Chapter 3
A bit of theory to get us started
I’m serialising my book “The Observing I: A guide to living a more authentic life” on Substack, with a new chapter being released every Wednesday. I’m a big believer that philosophy should be available to the masses, not locked behind paywalls or hidden away in dusty archives. So I’m making my book available here.
This is Chapter 3. And yes, I illustrated it myself.
As you may have guessed, I’m quite a fan of psychology. I even trained as a therapist. During my studies, I came across a psychologist called Abraham Maslow.
Back in 1943 he published a paper called “A theory of human motivation” where he proposes his idea of human beings having a Hierarchy of Needs. If you’ve read any sort of book on management theory or leadership then you’ll likely have come across it.
His Hierarchy of Needs is based on a fundamentally simple premise - that we all have needs, and that there are five distinct categories in which those needs exist and in which they motivate us.
Often, you’ll see it drawn as a diagram like this:
You may well have seen that this idea has received some criticism in contemporary psychology. I want to address that criticism first before going on to explain why I think it’s still relevant to understand the hierarchy.
If you run in academic circles, it’s generally accepted that whilst the idea has merit, it also has its failings. Principally, that Maslow comes at the human experience from a distinctly Western standpoint, and that there’s a lack of empirical evidence to support it.
Fundamentally, it’s seen as an oversimplification of the complexity of human motivation.
The problem is, contrary to how the diagram looks, and as Maslow himself said in his follow up publication “Motivation and Personality” in 1954, it’s not made up of discrete layers that you have to completely master before you can move up to the next tier. We can exist in multiple layers at the same time, can be focused on resolving issues in each simultaneously, and we may assign different priorities to these layers depending on our own unique demands and personal requirements.
He says in Motivation and Personality that some innately creative people may not see creativity as a component of self-actualisation, but as a deep need within themselves that must be satisfied or expressed. There are others who may value self-esteem above the need to be loved and the satisfaction of belonging. So there’s a uniqueness to the way that we should consider it when applied to each individual.
What it is important to note is that, regardless of our own personal priorities, the less our attention is drawn away by the needs of the lower layers (namely the physiological and safety needs), the more time and energy that we have to spend in the upper realms moving towards self-actualisation.
In that vein, I feel that it’s still relevant to use as a benchmark to understand where our attention is going, and as a tool for self reflection.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s have a look at what each of those rungs in the hierarchy means, starting on the most important rung, the one without which we couldn’t exist as human beings - Physiological.
In this, we’re talking about the basics. Food, water, shelter, and rest. Think about it - if you’re starving or you’re desperately thirsty, your primary focus is going to be finding food and water so that you can continue existing. Nothing else matters. You’re not worried about your social status, or even necessarily concerned with being safe from harm.
You’re driven by a simple yet powerful need to survive. That is all.
Once you’ve met that need, once you have access to food, water, and shelter, then you’re able to start thinking about your safety.
With a full belly, you can start to consider if you’re in imminent danger. Or, taking a more modern slant, how financially secure you are (I think we can also recognise how important this is to the Physiological rung in our current age. No money equates to reduced access to food and shelter).
You’re safe and secure. Now you can start concentrating on your human connections. To satisfy your need to bond with others, to be loved, and to have meaningful friendships.
Once we’ve got our social connections in good order, we start to look up to the next rung and focus on our esteem. We’ll concentrate on our standing at work and in social relationships. It’s our desire to be respected by our peers, to feel appreciated, and recognised for our skills and accomplishments.
Finally, we reach the upper most rung, and enter the realm of Self Actualisation. This is where we can focus on fulfilling our potential. It is a place where we are free in our creativity, where we exhibit spontaneity, personal growth, and a total appreciation for our life.
It isn’t a sudden and epiphanic shift when we are able to Self-Actualise. It’s a space where we are able to truly grow and be our authentic selves.
We’ve passed beyond prejudice and the comparable mind. We appreciate who we are, and we appreciate those around us. We have energy and direction to focus on being who we were meant to be, because we aren’t wasting energy on food, safety, connectedness, and meeting the expectations of others. We understand who we are and what it is that fulfils us.
What does Self-Actualisation look like? It can include things like:
Able to see the humorous side of our own mistakes, because we recognise that we are not our failures.
Finding ourselves in frequent moments of profound happiness, which Maslow coined as “peak experiences”.
Embodied with a distinct sense of purpose and direction, and able to focus easily on moving towards that purpose.
Experiencing a child-like wonder in what was previously considered to be the mundane. Shigero Miyamoto said that “I think that inside every adult is the heart of a child. We just gradually convince ourselves that we have to act more like adults.”. This is us adhering to expectation, to towing the line, and conforming with the “norm”. When we’re in a space of Self Actualisation, those expectations cease to have meaning.
Able to exist autonomously, and rely upon our own self.
Expresses empathy and compassion for others.
We might have a self-actualised artist who creates art not for fame or fortune, but because it’s an intrinsic part of who they are. They paint and sculpt for the sheer fulfilment of expressing their inner world. Or a scientist who pursues research for no other reason than to expand their knowledge and satiate their curiosity, motivated by the pure thrill of discovery.
Understanding Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can help us to identify what needs we must meet before we can truly enter that place of growth and fulfilment, where we are completely honest with ourselves and able to freely express who we are without concern.
It’s important to point out that, if we ever reach a place of self-actualisation, we don’t necessarily stay there.
Don’t think that, once you’ve cracked one of the rungs, then you’re done with it for life.
Shit happens. We all know this. We might have reached a point where we’ve broken through the Esteem boundary and moved towards self-actualisation, but then our partner has an affair, for example, and we’re left questioning our own sense of worth.
We might lose our job, which puts into question our sense of safety and security. Now our focus is placed on that rung whilst we try to work through our problems there, and there’s no way we’ll have the mental capacity for anything more than trying to keep our home and put food on the table.
What tending towards self-actualisation does allow us is a better means of handling life when things don’t go the way we expect them to, because we’ve spent energy on better understanding ourselves. We view the world through a different lens. More accepting, more grateful, more willing to take ownership of our lives rather than becoming a victim of circumstance.
On paper, the Hierarchy of Needs appears to apply purely to the individual. We’re satisfying our needs for food and shelter, our needs for social relationships, our needs for esteem. Where’s the broader, social context?
We all know, through the sheer power of common sense, that operating within a community contributes to our well-being. There is a deep sense of fulfilment in working in the service of others, of giving without the expectation of a reciprocal return.
Can any of those needs that are outlined in Maslow’s theory of motivation be met without taking into account the surrounding community and our collaboration with other human beings?
I’d say that it’s unlikely. However, I don’t believe that this is enough for us to toss the entire framework out of the window. There’s a lot in it that’s going to be of use in helping us to visualise and understand what’s going on in our own heads, and what we need to work on in order to gain a sense of fulfilment and authenticity.
In the context of this book, I’m going to be using it so that we can better explore these topics, and we’re going to take into account that broader social collaboration aspect that seems under-represented in Maslow’s ideas.
At this point, I’d like to end the chapter by inviting you to think about which of the five categories of physiology, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation could do with some work. Take some time to reflect upon it. Be honest with yourself, and remember that there is no right or wrong answer, simply what is.
The book is available to buy from Amazon as a paperback or an e-book, if you want to add it to your book shelf.