“In theory there is no difference between practice and theory. But in practice, there is.” Yogi Berra Both extremes have their own set of problems” -          Extreme Pragmatism: They live a shallow existence, tend to be very materialistic, selfish and chasing after experiences. They have no big picture understanding of life. They cannot tap into the power of spirituality.   -          Extreme Theorist: Armchair philosophy, mental masturbation, arguing and debating, criticism others, paralysis by analysis, fantasies and getting lost in concepts, ignoring that the map is not the territory and lack of real-world results. They also lack big picture understanding. They cannot tap into the power of spirituality neither because it is just not theory. In reality, practice and theory are interdependent and if you want to live a fulfilling life you need to balance them in a wise way. Your theory must be able to inform your practice and vice versa and you must be able to control the flow. You need to strategically shift the balance between these two in regards of your situation and your life conditions. You need some abilities to balance these extremes: 1-      The ability to theorize in the abstract without concern of pragmatic issues: Sometimes, theory will not have a practical application in your immediate situation but in a couple of years you will find a practical application. If you are always concerned about personal value, you don’t give yourself the chance for something incredible to blossom in your theorizing.   2-      The ability to see the practical consequences of your theorizing: When you theorize properly, you will need to ask what are the repercussions of that theory. If a theory is ruining your life, is not a good theory. Let your practice inform your theorizing to create more compelling theories.   3-      The ability to be motivated to action by good theory: You need to abstract motivation from the theories you read so you can implement them right away.   4-      The ability to create actual action plans based upon the theory that you’ve learnt: Create habits and action plans to accomplish your goals.   5-      The ability to drop theorizing in a dime: Stop thinking about stuff and take action in the moment. If you are not able to do it, you are going to be a slave of your theorizing. START TAKING ACTION.   6-      The ability to theorize one way but act in the opposite way: You need to hold the tension between your theories and your actions. Sometimes you need time for both to come together. Your theories change but you need to be practical.   7-      The ability to see the big picture patterns that come about through your actions and practices: The best theorizing comes when you are in practice mode, and you observe patterns that can become insights and principles. Implement and test your principles.   8-      The ability to see when you are stuck in theory or in action: You need the ability to cut bad action with good theory and bad theory with good action.   9-      The ability to see the limitations of theory and practice: The limitations of theory is that you can get lost in concepts and lose touch of reality. The limits of action is that you are stuck in a mechanical way and don’t have different perspectives. It is the ability to shut your mind off and get centered in Being.   10-   The ability to read between the lines of your thinking: You need to observe your thinking and hold it into consideration. Think about your thinking process.   11-   The ability to move forward despite paradox, confusion and indecision: The greater danger is doing nothing. Pick one and go with it! The key here is observation! Be aware of these dynamics in your life. Learning self-actualization theory is necessary because you know what the right steps are. If you’ve been studying personal development for a couple of years and don’t have that many results, you should probably start taking massive action to start embodying those principles. If you are not sure about your Life Purpose, just take action for a year and think about your life purpose again.