“Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” ranks all human needs from basic necessities to the desire for meaning in life in a specific order of priority.
In our daily lives – especially in today’s capitalist world – we constantly have needs and turn towards consumption.
Shopping malls, online shopping, social media… an incredible frenzy of marketing and consumption.
We buy, use, and consume everything we think we need.
We work hard, earn money, and at the end of the day, we feel the need to socialize.
We either go to a friend, an elderly family member or a relative, or we experience a newly opened cafe with our loved ones to fulfill our need for social interaction.
We relax with the smiles of our child and spouse when we return tired from work.
Finally, when we are sick, we say, “Health is the foundation of everything!”
These are the daily routines we all engage in, and there is more.
Basic needs like eating, drinking water, and being healthy are essential for everyone, that is clear.
And without these, our other needs lose all significance.
This actually shows that our needs also have a prioritization.
But have you ever thought about the need that motivates you or that you feel lacking in yourself, and how you should fulfill it?
I am writing this article to guide you in knowing your true inner needs, managing them, and making your job easier. Let’s get started!
American psychologist Abraham Maslow, through his studies, demonstrated that human motivation is based on internal needs rather than external influences.
To organize human needs according to a specific priority, he created the ‘Hierarchy of Needs.’
According to Maslow, human needs are unlimited and when one need is fulfilled another need arises.
I think we all agree on this. Not just in terms of consumption, even the satisfaction we derive from accomplishing a task fades shortly afterward and we tend to search for something new.
Now, let’s detail the hierarchy of needs starting from the bottom of the pyramid.
Hierarchy of Needs:
1- Physiological Needs:
Physiological needs are essential for everyone’s survival.
These include basic needs such as drinking water, eating, excretion, sleeping, and shelter. None of us can live without these.
All the needs we need to be healthy, to know that we are alive are in this category.
These needs are relatively accessible to most people worldwide.
Unfortunately, in areas affected by war, famine, or extreme poverty, even meeting these basic needs can be a significant challenge.
Without meeting these needs, none of the other needs matter.
Imagine struggling to drink water or eat due to severe illness; you wouldn’t be able to think of anything else, right?
As our elders always say, “Health is the foundation of everything!” 😊
Let’s assume we have met our physiological needs. What comes next?
2- Safety Needs:
Safety needs, which are also basic needs, are the requirements for us to feel safe both physically and psychologically.
Needs such as financial security, housing, health insurance, and compliance with laws fall into this category.
No one can be motivated to do better towards a specific goal if they do not feel safe and at peace.
Imagine that murder reports are increasing in your city or country.
How anxious would you feel even just going to work in such an environment, right?
Or think about the increase in terrorist problems near you, as in some parts of the world.
In such situations, no one can be motivated for anything, and even thinking about such situations is enough to create anxiety problems.
This is because that our brain is programmed to constantly keep us in a safe zone.
What is your first reaction when you face uncertainty in any situation? What comes to your mind first?
Are you happy about the uncertainty and want to take a quick step towards it?
Or do you step back and think about how you can overcome the uncertainty by mixing your experiences in your mind?
Or you just immediately retreat to your safe zone, the area you know.
Although some people say they love uncertainty and face their fears, our initial reactions are always to stay on the safe side and meet the security need our brain forces upon us.
This is because our brain does not like uncertainties and wants to be in control.
Therefore, it sends a signal that we need security at moments of uncertainty and traps us there.
Some of us quickly meet this need and swiftly leave the safe zone, while others cannot leave the comfort zone they see as their safe area.
The important thing for us – if there is no famine like in certain parts of the world, if we can meet our physical needs and if we are not in places where there are intense troubles like terrorism – is to improve ourselves in fulfilling our basic safety needs.
Because, as I have observed, most people do not want to leave the safe zone and their comfort zones either by watching too much bad news or using bad events as an excuse.
In fact, I am quite surprised to observe that even people who recently declared they have achieved financial freedom do not want to leave the safe zone.
As long as you do not leave this zone, you cannot be motivated for anything.
However, the good news is that fulfilling this need and leaving this zone is quite easy.
Lower your expectations regarding the need for safety and stay away from external factors that will cause you anxiety.
Spend your energy only on things you can control.
Are you healthy enough to work?
Do you have enough financial income to pay your rent or mortgage and meet your essential needs?
Can you communicate with people at least on a basic level?
If your answer is yes, it means you have met your basic security needs. Now we can move on to the next need.
3- Belongingness and Love Needs:
After meeting our basic needs, the first need we all feel is the need for love and belonging to a group or community.
Humans are social beings. Therefore, we look for someone we can love, talk to, share our problems with, or have fun with.
Yes, some of us love being alone, and that includes me. But this definitely does not mean we love being alone for our entire lives.
