Question: what does it mean to be self-actualised?

Laura Fisk answered on 13 Jun 2019:

I guess you know that ‘self actualised’ is a term used in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Right at the top of the triangle, when all the other, more ‘fundamental’ needs are met, you get a chance at reaching this point of being ‘self-actualised’. I alway found it hard to get my head around – and I wonder if you’re asking the question for the same reason I was confused at first: no one seems to really know…
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Wikipedia says it’s “the realization or fulfilment of one’s talents and potentialities, especially considered as a drive or need present in everyone.” This basically means “reaching your potential”. People don’t really agree whether this is actually possible, completely – our goals and ‘potential’ is changing all the time. Your potentil when you’re 16 is different from your potential when you’re 30. So it’s always a ‘work in progress’.
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But in practical terms, I think it can be helpful to think of ‘self actualisation’ as ‘knowing what your goals might be and how you might reach them, with the belief that you could meet them, given the chance and the right circumstances”. That’s what’s important in people’s lives – actually having hope you could achieve your dreams. Sometimes we call this ‘agency’ in psychology. Agency is pretty important in wellbeing