The advent of the so-called "post-literacy" era imposes on an individual the need to master not only various verbal, but also visual, artistic and scientific languages that have been developed in modern culture, which requires an adult to constantly improve their general educational and cultural level and to constantly struggle against functional illiteracy. The authors believe that by engaging in continuous education and lifelong learning, individuals not only increase their adaptive capacities essential for integrating into a dynamically changing socio-professional environment but also satisfy their need for self-actualisation, fulfil their potential, thus also preserving their mental, cognitive and social resources. Since self-actualisation explains a person's effectiveness in all areas of life, determining its level can serve as the basis for designing the most appropriate educational programmes that would allow an individual to realise their potential and increase their adaptive capacity. The paper presents the results of a study of self-actualisation in adults who seek opportunities for self-development by enrolling in further education programmes and professional development courses. The study revealed that adults who seek opportunities for continuous education do so in the desire to enhance their hidden merits, to use, preserve and enrich their cognitive resources and, thereby self-actualize. This raises the issue of tailoring further education programmes to specific self-actualisation needs of adult learners, developing new models of lifelong education that would foster the activation of adults' cognitive capabilities, identifying potential resources and modelling modern educational environments that would cater for the operation of self-development mechanisms. [This study was funded by RFBR. For the complete proceedings, see ED600498.]