5 Steps to Finding Fulfillment

February 11, 2009

In 1943 Abraham Maslow proposed his now famous Hierarchy of Needs pyramid, creating a whole new movement of humanistic psychology. In essence, he concluded that “deficiency” needs must be met before personal growth needs can be fulfilled. He defines deficiency needs as: physiological, safety, love and belonging, and esteem, in that order. Once these lower levels of the pyramid have been provided for, we can move on to satisfy our growth and development needs of self-actualization; we can focus on finding happiness. If you are the curious or academic sort, I encourage you to read more about it in Toward a Psychology of Being.

Here’s where my Quest for Balance comes in: I have found a shortcut to the top of the pyramid. If you spend less time and energy on the lower need levels, you will be able to spend more of your lifetime in the higher levels. I have shifted my priorities and redesigned my life so that I can want less, and enjoy more. If we assume it is true that we must meet our deficiency needs before pursuing self-actualization, then there are a couple of ways to go about doing this:

1. Work really hard to get everything you and your family could possibly want today and in the future. This is what the Joneses are doing, and you could try to keep up with them. Warning: if you choose this approach, you will spend a significant amount of time trying to meet your (and the Joneses’) idea of deficiency needs.

2. Alternately, you could want LESS stuff than they do, today and for the future, so that you could work less and live more. If you go this route, you’ll spend so little time on issues of food, clothing, and shelter that you will have to spend a lot of time either pursuing or enjoying happiness. This is not for the faint of heart. You would have to let go of all the excuses, obstacles, and toxic personalities that surround you and just enjoy life. Crazy concept, I know.

It all comes down to how you want to spend the majority of your time. In my case, I don’t want to spend much time at all thinking about anything that doesn’t directly contribute to my happiness. I understand that I have basic survival needs (food, clothing, shelter,) but that is all they are. Once I meet those, as simply as possible, I can be free… free to live, explore, create, and enjoy.

So my redesigned hierarchy looks more like an inverted pyramid, or a cone. I still have the four deficiency levels: Just BE, Be Safe, Be Social, Be Strong; but these don’t take up much of my time. Then there’s the top half of the cone, the growth level: Be Happy (my personal favorite.) This is the part that interests me since it is the only level in which I can find lasting happiness and fulfillment.

When I look at it this way, it truly baffles me how much time, energy, and resources some people are willing to devote to the four lower levels of the pyramid. How much time do you spend on each level?

Continue on to read about the 5 Steps to Finding Fulfillment: Just BE | Be Safe | Be Social | Be Strong | Be Happy.

Related posts:

1. The Sixth Step to Finding Fulfillment: Be Honest
2. How to Relax in 3 Easy Steps

Posted in choices, happiness, needs, simplicity