allowing your own bias to interfere. 

But then you put your decision-making in the hands of somebody else. And they don’t know what you need to do as well as your Superconscious does. It is the Superconscious that enables you to reach your full potential. The Superconscious enables you to thrive. 

If you successfully change your initial belief and act in a way that goes against the grain of your habitual program, you are on your way to upgrading your subconscious. 

Congratulations.

The Availability Heuristic In Sum

The availability heuristic can help you make better decisions that serve you better further down the road. It’s a useful and necessary tool when faced with uncertainty or when you trying to overcome habitual patterns of behaviour but feel stuck. 

Just be wary not to underestimate risks that can get you in over your head, or for that matter, to overestimate risks that hold you back from doing things you want to do.

The next time you hold back from moving forward because trying something different feels risky, apply ration and reason by asking how many people were not harmed by this activity. 

Or if it feels like you’re worrying a bit too much about something happening, it can help to do some research to find out if your fear is based on fact or propaganda that stoked your emotions at some point in the past.

References

Irrational guilt is a complex emotional response that arises when an individual believes they have done something morally or ethically wrong. It can also surface if you fail to meet the values and principles you set for yourself. 

Although guilt can manifest in various ways, the emotional response can be divided into two categories; intrinsic guilt and irrational or maladaptive guilt.

It is the latter that reveals something is fundamentally wrong with your emotional apparatus — and also where the largest number of subcategories are identified. 

To give the summing up a short thrift, intrinsic guilt is natural and tied to remorse. Irrational guilt arises due to the thought or perception that you have done something wrong.

We’ve probably all done something wrong that we kept secret and felt guilty about later. In some cases, feelings of intrinsic guilt will be justified, However, sometimes the guilt you experience is not justified. You may be being too hard on yourself — or you have a program that brings feelings of guilt into conscious awareness. 

It’s because of the latter that it’s important to distinguish between intrinsic guilt and irrational guilt.

If you do feel bouts of irrational guilt from time to time, take note that you may have a complex that should be addressed. Complexes like guilt are signals that are trying to tell you something.

A guilt complex can lead to anxiety and depression. If you get to this stage you are in neurosis territory and heading towards the debilitating disease end of the spectrum. 

Let’s take a deeper dive.

Intrinsic Guilt — Natural Guilt/Remorseful Guilt

Intrinsic guilt is good guilt. It’s naturally hard-wired into the nervous system and arises when you have performed an act that you should rightly feel guilty about. 

Intrinsic guilt is a testament to your personal integrity. It shows that you are psychologically developed and healthy. You have a conscience. If you also have emotional intelligence, you will be able to admit your guilt. Sometimes confessing eases the feeling of guilt.

confession compassion

Prime examples of the times when you should feel intrinsic guilt may include cheating on your partner, stealing, physically or emotionally abusing someone, denting a car in the parking lot and driving away without leaving your number etc. 

Thus intrinsic guilt is tied to taking responsibility for your actions. When you betray the morals and ethics you conscientiously feel obliged to live by, you naturally feel a sense of guilt. And this can knock your self-esteem or sense of pride.

“The self-judgement which declares that the ego falls short of its ideal produces the sense of worthlessness… as a child grows up, the office of the father is carried on by masters and by others in authority; the power of their injunctions and prohibitions remain vested in the ego-ideal and continues, in the form of conscience, to exercise the censorship of morals. The tension between the demand of conscience and the actual attainment of the ego is experienced as a sense of guilt. Social feelings rest on the foundation of identifications with others, on the basis of an ego ideal in common with them.

Sigmund Freud, The Ego and the Id, p.31 (1923) 

Researchers also categorise intrinsic guilt as the capacity to empathise [1] with the person or people you have offended — or would offend if they were to discover your misdeeds.

Once you begin to hold yourself to the ethical standards of the spiritual path, it becomes harder to let yourself get away with insensitive or harmful behaviour. At the same time, you may still have some old habits of carelessness and unconsciousness.

So, despite your best intentions, you sometimes do things that you know aren’t good for yourself or other people—and feel guilty. But if you are willing to look more deeply, you’ll probably find that your sense of toxic guilt has very little to do with anything that you did. That, paradoxically, is what makes it so toxic.

 But what you do find is that toxic intrinsic guilt is a source of energy that Sigmund Freud called the Superego, or ego-ideal. When the ego veers off the path or falls off the wagon, as it were, your inner conscience makes you feel guilty.

“Intrinsic guilt is the consequence of betrayal of one’s own inner nature or self, a turning off the path to self-actualisation, and is essentially justified self disapproval.” [2]

~ Abraham Maslow: Toward A Psychology Of Being 

When you suffer from this kind of pervasive guilt, any real-time infraction you commit becomes so freighted by the weight of your stored guilty feelings that facing it can feel paralyzing.

This type of natural guilt may also be accompanied by remorse after contemplating your wrongdoing and recognising the pain and suffering you might have caused someone. Or at the very least, pissed them off.

Intrinsic Guilt Is a Healthy Signal

Studies show that overwhelming feelings of natural guilt will prompt individuals to confess their crime or show their remorse in one way or another. Confession is a means for believers to wash away their “sins” in a religious setting.

So, we can quite correctly link natural guilt with a betrayal of social ethics and human morals. 

Themis scales of justice

Intrinsic guilt is okay. It’s actually necessary for holding people accountable. It also underlies a psyche that is still relatively healthy even if you’re not whole or on the path to self-actualisation. 

If you do not feel guilty for any wrongdoing, on the other hand, that can also be a signal that you are psychologically and emotionally disturbed. Narcissistic personality disorder, sociopaths and psychopaths do not feel guilt. 

