Abraham Maslow created a system called the hierarchy of needs. This system allows you to think about “where you are in life” in a structured way. If you learn to use theory well, it can help you balance your life. By understanding why you act a certain way, you can prioritize your time more effectively.
Maslow says that there are five levels of need. They are commonly thought of as a pyramid. At the bottom are the fundamental needs that rise up to esteem and self-esteem type needs at the top. The idea of the system is that you need to satisfy the needs at the bottom of the pyramid before trying to work on those at the top.
At the bottom of the pyramid are your physiological needs. This is really a complicated way of saying the things you need to survive. These needs include food, water, sleep, oxygen, etc. In short, they are the things you couldn’t live without. It’s great to start with the pyramid because it’s obvious that if you don’t have food or water, then you’re going to focus on that before everything else. It shows the theory behind the hierarchy of needs in a strong way.
Once you have satisfied the basic needs, then you move up one level to the security needs. This is often considered security against danger, but it is more complex than that. Instead, it covers you by feeling safe. So it also includes things like having a home and job security.
If you feel threatened by being fired at work, you start to focus on getting a new job. You feel that your safety, and often that of those around you, is threatened. Their only approach becomes kind of a protection-based approach. When your safety is threatened, you can’t really focus on your friends and have fun. For example, people who are going on vacation and are about to lose their job often postpone the vacation because they feel so upset. They feel the need to protect their safety.
If the first two levels have been met, you are probably working on your social needs. This is the third level in the hierarchy of needs. Social needs are what keep you connected to others. If you can meet these needs, then you are on your way to happiness. These needs include friendship, family, and all the social groups to which you belong.
Social needs would include church groups, soccer teams, and hockey teams, for example. All of these provide many opportunities to spend time with others. It is this interaction with others that helps you move on with your life.
By now, if you’re moving up the hierarchy of needs, you’re on your way to feeling pretty happy and fulfilled. The next level in the pyramid is esteem needs. This need is more difficult to satisfy than the other needs. I guess you feel like you can control the other needs. You can get food, get a new job, and find ways to make friends. However, this need requires that you gain self-esteem.
Self-esteem is more difficult since it is based on what you think others think. You need to build it through achievements and other ways that will increase your self-esteem. Having a strong social base will help a lot with this need.
Once you have achieved self-esteem, you are ready to move to the next level of the pyramid; self realisation. To achieve this, you need to live up to your potential. You need to live a satisfied and happy life. This is a difficult level to reach and the general consensus is that very few people can achieve it.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a great model to understand. If you think about it in your daily life, you’ll find that it helps you understand why you might be acting a certain way.
You can learn more about Maslow and how this can help you with your life balance on my website, time management huddle.com
