Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

In the 40’s, A. Maslow proposed his theory of a “hierarchy” of human needs, where people have certain base needs that must be fulfilled to function and other needs that must be fulfilled for growth. The basal needs include physiology activities like sleep, eating enough food, access to water and oxygen, and so on. Safety needs like security and protection also fall under this category. The next step is psychological needs like love and belonging and esteem. So human connection with others and also connection with yourself. The pyramid of needs has since been expanded bast the initial self-fulfillment needs to include cognitive, aesthectic, self-actualization and transcendence. These categories include things like seeking out knowledge, beauty, creativity, service and spiritually. When considering this pyramid, it’s important to note that you don’t have to have 100% of the blocks filled to meet your needs in every category. Basal needs should be meet in most conditions, but you can be lacking in some areas of esteem like low self worth but also be a very spiritual person or give great service to others.

Personally, I doubt that I will every have all the categories100% fulfilled in my lifetime (though it is an admirable goal). I have been doing a lot of reflection lately about what my baseline is, as in what are things I need to do or have to function as a human being? There’s also the ‘above the line’ situations where my basal needs have been met so I can go above and beyond to try to achieve some of those higher needs or goals in my life.

It’s kind of difficult to explain in full sentences, so I wrote a few notes down next to this cute graphic I found on the Lavendaire Lifestyle. I created a doodle version as well, but if you want to check out the original I would highly recommend checking out the website listed above and corresponding YouTube video about the subject.

Do you agree with some of these ideals? Which ones are different? What are your basic needs that you need to function, to feel like a human, and to feel successful or accomplished? What areas can you improve? How do you grow? These are all things I’m still trying to recognize, learn, and implement in my own life moving forward. Slowly but steady, keep going and growing.