For now, the guilt-free feelings are beyond the scope of this article. What I want to discuss are the two “toxic” types of guilt that many of us feel without even doing anything we are guilty of. 

I know this feeling from a young age. One memory that stands out for me was during my teens. There was this one time when a teacher at school came into our classroom and said whoever sprayed graffiti on the gym wall would be punished. 

Although I was not the culprit, I felt a sense of guilt welling inside; at least what I perceived to be guilt. At the time, I didn’t know why feelings of guilt surfaced. 

What I have recently discovered is that many of my earlier experiences with discipline were unjustified. I felt some of the punishments handed out to me in my formative years were unjustified. I was being accused, judged and sentenced for being me or just because I was there. 

The guilt I felt that day as a 14-year-old was because I thought I might be accused of doing something I hadn’t done. Like the time I had to scrape toilet paper out of the basin that someone had stuffed in there. I wasn’t the culprit but I got the blame along with another boy. I asked him if he had done it and he denied that he had. I will never know if he lied or not.

On another occasion, my friends were messing about and causing a disruption whilst I sat quietly on a chair. I was hauled into the headmaster’s office regardless. One of my friends defended me but the teacher punished me anyway. 

Every child is punished for something they either didn’t do or for something they did not realise was wrong. Like being told off by your parents for behaving in a way that is deemed unacceptable. You didn’t know you were doing anything wrong. You were guilty of being yourself.

This is one of the reasons why you feel guilty. Guilt is a subconscious program that is free-floating and irrational. 

child discipline

Free-Floating Guilt (The first type of Irrational Guilt)

Free-floating guilt is a toxic guilt that surfaces when intrinsic guilt has been allowed to fester. It’s a subjective experience that can vary in intensity and duration from person to person.

Toxic guilt gives you a general sense of unease or guilt that seems to exist without a clear cause or rational explanation. This feeling can be pervasive and persistent, and individuals who experience it may have trouble identifying why they feel guilty.

Free-floating guilt is sometimes associated with underlying anxiety or depression. People experiencing high levels of stress or emotional distress may develop a sense of guilt that is not tied to any specific wrongdoing but rather reflects their overall emotional state.

Studies show that free-floating guilt can arise from a specific behaviour that is perceived to be “bad”. [3] It typically arises spontaneously and can be accompanied by a feeling of unworthiness. 

Another type of free-floating toxic guilt is shamed-based guilt. This is rooted in feelings of inadequacy and is the result of being disciplined as a child simply for being natural. 

Parents who shame their children as a form of discipline seed a program that surfaces as irrational guilt later in life. Individuals experiencing this type of guilt often perceive themselves as inherently flawed or bad, leading to a deep sense of shame, worthlessness and powerlessness. 

Irrational guilt is, therefore, tied to how you assess yourself and how you perceive other people to judge you. You even go as far as to develop avoidance patterns that prompt you to repress how you think and feel or meet your basic needs; love, belongingness, safety, self-esteem and respect.

irrational guilt feeling

Some people feel guilty for something they didn’t do but could have done better. For example, one of my clients still felt guilty for the collapse of her marriage, even though she had been divorced for 20 years. 

Her guilt came because she blamed herself for not doing enough to maintain or save her marriage. Yet it was her husband who cheated on her. So her guilt was misplaced. She felt guilty because she was deemed ‘not good enough’ and blamed herself for not doing more to make her husband stay loyal. Her ingrained belief was she ‘could have done better.’ 

These are subconscious programs associated with the unhealthy Sage. This energy typically surfaces when children are unfairly judged, criticised and punished as a child. The Sage also has a strong sense of justice being served, an offshoot and another signal tied to guilt (the second type of irrational guilt detailed below). 

Even as an adult, there may also be times when you are made to feel guilty by your friends or partners. This is a form of manipulation to make you feel guilty, and in instances where you have let someone down invariably you do feel guilt. Again, that dreaded feeling of not being a good person rears its ugly head. 

An example might be that you feel guilty for not calling your mother and your sibling has a go at you for it. 

Existential Guilt (the Second Type of Irrational Guilt)

This second type of irrational guilt is existential guilt. It is also a seed planted to prod your conscience but is typically triggered by an external incident—usually an accusation or, as in my case at school that day, the false perception that somebody will suspect you are guilty of whatever misdeed has occurred.

For example, in some cases, existential guilt may surface when you see pictures of starving children in Africa on the news, a homeless person in the street, or if you stem from a “white-privilege” background, an individual from an ethnic minority that you know is subject to racial abuse.

Existential guilt is typically due to collective or cultural guilt that makes you feel responsible for someone else’s well-being, even if the situation is beyond your control. This can be particularly challenging when caring for loved ones with health issues or emotional struggles.

This type of irrational guilt, or anxiety, is deemed to arise from a person’s contemplation of their existence, freedom, and choices in the face of life’s inherent uncertainties.

Existentialists emphasise the idea that individuals have radical freedom to make choices and create their own meaning in life. However, this freedom also carries the burden of responsibility for one’s choices. 

Existential guilt can arise when individuals feel overwhelmed by the weight of their choices and the consequences that come with them. Particularly if your choices are not aligned with the purpose of your True Nature.

Are your lifestyle choices materialistic, hedonistic or misdirected? Are you living a life your parents guided, or pushed, you towards, or are you fulfilling your true purpose?

liberation

The existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre stressed the importance of authenticity, which involves being true to oneself and one’s values. Authenticity requires self-respect. You only have control of your own choices, nobody else’s. 

