"Maslow found that everybody who was successful, creative, joyful and productive had one thing in common: they were doing chosen work that they found to be both intrinsically self-rewarding and of service to others. He discovered that self-rewarding action that is simultaneously of service to others is key. When you are doing what you love to do and expressing your potential, you experience an inner reward. And by helping others by engaging in this work, you become what he called self-actualizing. You are actualizing your own dormant potential by giving it to others, who can use it. It is beyond selfishness or selflessness. It is self-fulfillment and indeed self evolution.
Rather than wondering, ‘What’s wrong with me?’ ask, ‘What wants to be born in me?’
The lesson here is that you have to notice what attracts you and pay attention to what is happening. How do you tell? The signal is an inner feedback signal I call ‘the compass of joy.’ The compass turns on when you are with a person who attracts you to give your gift in such a way that the other person is able to give more of their gift with you. You feel a creative energy when you join your creativity with that of someone who also wants to create something new. ‘Synergy’ means creating a whole greater than the sum of the parts. It takes time, attention and nurturing. Almost all creative people join with others to cocreate.
~ Barbara Marx Hubbard