The Maturity Continuum

Hi Friends,

I have a question - how mature are you? The typical answer options are either mature or immature. But I think this question needs better answer options.

In the book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People", I believe author Stephen Covey gives us a better set of answer options when he explains the Maturity Continuum which is a model divided into 3 levels.

DEPENDENCE

This level is based on YOU. A dependent person needs others to meet their physical, emotional, intellectual, financial, and or mental needs/wants. The mindset of this person is "I need you to satisfy my needs and/or wants."

The easiest example of this is a young child who must be instructed. But this also may extend to adults who either want to, or desire to be instructed.  Please note that being a dependent person is not inherently bad or wrong.  But overtime dependent individuals  grow to attain the next level of maturity.

INDEPENDENCE

This level is based on ME. An independent person doesn't need external direction to function as a human or achieve their goals. This individual is self-directed. The mindset of this person is "I can satisfy my own needs and/or wants."

This type of person can be described as a responsible individual who can make choices for themselves. They are able to set their mind to a goal and achieve that goal using their own personal effort. We can easily see how being an independent individual is a worthy level to achieve on the maturity continuum but it isn't the highest form of maturity.

INTERDEPENDENCE

Being an independent person - intellectually, physically, emotionally, financially, mentally - is definitely noble. But what is greater is when two or more independent people work together. Successful sports teams, strong organizations, influential families etc., are a few types of examples of how interdependent people can achieve more together.

This level is based on WE. An interdependent person is an independent person who realizes that more can be accomplished with others. This person most surely can make their own decisions, intellectually solve problems and doesn't rely on others for their self worth but recognizes that more is possible. The mindset of this person is "We can accomplish greater together." This is the highest form of maturity.

IN CLOSING

I guess the better question to ask is what is your maturity level? Perhaps it may differ depending on the aspect of life. One could be physically dependent and at the same time emotionally interdependent. So perhaps we should asks ourselves this question for the different aspects of our lives.

For further reading check out "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" - it's honestly one of my favorite that I often reference.

All the best!

Tim

Get my book notes

Subscribe and I'll be sure to let you know when I drop my next book notes.

It's free. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.