“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It is up to you to give [life] a meaning.”

~ Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness (1943)

Existential guilt may arise if you feel that you are living an inauthentic life, conforming to societal norms or expectations rather than living in accordance with your own values, beliefs, or purpose.

When you live this way you repress or suppress aspects of your personality and deny them expression. This is a form of self-betrayal, a lack of self-respect.

Guilt, therefore, could be your inner conscience signalling that you are not being your True Self. You have become the mask you show in public rather than who you truly are. It’s this part of you that Sigmund Freud called the Superego that makes you feel guilty when you betray your True Self or neglect to take responsibility for your personal growth.

Practical Exercises For Overcoming Guilt 

Overcoming guilt and upgrading your subconscious program is a step that most people if not everybody, should perform at some point or other. If you can identify with episodes of irrational guilt, undertaking practical exercises for overcoming guilt is advisable — especially if it is reducing your happiness and fulfilment of life. 

First of all, identify whether the source of your guilt is intrinsic or irrational. 

Overcoming Irrational Guilt Which Is Intrinsic

Whilst intrinsic guilt is natural, and a signal that you are inherently a good person don’t forget, that if you allow it to fester, unchallenged guilt can continue to haunt you for years. 

So if you are still feeling guilty about something you feel or know was wrong years ago, get it off your conscience and tell someone. Even if you only confess anonymously, speaking to someone who will give you feedback and redemption can help you to overcome your misdeed. 

Also, forgive yourself. At the time, you may have had good reason to do what you did, or you didn’t know any better. Reason with yourself and give yourself the redemption somebody else would. 

Studies show that holding onto guilt sabotages the mind and gets in the way of leading “fulfilling, meaningful and happy lives”. Holding onto guilt is shown to increase levels of stress and anxiety.

We all do stupid shit when we’re younger, either because we don’t know any better or because of unconscious impulses that prompt us to take actions we have no control over. This can happen when an archetype takes possession of the ego and you have a moment a madness. 

Abduction of Persephone

Overcoming Irrational Guilt

Healing irrational guilt starts by identifying thought patterns that may be contributing to your guilt. Are you holding yourself to unrealistic standards or expecting perfection?

When you notice negative self-talk or self-criticism, challenge those thoughts with rational and evidence-based counterarguments. Ask yourself if there’s concrete evidence to support your feelings of guilt.

It can often be the case that we hold ourselves accountable for being guilty or ‘bad’ because we were programmed as children to believe we were not good enough.

It’s important to recognise that humans are inherently good. Moreover, we make mistakes in the heat of a moment that we may later regret. Practice self-compassion by treating yourself with kindness and understanding. 

If you suspect irrational guilt is the result of unjust punishment when you were are child, acknowledge that you have no reason to feel guilty. Then forgive the person, or persons responsible for seeding this program. 

Here’s a personal example of how I was programmed to feel irrational guilt. 

When I was six or seven, I was punished by a teacher for not being able to do a maths sum. To this day, I remember standing at her desk at the front of the class. Other children in the room were chattering and I couldn’t think straight. I also felt under pressure and had brain fog. 

The teacher became frustrated with me. Maybe she thought I wasn’t trying or she was disappointed because she thought I should do better. She gave a black spot. 

When a child was given a black spot at our school, they had to stand up and own it in assembly where their guilt and shame were hung out to dry in front of the entire school. 

I suppose the intention of this exercise was to make an example of things children should not do. What our school was actually doing was humiliating children and seeding guilt and shame in their subconscious that they would carry into adulthood. 

If anything like this happened to you it’s not your fault. 

I suspect the source of my guilt was due to being humiliated for not completing a maths sum. My seven-year-old brain is then seeded with the program that I am not good enough. 

The program ‘I am not good enough’ not only surfaces as guilt but can also appear as perfectionism as I explain in the video below. 

What made my humiliation worse is that on the day of the assembly when I knew I would have to stand up and own my punishment, I feigned illness and skipped school. 

However, the teacher was not prepared to allow me to escape punishment. She brought my misdemeanour up in an assembly the following week and I had to stand in front of the entire school on my own. 

Now all eyes were on me. And only me! The sense of humiliation and feeling of ‘I am not good enough’ was intensified. 

This punishment I received does clearly not merit the misdemeanour. Not being able to complete a maths sum doesn’t make me a bad person. But can you see how this incident would cause the feeling of guilt to arise when the teacher was looking for the graffiti vandal? 

That guilt was because I thought I was going to be accused and judged unfairly. So consider when guilty feelings arise for you. Is it when you do something that you expect people will judge you for? 

It could be that your expectation of being judged is being overblown by your imagination. What are you actually doing that other people don’t do?

The reality is, probably nothing. 

Irrational Guilt is A Repressed Instinct

It’s very easy to program a child with guilt. Scientific research shows how guilt is a biological phenomenon that occurs as a result of a child being made to believe they are bad. 

When this happens, the ego feels it has to defend itself. Here’s how it works. 

Remember that humans are intrinsically good. What actually makes us believe we are bad is our experiences in life; our culture, parenting skills and how we are treated by teachers and peers. 

When a child is unjustly treated and accused of being ‘bad’, the ego tries to block out these painful experiences. Psychobiology shows us that the intellect suppresses our instincts. 

But instincts — the True Self or “soul” — continue to provide feedback in the form of complexes such as irrational guilt. Complexes are actually split-off aspects of your personality that have been buried. 

To defend its sense of self-worth the ego continues to suppress instincts in order to deny unwanted criticism. This is how we develop feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem; both of which are associated with feelings of guilt and shame. [4]

Complexes cause problems in our lives. In ancient mythology, these split-off instincts are personified as demons, or satan, Lucifer who was thrown out of heaven for defying god. Complexes stunt our personal and spiritual growth.