Everyone might want to be alone to some extent to listen to themselves, worship, meditate, dream, or, like I do, write a blog post.
But in the end, being alone brings pain.
This is why even a smiling face we see around us is enough to make us happy.
I observe in many people around me the problems of introversion and lack of communication, especially with the increase of burnout syndrome after the pandemic.
Additionally, I often come across writings and complaints about the rapid psychological fatigue experienced by those working from home, even though it seemed nice at first.
Therefore, you should not underestimate this need.
You might say, “I am very happy with myself, I don’t need anyone,” and this is reasonable to a certain extent.
However, we should not forget Rumi’s words;
“Loneliness is for God; every living being seeks a companion. A stone has no heart, but even it is covered with moss.”
and the words of Ibn Khaldun in his work “Muqaddimah”
“Living a social life is necessary for humans. Humans are naturally social beings.”
Therefore, spend time with your loved ones, call and ask about them, listen to their problems, and share in their joys!
This will make you much more energetic and connected to life.
And this love should be unconditional, as Yunus Emre said;
“I love the created for the Creator’s sake.”
Love yourself, love others, and accept the love that comes your way!
Remember! Everyone has a lot to contribute to everyone and no one meets another by chance.
If we believe we have fulfilled our belongingness and love needs, we can now learn about our next emerging need!
4- Esteem Needs:
We all want, in one way or another, to be successful, to be accepted in our environment, to be respected, and to be spoken of well.
At the same time, we think that our children should also meet these needs in the future, and we try to raise them to be self-confident.
Being independent, self-determined and self-confident individuals is one of our most important wishes for both ourselves and our children.
Yes, indeed, in today’s world, the need for a sense of accomplishment is one of the most important needs that everyone pursues.
Along with the previous “Belongingness and Love Needs,” these form our psychological needs.
Of course, while people want to be confident, trusted, and respected, they also want to respect and trust others.
In this sense, this need is twofold.
Imagine your efforts are not appreciated, and you are looked down upon.
It would make you feel very distressed, wouldn’t it?
You wouldn’t want to do that task again or talk to those who don’t appreciate you.
This situation, which we often encounter in the business world, causes psychological problems such as depression in many people.
And these psychological problems cause psychological needs to be unmet and make us feel unsafe.
Again, our brain sends a signal indicating a need for safety and causing us to retreat to our safe zone.
To break this cycle, you should choose people you value, appreciate those who value you, and most importantly, learn to appreciate yourself!
This might seem like narcissism, but it is not.
Just appreciate yourself, trust yourself, and show the same care to those you value!
If we are meeting our needs for self-confidence, respect, and a sense of accomplishment, it means we are ready to reach the top!
5- Self-Actualization Needs:
None of us were created in vain. God gave us the gift of life to accomplish something or to touch a life.
I believe this purpose is etched into our souls, just waiting to be revealed.
In every personal development book you read, I am sure one of the items is to set goals.
Setting goals is a very important concept, and a life without goals and purpose can create a serious sense of emptiness and consume a person.
However, before setting goals, the most important thing is to find satisfactory answers to the questions “What do I want?” and “Why do I want it?”.
I hope to write about this topic in detail in a separate blog post and help you find satisfactory answers to these questions.
But first, I want to mention it briefly here and show why it is important for the need for self-actualization.
Because I still see people who have even achieved financial independence but are drifting in emptiness and consuming themselves.
Self-actualization is actually about truly knowing what we want and why we want it and living a truly fulfilling life.
And these are not just about material things.
It can be anything that comes to mind: doing charity work, being a good parent, being an engineer who wants to create new things for people with disabilities, and so on.
In my blog post “The 6 Levels of Change – The Logical Levels Model of NLP”, I also explained that the highest level, “Purpose/Spirituality,” is related to knowing what you want, why you want it, and self-actualization.
Most people answer “money,” “health,” etc., when asked “What do you want?”
If you give such answers, then persistently ask yourself, “Why do I want this?”
Eventually, you will find out what you really want, and with the excitement of that, you can start taking action to fulfill your self-actualization needs.
I specifically wanted to include this graph because you might think that all needs must be met in a certain order or that the previous need must be fully met for the next need to emerge.
However, this is not how it works.
As your personal development progresses, your needs will change, but the others will never be completely fulfilled.
This is because we are in a constant state of change and transformation in life.
Our needs, in the same way, are constantly changing and renewing themselves.
Therefore, we must be active, adapt to change, and continue by asking, “What’s next?”
I wish you all a good time where you are aware of your needs and fulfill your needs at the highest level!
Be full of energy! Believe in yourself! Live with passion!
Take care of yourself!
Leave A Reply