The Seven Stages of Human Evolution
Knowing oneself is about learning to better comprehend why you feel, act and behave the way you do. This level of self-awareness allows you to modify aspects of your life to begin living with a greater depth of intentionality and clarity.
Self-awareness isn’t a destination that people can reach one day upon having read enough self-help books; instead, it is a journey that people go on and can take an entire lifetime to fulfil. In this article, I plan to discuss the seven levels of human evolution and awareness that you might experience throughout your lifetime.
The first step in self-improvement is self-awareness, and self-improvement can only occur if people hold themselves accountable for improving their attitudes, behaviour, and overall outlook on life.
Any self-awareness that doesn’t eventually lead to personal growth is empty. You will either be moving ‘forward’ and taking others with you, or you’re stagnating and going backwards and possibly even decaying. Getting older in life is inevitable; however, stagnating is optional, and there is no such thing as motionlessness.
The more consistently you apply principles to your life, the more you will grow as an individual. Maturity is not comparable to other qualities, nor is it a measure of how well you perform. Mature people live their lives, constantly striving to become better, wiser, more integral and responsible today than they were yesterday.
Growth in a person’s life leads to maturity, which can only be achieved through accepting responsibility. As a person grows to accept more responsibility for their life, they resultantly mature. Some people acquire maturity in their youth, while others do so with age. Some never know maturity. Another term for growing maturity is character development, which refers to the process through which people accept total responsibility for their lives’ course and outcomes.
It is human nature to want to control one’s life. People are more fulfilled and meaningful when they have power. On the other hand, people who lack power tend to wallow in their misery, seeking therapy, hoping to improve their self-esteem somehow. Empowered individuals have a more engaged, grateful, and hopeful disposition. The disempowered are permanently open to being offended by any notion that challenges their irresponsible behaviour.
In your eagerness to accept the following ideas and put them into practice, you will have a framework for self-assessment and evaluation of your overall attitude in light of your current or future circumstances – for better or for worse. Self-improvement and moral development are two outcomes of personal growth. In the following sections, we’ll take a closer look at this journey of personal growth through the 7 stages of personal evolution and growth:
The Responsibility Rebellion Stage
Many individuals find themselves in a state of default unconsciousness due to not accepting responsibility for their actions or their life outcomes. Often believing they have no control over the problems they encounter, people on this level of awareness are frequently apathetic and uninterested in life. Those with a victim mentality believe their lives are in others’ hands and often view themselves as pawns in a larger game that narcissistic bad people are playing.
Irresponsible individuals will wait patiently for a hero or therapist to enter their life with the expectation that they will save the day and magically solve all of their problems. Seeing themselves as powerless over their lives, those rebelling against taking full responsibility for themselves prioritize feeling ‘happy’ before all other things. Believing they are victims, they are already defeated in their minds, and their default state of mind is helplessness.
The Stage of Internal Conflict
When an irresponsible individual’s general dissatisfaction becomes too great to ignore, they move from a state of rebellion and enter into a state of internal conflict. The stage of internal conflict that all people experience at some stage in life is a state of double-mindedness. In this state, people feel irritated, discontent, eager for some form of ‘change’ to happen in their life, and are typically ready to do something about it.
Even though they are compelled to act, they are not quite ready to take full responsibility for themselves. Their victim mentality and irresponsible attitude persist. In their irritation, they express frustration toward an external source (usually a parent, ex-boss or partner) who may have somehow ‘prevented them’ from obtaining the true satisfaction they seek. This leads them to become conflicted with those around them as they strive to understand their situation.
The Dawn of Responsibility
The day that people take total responsibility for their attitudes and life outcomes is the day that people genuinely grow up. Problems can’t be solved until they have owners. This is the stage of personal growth where people acknowledge and accept that they alone are responsible for their habits, beliefs, attitudes, actions, and the outcomes they go on to get in life. People often experience deep inner empowerment at this stage of their lives.
It’s at this time in a person’s development that they discover that, unless they assume control of their circumstances, set objectives, and take decisive action, tomorrow will bring them no more satisfaction than what they’ve already received. New possibilities exist but must be embraced before being explored, and responsibility precedes personal empowerment. No one can change their circumstances, but they can improve themselves.
The Stage of Concern
People are made wise not by remembering their pasts but by the depth of responsibility they take for their future. Those who take responsibility for their lives will see beyond their immediate circumstances and see a world full of people who don’t know how to get their needs met. People at this stage in their personal development journey become less self-centred and more socially oriented as they develop a concern for other people.
Many people take life for granted and view today’s gripes as important while disacknowledging the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility they have to contribute rather than consume and give something back by becoming more. During this stage of personal evolution, people wake up from their self-obsession and develop a genuine interest in others and an authentic desire to contribute back to the world somehow.
The Self-Reconciliation Stage
People are grounded by their sense of worth and a calling. People with a strong sense of self-worth have higher expectations for life in general, making them less susceptible to feelings of inadequacy. The reconciliation stage of the growth journey is when people begin to realize what others value most about them. People often shift their priorities and want to invest in the emerging generations, perhaps via teaching or mentoring at this stage in life.
The distinction here is that post-responsibility, people are empowered enough within themselves to share the overflow of their ‘inner power’ with others. There are a lot of phoney coaches and ‘experts’ who have an ulterior motive: to impress people and make money rather than create a positive influence. No person can congruently influence another beyond a stage of personal responsibility or personal growth they haven’t already ascertained.
The Stage of Higher Purpose
You would think with all the genius, accessible knowledge and the brilliance of the 21st century; it would be easier for people to find a higher purpose for their lives than self-obsession and better use of mind than conjuring up products, services and ideologies that marginalize people unnecessarily. Those who overcome their insecurities, irresponsibilities, inner conflicts, and innate need to acquire more ‘stuff’ or have happy experiences soon turn towards a more life-giving perspective and start considering how they can start making a positive difference in the world.
In this exciting phase of life, the individual experiences a profound sense of inner contentment. Every situation they face is approached with wisdom. Their aim is not to prove or distinguish themselves but to seek unity and forge meaningful alliances with people to make life more fruitful. Those inspired by a higher purpose, extraordinary project, or mission transcend fears, and limitations and begin to see an unrestricted opportunity for innovative creation.
The State of Creative Freedom
Many people claim to want more freedom in life while assuming that freedom is in some way synonymous with financial abundance and spare time. This is not true. A person can reach a stage in life where they become so unconstrained in their thinking and inspired by a meaningful vision that all that remains for them to do is build and create things that express what they are most passionate about.
Freedom of creative expression is sought after by many and is attainable for all but will only be experienced by those committed few who devote their lives to it. Creative expression is a means of sharing your unique thoughts, insights, and perspectives with others. In time, you may realize that when your greatest creative efforts align with and satisfy other people’s demands, a significant amount of financial, situational, and fulfilment wealth may be created.
This stage of life, which I experienced for the first time in 2017, has motivated me to create a vocabulary around it that conveys an understanding of how gratifying and meaningful life can be for people who are willing to accept full responsibility for themselves and give their lives to a cause that’s greater than just themselves.
Knowing these stages of human evolution isn’t enough to get you through them. The road to a truly successful life is not for the easily offended; not everyone chooses to go down it. The good news is that if you wish to proceed through this stage of awareness, all it takes is hard work and utter devotion.