The intellect then has to develop a coping mechanism to fill the void left by the missing aspect of your personality. According to Freud, when we give into the instincts of the id (the demons), the Superego judges your behaviour and makes you feel guilty for not living a good and righteous life. 

But this all happens when you were made to feel bad or a failure in the first place.

In his book, Freedom: The End of the Human Condition, Jeremy Griffith highlights how the moral conscience of our instincts makes us feel guilty. 

“We discover at the very end of our journey to enlightenment that conscious humans, immensely corrupt as we are, are ‘good’ and not ‘bad’ after all, and that which was ‘good’, our moral conscience, turns out to be the cause of our sin.” [5]

~ Jeremy Griffith, Freedom: The End of the Human Condition

So feelings of guilt may be arising because you are not living life to your full potential. If you are influenced by complexes that create coping mechanisms, your inner judge is making you feel guilty. 

So the best way to overcome irrational guilt is to identify which complexes are a coping mechanism and integrate the missing aspect of your personality. 

You can identify complexes by using the archetypes tool designed by Master Mind Content. This tool enables you to identify which energies are leading you astray and creating irrational guilt. 

Archetypes tool screenshot

If existential guilt is coming up for, it can serve as a catalyst for self-reflection and reasoning that leads to personal growth. 

Existential guilt is not necessarily a pathological condition but rather a philosophical and psychological exploration of the human condition. It shows you have compassion and empathy. 

But it can also reveal to you that your life is not moving in the right direction. Does your life have purpose and meaning? 

Master Mind Content has some powerful yet easy-to-learn tools that can help you transform how you feel, think and behave. Sign up for our self-development program today and cultivate a richer quality of life.

References 

[1] Guilt in Psychology

[2] Abraham Maslow: Toward A Psychology Of Being, p.161, Kindle Loc 3200, (1962)

[3] Shame and guilt in neurosis 

[4] Shame and guilt: their relationship with self-esteem and social connectedness in Irish adults, Ward (2014)

[5] Jeremy Griffith, Freedom: The End of the Human Condition, p.166 para 283 (2015)

A key goal in life is, or should be, to become self-actualised. This is a term used by renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow when describing his theory of human motivation and the Hierarchy of Needs.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and self-actualised people
Image Credit: EucalyptusTreeHugger

Maslow defined self-actualisation as the: 

“…ongoing actualisation of potentials, capacities and talents, as fulfilment of mission (or call, fate, destiny, or vocation), as a fuller knowledge of, and acceptance of, the persons intrinsic nature, as an unceasing trend toward unity, integration of synergy within the person)”. 

~ Abraham Maslow: Toward A Psychology Of Being, p.29, Kindle Loc 512, (1962)

Moreover, Maslow believed that striving towards an actualised state of being is a necessary requirement for growth, fulfilment and satisfaction. He hypothesised that our outlook on life, and subsequently, our state of mind is correlated with whether our needs and drives are met.

Our basic needs relate to physical survival;  food, water, shelter and safety. These need to be met first. Then we strive to achieve social connection and self-esteem. Once all of these goals are met, we move on to seeking self-actualization—or achieving our full potential.

“Preserving oneself and reaching out for fulfilment, for excitement and for enlargement. I have tried to express this as a contrast between living fully and preparing to live fully, between growing up and being grown”.

~ Abraham Maslow: Toward A Psychology Of Being, p.35 Kindle Loc 633, (1962)

Later, an additional need was added—contributing something purposeful that is greater than ourselves. This is also referred to as “Beyond Self-Actualization,” “Transcendence,” or “Selfless Actualization” (Greene, & Burke, 2007).

Maslow suggested that basic needs are “deficit needs” or D-Love which stands in opposition to what he labelled B-Love — a process of being. It is in the latter dynamic that we are self-actualised or moving towards self-actualising. 

To give you some idea, Maslow defined B-love as feeling love for another person without needing anything in return, a selfless love that augurs unselfish acts. 

When we behave from a base of D-Love, on the other hand, a deficiency exists which creates a love need; affection, to be acknowledged and appreciated. This is a state of being associated with the unhealthy traits of the Caretaker which I described in the Caretaker Part Two | Archetypes Explained series on YouTube. 

<<<<Watch by clicking in the video below>>>> 

As I mention in the above video, you can identify if you have deficiency needs if you are a people pleaser (as opposed to a pleaser of people which is a healthy psychology). 

The unhealthy Caretaker shows up in individuals that have low self-esteem which drives an unconscious lack of self-respect. In this stage of conscious awareness, you are stuck in survival mode.

More precisely — emotional survival! The ego protects your emotional survival. 

Self-actualization and beyond promote “growth needs.” In this stage of conscious awareness, you transcend survival instincts and become attuned to thriving.

Ironically, thriving can be driven by the need to survive. We are often more motivated when we are at our most desperate. It is a question of sink or swim. 

Individuals with a healthy mindset fuelled from a loved-based centre will learn to swim. If your mind is operating from a fear-based centre, you’re more inclined to sink. 

Anxiety is a sign that you are in a situation that you need to survive. Chronic anxiety is an indication that you are having difficulty learning to swim. If you fall into depression, you are literally drowning in the sea of your unconscious. 

You are overwhelmed by the energies of your repressed emotions. 

Self-Development is Essential

If you want to survive in this life, you have to thrive. Fuck emotional survival. Unless you take uncomfortable action and expose yourself to experiences that make you feel vulnerable you will never grow. 

