We want to avoid that situation where life passes, and we are unfulfilled. The more time passes, the more the possibilities narrow, and we have less ability to change our life trajectory. We want to look back and say, “I’ve lived the best life I could have.”

The goal of self-actualization is to utilize our talents and passions to live what we think is a good life, using externals. This might be as simple as traveling worldwide or fine-tuning a skill or as complex as providing humanity with spaceships that take people to Mars.

Obviously, fine-tuning a skill, traveling, and building a spaceship are external processes, as these aims require materials, skills, and external actions. What differentiates self-actualization from inner-actualization is that inner-actualization is more about changing the neuro-psychology of the brain. 

Abraham Maslow hierarchy accurately position the idea that following one’s passions and talents achieve an ideal life, but as Mark W. Gura notes, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs miss the fact that a self-actualized life does not necessarily lead to self-satisfaction. Gura positioned that attaining satisfaction is a different skillset that must be learned, and he named this “Inner Actualization.”