Levels of Self-Progression: The Bubbles
There are no stairs that lead the way. Everything is a bubble. It is all there at once, together.
Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” hasn’t withstood the test of time.
Abraham Maslow presented the theory in 1943 that we still use today. He claimed that humans have certain needs that need to be satisfied in a certain order. Each “level” of the triangle represented a “need” that needed to be obtained prior to being able to reach the next level, etc.
In his understanding of the world at that time, he listed these needs as shown below - from bottom to top (first to last on priority):
Physiological needs (food, housing, sleep)
Safety needs (security, stability, freedom from fear)
Social and belonging needs (friendship, connection, acceptance)
Esteem needs (respect, recognition, status)
Self-actualization needs (achieving one's full potential, creativity)
At first glance, it seems like Maslow presents a logical order as to how you should prioritize your life matters. However, in today’s world, it’s just simply not the way things work. Our society has become far more complex than this outlook makes it appear.
For example, if someone doesn’t have adequate social connections, it could drive them to depression or a distrust and anger towards others. This mindset will negatively impact one’s success in their career, as a positive personality is a key metric to attaining better opportunities, promotions, and more sales. The inability to perform well, and the inability to attain a stable income, will decrease their sense of security and stability. So in this sense, social connections are a prerequisite for safety needs, not the other way as is shown above.
Another example is that one’s ability to take care of their body (i.e. daily exercise and quality food) is dependent on their financial status and financial freedom. Many people don’t have the luxury of time to dedicate to even walking 10,000 steps a day, let alone afford to shop at Whole Foods and cook all of their meals from scratch. Therefore physiological needs have a more complex relationship to safety needs than this triangle demonstrates.
Finally, with technology becoming the predominant method for most transactions, status and self-actualization are usually the means that create financial freedom. In this world, a confident influencer makes more than an educated doctor. Real estate and sales profits more than the corporate 9-5 job. In the old days, finding stability was easier - houses were affordable for people with regular jobs. You could work your way quickly up a corporate ladder if you worked hard. Stability is no longer a prerequisite to self-actualization and self-esteem. It has switched. Status and creative marketing are what enable one to feel stable and secure in the era of technology.
I could continue, but I only mean to poke a few holes to demonstrate how complex our society has become. It’s important to start looking at self-development and self-growth in a way that coincides with our reality.
Nothing in life is linear, everything is interconnected. It is not that one category is more important than the other, it is that everything's meant to be in a perfect balance.
So let’s scrap the pyramid. Let’s eliminate the “ladder,” which is propaganda at best.
Let’s imagine this life journey as an ever-expanding bubble, with you at the heart of it all. The bubble increases in size, as we level-up. Growth of the bubble enables one to increase wealth, influence, inner harmony, quality of connections…
None of which are mentioned in Maslow's triangle, and yet it is clear that growth in these ways is critical to one’s overall happiness.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, we start with the self. Self-actualization is where our story begins.
Because we understand the truth of today: In order to feel better, look better, and be a better part of our community, we need to first prioritize ourselves. To get better rewards in life (Connections, status, food, money, etc) we need to first become better.
In fact, we must temporarily surrender our ego (esteem), our social life (connection), and even sometimes income (stability), in order to find our true, highest self. We will still need food, shelter, and water - this is true. However, we still might argue that self-actualization requires us to prioritize our development over things like regular sleep habits.
Onward and upward, my friend.