You learn how to swim by jumping into the pool. The ego needs life experiences to learn how to live. The more situations you find yourself in, the more developed and whole you become. 

Studies show that personal growth is considered to be a crucial precursor to well-being (Ryff, 1989). There is also growing evidence to show that neglecting self-development leads to neuroses such as anxiety and depression (Adolesc 2017). It also increases your risk of disease. (Bobo et al 2022) 

Integration-Debilitation Graphic and self-actualisation

When you experience a complex or the symptoms of neurosis, it is important to recognise them as the emergence of consciousness. This type of complex or neurosis can be classified as the emergence of an archetypal energy that is hidden from conscious awareness. 

Once the emerging archetype comes into conscious awareness, you are in a position, and responsible for integrating the energy into your personality. In other words, you program the ego to relate to the external world. 

You learn how to swim. 

“Every archetype is capable of endless development and differentiation. It is therefore possible for it to be more developed or less…”

~ Carl Jung, CW 12, Psychology and Alchemy, para12, (1968)

When the conscious mind recognises and acknowledges the emerging quality surfacing from the unconscious — which Carl Jung calls an archetype — you move towards self-actualisation, or what Jung called individuation. 

Thus the archetypes play a central role in identifying the emergent qualities of your personality. They are reflected in the thoughts, actions and behaviours of the ego. They are recognised in complexes, neurosis and disease.

How to Become Self-Actualized

1. Cultivate Openness to Experience

Researchers indicate that thinking in black-and-white terms, results in missed opportunities to learn, grow, and experience things that could bring more meaning to our lives. Self-actualisation involves being open to alternative information and points of view (Greene, & Burke, 2007). 

An individuating approach to life involves looking at problems in creative ways and from different perspectives. This requires you to be more open to engaging in different experiences — even when your ego is afraid or anxious. (Hero) 

Ares Hero archetype

Anxiety arises due to a fear of loss, failure, disappointment or rejection. In some people, these fears can prevent you from engaging in life altogether. A strategy to overcome this is to relinquish the desire or expectation of an outcome. 

If there is no desire, there is no fear. 

2. Reflect on Your Values

If you aim to become your best self, get clear on your values, principles and life goals (Greene, & Burke, 2007). When you strive to reach goals that go against your values or morals, you betray yourself. 

Self-betrayal leads to a lack of fulfilment, dissatisfaction and unhappiness. Maslow theorised that betrayal is linked with being disappointed in yourself which he related to “intrinsic guilt”. 

“Intrinsic guilt is the consequence of betrayal of one’s own inner nature or self, a turning off the path to self-actualisation, and is essentially justified self disapproval.”

~ Abraham Maslow: Toward A Psychology Of Being, p.161, Kindle Loc 3200 (1962) 

3. Self-actualisation Moves You Beyond Love and Esteem Needs

Mainstream psychologists relate self-actualisation to “esteem needs” (Krems, Kenrick, & Neel, 2017). For example, a yearning for love and belonging or for success in a career. 

There is nothing at all wrong with striving for love or success to build self-esteem. In fact, according to mainstream psychology, we need to satisfy these needs before moving on to self-actualisation. 

But, in my experience, and therefore, in my opinion, nurturing self-esteem is part of the process of self-actualisation. It is a foundational element that gives you the emotional stability to pursue higher goals. 

To nurture self-esteem, you first have to accept the way you are now. Acknowledge, you have weaknesses that can be transformed into strengths. Observe when your behaviours are driven by deficiency needs or a fear-based centre. Accept they exist, and find a solution. 

Solutions can be inspired by the archetypes tool in the Master Mind Content Essential Self-Development Program. There is no single solution that I can offer here because the solution is determined by the emerging archetypal energy and your individual preference.

Essential Self-Development Program

4. Self-Actualisation Involves Living Authentically

One of the reasons that you might feel anxious and potentially become depressed, restless or unhappy is because the nervous system represses aspects of your personality. 

But the reason this happens is because culture determines how we should behave; what it accepted and not accepted. Fuck culture and anybody else that tells you how to live. 

What you need to do is express your True Nature in ways that you feel are fitting for the situation. But you also have to honour your instincts and don’t suppress them when they surface. 

This can present you with a balancing act at times, especially if an unconscious energy that has been repressed projects onto the conscious ego and throws you into a moment of madness. 

But in my experience, this type of overwhelming projection is rare. You know you have these moments, but they don’t happen very often. Therefore it should be safe for you to be authentic and honour archetypal energies when they arise.

This is what it means to be self-directed (Ruler). Being self-actualised doesn’t mean that you suddenly become enlightened like Buddha, Mohammad or Jesus.

Becoming whole may not necessarily lead to enlightenment. But it does lead to positive physical and mental health outcomes. It does lead to happiness, fulfilment, satisfaction, love, peace and wisdom. 

Archetypal energies are powerful tools that help determine which unconscious energies are trying to break through into your conscious thinking. 

Master Mind Content has developed a self-development program that shows you how to recognise archetypal energies and adjust your thoughts, actions and emotions accordingly. With these tools, you will be able to release repressed consciousness, develop your personality and upgrade your subconscious programs with energies that deliver a better quality experience of life. 

If you want to move towards self-actualisation, sign up for our Essential Self-Development Program today, release repressed consciousness and enrich your quality of life.

References

Self-determination refers to the ability of individuals to make choices, set goals, and take actions that align with their values and desires. While self-determination is a fundamental aspect of personal autonomy and well-being, it can often result in mere wishful thinking.

