Make Your Own Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to Figure Out What Really Matters

What are your core needs and motivations, and how might you arrange them to figure out what you really want out of life?

Abraham Maslow created his hierarchy of needs in 1943. Back then, in the fog of World War II, most people were focused on survival. Today, we're taking sabbaticals to find ourselves, going to therapy to heal our mental health, and trying to decide amongst myriad options to figure out what we should do with our lives. Times have indeed changed, so perhaps it’s time to revisit the hierarchy.

Maslow’s hierarchy was originally published in a paper called "A Theory of Human Motivation". In it Maslow describes a five level hierarchy with these needs: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. The idea was that lower level needs such as food and shelter must be met before one could progress to the higher levels. Very few people are thought to reach self-actualization, hence the narrowing of this now famous pyramid as one progresses upward in the hierarchy:

Interestingly, similar to the dreaded Ikigai Venn diagram, this pyramid is nowhere to be found in Maslow’s writings or materials. No one knows who first arranged the needs into the pyramid, but it caught on. Maslow would later concede that there is some fluidity between levels, and one might occupy more than one level at a time, but the core concept is represented well by this image.

I thought it would be an interesting exercise to update the pyramid for our modern age. Life has changed significantly since 1943. The world was at war. Governments were rationing food. There were 3,752 labor strikes¹. Global life expectancy ranged from the high 30s to low 60’s². The slinky and silly putty were invented³.

Today far fewer people are dying in wars than in 1943⁴. More people have been lifted out of poverty than ever before⁵. Fewer people are dying of famine than ever before⁶. The world appears to be slowly ascending Maslow’s pyramid en masse.

I’ve been thinking about what needs really matter to me, how I might arrange them hierarchically, and what “levels” I must ascend to progress towards my highest and best self. Someone in different circumstances might craft an entirely different pyramid, so if you’d like to try this exercise as a way to decide what your own needs and motivations are, here’s a blank pyramid PDF you can download and fill in. Mine looks like this:

How I define each level, and where I’m at

• Stuck: Here you are miserable because you are stuck. Financially. Occupationally. Geographically. Psychologically. Relationally. Educationally. Physically. Spiritually. You are trapped in a hole that you feel like you cannot escape. Life is chaotic, painful, full of annoyances, harm, loss, and detriment. Simply surviving preoccupies your life.
  
  I have been stuck in the past, but right now do not feel stuck, so thankfully have managed to achieve level 1.

• Stability: You have escaped the hole and managed to achieve some semblance of stabilization. You may not be saving any money but you are able to pay your bills. You are not happy but have fewer psychological breakdowns. You are managing to get by without major incident.
  
  I have a pretty stable life overall right now, but my income is currently less stable than I would like. I’m doing brand consulting, which is a feast or famine situation month-to-month. I am trying to diversify this with my Octopus portfolio career.

• Health: You are taking care of your physical, mental, relational, emotional, financial, and spiritual health. You may not be thriving in any of these areas but because you have a foundation of stability, you can pay more attention to them, and have built some habits and support systems. You’re eating better. Healing. Exercising. Improving friendships. Your mental health is improving as you learn to understand yourself.
  
  I’m in the best shape of my life since college. Interestingly, sometimes a loss at one level means a gain in another. Not having a regular 9-5 job feels somewhat destabilizing, but it has done wonders for my health. I actually have time to make the healthy smoothie I want rather than scarfing down a bowl of cereal to rush out the door. I can do 11 pullups in a row, and run for 20 minutes without feeling breathless.

• Belonging: Your relational world is no longer chaotic, or filled with harmful people you don’t trust or bring you down. You have friends and family who care about you. You have found a “tribe”. You are building equal, reciprocal, supportive relationships. You are having fun, developing hobbies and activities with others. You join groups that help you feel a part of something bigger than yourself.
  
  Belonging needs some work. Since being laid off last year I do not have the built in daily camaraderie of coworkers. I am moving around geographically right now so do not see the same people regularly. I wish I had a few more true regular friends to hang out with.

• Meaning: You are forming some sense of purpose for life. You find joy in your work. You are both giving and receiving from life around you. You help others. You have life direction and have made peace with yourself, even the parts that may never be perfect. You establish a set of values, morals, and principles to live by. You develop practices that balance you against a meaningless world.
  
  I’m doing pretty well in the Meaning level. I have a sense of direction, purpose, and have established a spiritual practice of walking in nature, journaling, and self-discovery.

• Freedom: You are free. Financially. Occupationally. Geographically. Relationally. Psychologically. Spiritually. You have reached a kind of transcendence where all is well with your world. You are not beholden to anyone. You have few worries and fears. Your needs are met. You control your time. You own your life choices, with agency and autonomy. You live how you want to live.
  
  I feel like I’m on the cusp of freedom, and this level is where I’m putting a decent amount of energy right now, primarily achieving financial freedom through some entrepreneurial ventures. As a remote worker I have geographic freedom, which has been great. I still feel beholden to my consulting clients though. At some point I would like to do work that does not depend on someone hiring me. I would like to have full agency and autonomy over work.

While there is definitely some porous movement between the levels, I think Maslow was on to something, in the general sense that progress in life is a series of building blocks, and when the lower levels of your pyramid are shaky or missing elements, it’s harder to build the upper levels. For example, if you are suffering from a physical health ailment, it’s hard to put a lot of effort into finding meaning in life, you are just trying to alleviate your pain. Or if you are financially unstable, it’s harder to build relationships. I remember a time in my early career when I was unemployed and counting every penny. I was invited to dinner or a concert, but declined because I couldn’t afford to pay.

What’s your personal Hierarchy of Needs?

If you are feeling a bit lost for how to “arrange” your life, are not sure what motivates you, or what your next steps are, I found this exercise interesting. It helps answer the questions, “What do I really want out of life, and what do I need to do to get there?” Identifying what level you’re currently on can help you prioritize your efforts, or help you realize there are some foundational things you need to take care of before you can worry about higher level activities.

If you’d like to make your own Hierarchy of Needs, download a pyramid and give it a try.

Until next time,

Dave

1. https://www.bls.gov/wsp/publications/annual-summaries/pdf/strikes-1943.pdf

2. https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy#all-charts

3. https://www.thoughtco.com/20th-century-timeline-1992486

4. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/deaths-in-wars-project-mars?time=1936..latest

5. https://ourworldindata.org/poverty?insight=global-extreme-poverty-declined-substantially-over-the-last-generation#key-insights

6. https://ourworldindata.org/famines