Before you can fulfil the personal goals you fantasize about, you need the motivation to activate self-determination. Motivating powers are within you, but you have to tap into them. Which can be hard to do if you don’t have the energy, willpower or mindset.

Individuals that live with anxiety and depression often struggle to access the innate motivational energies that trigger self-determination. Ironically, fulfilling your goals through self-determination would help you to fight anxiety and depression.

Therefore, it’s worth your while learning to understand what your innate psychological needs are to rev up self-determination.

What is Self-Determination Theory?

To understand self-determination theory we need to understand intrinsic motivation. A helpful place to start is to contrast intrinsic motivation with extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the drive to pursue an action because it is inherently enjoyable or interesting to the individual.

This is a personal interest or goal associated with the Lover archetype. It involves pursuing a passion or boosting your self-esteem through a creative endeavour, business project or goal that you will feel improve your self-esteem.

self-determination

Conversely, extrinsic motivation refers to doing something based on external rewards or outcomes associated with that action (Ryan & Deci, 2000a). This is where you are motivated by an external source, either doing something for somebody else because it makes you feel good or having your confidence boosted by compliments which gives you the drive to keep going.

Examples

To understand intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, here are some situational examples of each: 

Intrinsic Motivation Theory

Much of the extensive early research on intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation was done in the 1970s and 1980s by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, two psychologists interested in personality and behavioural self-regulation. 

In 1985, their book Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior formally introduced self-determination theory (SDT). Self-determination theory was largely focused on factors that impact a sense of control over one’s own life and understanding motivations and choices made without the influence of outside distractions or pressures (Deci & Ryan, 1985). 

The body of research on SDT since its inception has focused on the kinds of social and cultural conditions and factors that can foster or inhibit healthy psychological development, self-regulation, and well-being. 

In other words, what makes people engaged and energised in their daily lives and what holds them back? As you can imagine, understanding intrinsic motivation was a major pillar of work under the theory. 

A subtheory of SDT known as Basic Psychological Need Theory conceptualises three main innate psychological needs. Accessing the three basic needs gives you more motivation to flourish, fuelling growth, fulfilment and enhanced enjoyment of life. 

Self-determination

Conversely, when the three basic needs are absent, undermined or challenged, stagnation and problem behaviour is more likely. Subsequently, individuals are less internally motivated and their well-being decreases.

3 Innate Psychological Needs for Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is classified as a high-quality sense of feeling that gives you the impetus to be wholeheartedly engaged in an activity that brings out your best self. The 3 innate psychological needs are:

Autonomy

The need for autonomy is a need for perceived control over your life and actions—the sense that your behaviour is self-directed and your choices are self-determined. [Ruler] 

However, autonomy is deeper than simply having a sense of control; it is also concerned with a sense of personal integrity and authenticity. [Divine Child — in its full optimal healthy]

Competence 

The need for competence is associated with feelings of mastery and self-efficacy. Feeling capable and effective in an activity is indeed satisfying and can serve as a remedy to feelings of failure or inadequacy in another area. [Creator, Explorer]

Interestingly, people demonstrate a greater motivation to succeed in a competence-supportive task, or something they’re capable of doing, after experiencing competence frustration in a more challenging task (Fang et al., 2018).

Relatedness 

Relatedness, or connection, is a third driver of intrinsic motivation. Relatedness helps individuals to internalise the values of the context or activity in which they are acting and generate a sense of purpose based on this connection. [Lover, Caretaker]

Because of the need to maintain social connections with others and foster a sense of belongingness, we are motivated to act in a way that aligns with these relationships (Leary & Baumeister, 1995).

Benefits of Intrinsic Motivation

Being driven to seek novelty, be curious, and explore just for the sake of doing so is critical for human development. It makes us ready to learn about the world and develop skills without the explicit need for external rewards (Gottfriend, 1983). 

Additionally, curiosity itself can be rewarding. William James noted that curiosity is “the impulse towards better cognition”. It compels us to seek answers to things we don’t know but have an interest in. This is why storytelling is such a good way to learn.

However, curiosity is only a motivating factor if there is an internal drive; a desire to know. After all, most people don’t know most things, and some people have no desire to improve their intellect.

One study used fMRI imaging to observe participants’ brain activity while reading trivia questions. The individuals’ level of curiosity when reading questions correlated positively with activity in caudate regions of the brain (the Eye of Horus) which have previously been linked to reward anticipation. 

Eye of Horus

The study also found that participants were willing to exchange resources for trivia answers when they were more curious, showing that information exchange has reward value when people are in a curious state (Kang et al., 2009). 

However, intrinsic motivation plays a major role in every stage of your life beyond just childhood development. Intrinsic motivation is generally considered to be more durable in the long term than extrinsic motivation because it supports a sense of personal energy and vitality rather than stagnating or depleting it (Ryan & Deci, 2008). 

You’ve most likely heard the phrase, “find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” While that adage probably isn’t 100% true for anyone, it does reflect the advantage of having intrinsic motivation on your side. 

For example, when doing a job that makes you feel satisfied, capable, and connected, you’re motivated to clock in by more than just the promise of a paycheck. 

Intrinsic motivation can also influence the positive effects of other behaviours. One longitudinal study found that the stress-relieving effects of physical activity in young adults were only observed in those who had high intrinsic motivation for exercise (Meyer, Grob, & Gerber, 2001).

In Sum

No matter your age or occupation, intrinsic motivation has likely powered many undertakings throughout your life: spending hours perfecting your three-pointer, learning to make a perfect Baked Alaska, or studying for that big exam to bring you one step closer to becoming a doctor. 

Not everything is intrinsically motivating, but reflecting on what motivates you and finding ways to leverage intrinsic motivation whenever possible can make for a more enriching and vibrant life.

If you’re struggling with anxiety and depression, tapping into your innate qualities that fuel intrinsic motivation can help you to engage with life in more positive and fulfilling ways. 

Master Mind Content has designed a program specifically to address anxiety and depression. I healed myself and I’m confident I can heal you too! Not only that, but you will use the tools I give you for the rest of your life – because they empower you to make decisions with confidence and live the life that YOU create, not the life that is created for you.

 References

Are you a perfectionist and think everybody else should adhere to your high standards? 

Do you expect your partner to be perfect and judge them on their faults — to a fault? How many times have you sabotaged a relationship because there were one or two little things about your partner that bugged you?

Whilst there is nothing wrong with setting high standards, values and goals, if your ideals mean everything has to be perfect it will ruin your enjoyment of life.

Most of us still desire to achieve excellence in certain aspects of our lives. Striving for excellence is a good quality that can lead to success and fulfilment. 

But when perfectionist tendencies are accompanied by feelings of shame, guilt, humiliation, and embarrassment, you need to address why you want everything to be perfect. 

Otherwise, perfectionism will always prevent you from enjoying the moment as it is. And it will almost certainly wreck your relationships with lovers, friends and work colleagues. 

So why are you a perfectionist and is it a healthy trait — or a destructive quality?

In this article, we’ll discuss perfectionism and its characteristics, as well as traits and conditions linked to perfectionism, and how being a perfectionist can affect your well-being.

What Is Perfectionism?

Perfectionism is a personality trait associated with striving to be flawless and often involves being critical of imperfections (Flett & Hewitt, 2002). Although perfectionism can be a healthy motivator in moderation, excessive perfectionism may cause stress and diminish the chances of success. 

Perfectionism

Therefore, the ability to distinguish between healthy (adaptive) and unhealthy (maladaptive) perfectionism may help us understand whether we are helping or hurting ourselves. 

Let’s start by delving deeper into the components of perfectionism. Generally speaking, perfectionism has two dimensions: 

Perfectionist striving is associated with the pursuit of flawlessness, as well as setting high standards (Stoeber & Otto, 2006; Gade, Schermelleh-Engel & Klein, 2017). 

On the other hand, perfectionist concerns include aspects such as critical evaluation of one’s self and perceived performance in the light of high standards (Gade, Schermelleh-Engel & Klein, 2017). 

A perfectionist typically strives for perfection and is simultaneously concerned about not meeting their expectations. Experts associate perfectionist striving with hopes for success, which can bring about positive outcomes, such as higher levels of performance and self-efficacy (Slade & Owens, 1998). 

In contrast, perfectionist concerns are associated with a fear of failure, which may cause worry and stress (Slade & Owens, 1998). Hence, the balance between these two dimensions may determine whether the perfectionism of an individual is adaptive or maladaptive.

What Is Maladaptive Perfectionism?

Maladaptive perfectionism is associated with elevated perfectionist concern. Therefore, it includes excessive preoccupation and rumination about past mistakes, doubts about achieving goals, fear of failure, and fear of letting others down. 

It also means that you nit-pick every minor detail and allow it to annoy you if it isn’t to your liking — if it isn’t perfect. For example, if you can’t get your hair to go right, you can let it ruin your evening.

These negative emotions may be especially high for things outside the individual’s control. Although adaptive perfectionism can help achieve goals, maladaptive perfectionism can cause severe stress and anxiety (Smith et al., 2018). If not managed, maladaptive perfectionism can hurt the individual’s chances of success and erode their self-esteem​ and confidence.

Zen stones

Perfectionist Traits

How Does Being A Perfectionist Affect Well-Being?

Adaptive perfectionism can help people feel successful and fulfilled. However, maladaptive perfectionism may do more harm than good. 

Why? 

Because excessive perfectionism involves holding yourself and others to unreasonably high standards. You develop an ideal world or scenario in your head and the ideal becomes your desire. 

Idealism and perfectionism are unhealthy traits of the Sage archetype, an energy that emerges when you are judged and criticised from a young age.

You, therefore, develop a view of the world that aims to be faultless. Your fixed beliefs determine how you want things to be because this is how you believe things should be.

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Moreover, your constant drive for excellence can lead to chronic stress and anxiety. Unfortunately, chronic stress is associated with adverse health outcomes, including high blood pressure, increased resting heart rate, digestive problems, appetite changes, and a weakened immune system (McEven, 1998).

It can also cause other problems such as irritability, fatigue, insomnia, emotional outbursts, and loss of libido (McEven, 1998). In addition to these effects, excessive perfection may also cause people to feel unsatisfied with how their lives have turned out. These perfectionists may even feel depressed after repeatedly failing to meet their own expectations.

Overcoming Perfectionism

Adaptive perfectionism can indeed make us high achievers. Unfortunately, maladaptive perfectionism can take over our lives and make us anxious and miserable. Luckily, it is something we can overcome. Here are some suggestions that may help you. 

In Sum

Let’s face it; we can’t always be perfect. Adaptive perfectionism can give us the push to achieve the best we can.

Yet, when we set unattainable goals and overly high standards that we can’t achieve, we might become trapped in a vicious cycle of maladaptive perfectionism and start to feel anxious and lose our self-confidence. Luckily, there are ways to overcome perfectionism.

Thus, it is possible to transform excessive tendencies towards perfectionism and allow yourself to enjoy all aspects of your life and feel a sense of satisfaction even when your success is not a 10/10 performance. Success is a success, regardless of how you achieve it, imperfections and all.​

The Master Mind Content Essential Self-Development Program will help you to identify the reasons why you are a perfectionist and adopt new attitudes that enable you to overcome debilitating feelings.

We have developed a self-development program that shows you how to recognise archetypal energies and adjust your thoughts, actions and emotions accordingly. With these tools, you will be able to release repressed consciousness, develop your personality and upgrade your subconscious programs with energies that deliver a better quality experience of life. 

Sign up for our Essential Self-Development Program today, release repressed consciousness and enrich your quality of life.

References

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There’s a growing body of evidence that shows walking can have significant mental and physical health benefits. Mental health experts have even suggested that walking can help you to fight anxiety and depression.

Given the significant increase in anxiety and depression since the pandemic, adopting simple habits that help to alleviate your symptoms makes perfect sense. 

As a matter of fact, mental health practitioners in the UK are recommending nature-based prescriptions to patients with anxiety and depression. Spending time around green spaces and bodies of water is shown to reduce blood pressure and other symptoms associated with anxiety and depression.

A fitness walking program can also help to fight anxiety. Brisk walking is a moderate form of exercise that helps to oxygenate the blood and trigger the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) — the bodily function that instructs the brain to calm down and relax. 

walking can help you to fight anxiety

It should be noted that walking is only a strategy that helps to manage your anxiety and depression. That doesn’t mean that walking is a cure. But it does help to stave off the anxious feelings and make you feel more rejuvenated for a while. 

The only way to truly overcome anxiety and depression is to seek help from an energy psychologist that understands how to identify the root causes that contribute to your condition and provide you with effective tools that enable you to transform your mindset, and thus the energies that manifest as anxiety and depression.

That said, let’s take a look at why walking is a recommended treatment for anxiety and depression that can help you to fight anxiety and depression.

Walking Releases Endorphins

Walking is a form of physical activity that promotes the release of endorphins — neurotransmitters, or chemicals, that are produced by the central nervous system and the pituitary gland. These little fellas are often referred to as “feel-good” hormones because they can induce feelings of pleasure, happiness, and well-being.

When you engage in moderate exercise activities, such as brisk walking and nature walks, it increases your heart rate. Endorphins are released in response to physical stress and contribute to various positive effects on elevated mood and overall mental well-being.

Endorphins are related to happy feelings such as happiness and even euphoria. Elevated moods give you a sense of well-being and fight anxiety.

walking can help you to fight anxiety

Endorphins are also natural painkillers. They inhibit pain signals and reduce stress by promoting feelings of comfort and relief. The body has a natural “pick-me-up,” that works in the same way anti-depressants are supposed to.

It’s important to note that the release of endorphins can vary from person to person and can be influenced by various factors such as the intensity and duration of physical activity, individual physiology, and overall health.

However, incorporating regular walking-based exercises into your daily routines can contribute to the release of endorphins more frequently — and subsequently have a positive effect on your mood and general well-being.

Walking Gets More Oxygen Into The Brain

Oxygen is an essential ingredient that promotes the metabolic process in the brain. A healthy dose of oxygen produces more energy and improves cognitive functions, including memory, concentration, focus, and problem-solving. So it’s pretty important to learn how to breathe properly.

Increasing the oxygen supply to the brain can have several potential benefits for anxiety and depression. The O2 molecule plays a role in regulating the body’s stress response. 

Deep breathing exercises that increase oxygen intake, such as yoga and meditation practices, can activate the body’s relaxation response and reduce stress. This can be particularly beneficial for managing anxiety symptoms and promoting a sense of calm.

ancient wisdom fight anxiety

Oxygen is also involved in the production and regulation of ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and dopamine, which play key roles in mood regulation. Increased oxygen supplies can help support the optimal functioning of these neurotransmitters.

Increased oxygen levels can facilitate the repair and regeneration of brain cells, supporting the brain’s overall health and resilience. This can potentially help combat the negative effects of stress, anxiety, and depression on brain structure and function.

Regular physical activity and more oxygen are also associated with better sleep quality. If insomnia is a feature of your anxiety and depression, making a habit out of walking every day may help you to drop off to sleep.

Walking Reduces Stress which Fight Anxiety & Depression

Stress is intricately linked with anxiety and depression. Walking in nature or a pleasant environment can have a calming effect on the mind. The combination of fresh air, natural surroundings, and gentle exercise can help reduce stress levels, providing a temporary escape from daily pressures and worries.

You can also use your walking practice as a form of mindfulness meditation. If you ask your superconscious a question — say, why am I feeling anxious about __________, then focus your attention on your steps, breath, and sensations in the body, you can bring unconscious content to the surface. So be mindful of the thoughts that appear in your mind. 

Receiving answers from your superconscious requires you to quiet the chattering of the monkey mind. Mindfulness walking is a good way to distract your mind from ruminating thoughts and shift your perspective to something more important — like why you are feeling anxious about ___________.

Buddhist monk fight anxiety

If you can also cajole a friend or family member to join you for a nature walk or support your brisk walking program, the social interaction can also have a positive effect on mood and help reduce feelings of anxiety or stress.

One of the ways to fight anxiety and depression is to make deep emotional connections with other people that nurture your self-esteem and help you to feel loved, needed and wanted. 

Engaging in conversation, sharing experiences, and having a heart-to-heart while walking can contribute to a sense of connection and well-being.

Master Mind Content has designed a program specifically to fight anxiety and depression. I healed myself and I’m confident I can heal you too! Not only that, but you will use the tools I give you for the rest of your life – because they empower you to make decisions with confidence and live the life that YOU create, not the life that is created for you.

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