Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

                                    

                                                "What a man can be, he must be”

                                                                                ~ Abraham Maslow

My last Blog focused on the anatomy of the mind. (Id, Ego, Super-ego…Brain stem, limbic system, and Neo cortex)

Now you may be wondering… “Why is he (Kelly) focusing on all this Id, ego, and psychological crap?”… “I just want to know how to eat right and how to exercise.”

(I have had several gym comments and emails complaining about my lack of nutritional/exercise input)

I have mentioned before that personal awareness precedes personal transformation. The overwhelming reason most of us fail is because we are ignorant of the hard wired biological drives and the psychological conditioning that is working against our efforts. Discussing food and exercise is pointless without understanding the traits that make us do what we do.

“We have met the enemy and he is us”

(Please be patient and continue to read my blog…I do have a plan, and eventually I will get to the nutrition and exercise information…When we are ready.)

Have you ever heard the phrase, “You have to know where you are before you can know where your going?”

I would like to proceed in our “Health” journey by fusing neural anatomy with our psychological needs. 

I think the best place is to begin with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

Abraham Harold Maslow (April 1, 1908 – June 8, 1970) was an American professor of psychology who created Maslow's hierarchy of needs. He stressed the importance of focusing on the positive qualities in people, as opposed to treating them as a 'bag of symptoms.”  ---Wikipedia

Maslow, unlike other psychologist, studied what he called “exemplary people” such as Albert Einstein, Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick Douglass rather than mentally ill or neurotic people, writing that… "The study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy."

Maslow studied the healthiest 1% of the college student population. Maslow's theory was proposed in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality.

Maslow's theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus motivation upon) the secondary or higher level needs.

I personally believe that Maslow’s proposal is one of the most effective tools for understanding where you are in your level of psychological health. If you will be open, honest, and willing to learn…you will have the best possible chance for success when the

time comes for you to “take action” and move up the ladder in your hierarchy of needs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

~ Physiological Needs

These include the most basic needs that are vital to survival, such as the need for water, air, food and sleep. Maslow believed that these needs are the most basic and instinctive needs in the hierarchy because all needs become secondary until these physiological needs are met.

~ Security Needs

People want to control and to have order in their lives, so this need for safety and security contributes largely to behaviors.

Some of the basic security and safety needs include: Financial security, heath and wellness, and safety against accidents and injury. Together, the safety and psychological levels of the hierarchy make up what is often referred to as the basic needs.

(Again these “basic needs” resemble the “id” that Freud referred to)

~ Social Needs

These include needs for belonging, love and affection. Maslow considered these needs to be less basic than physiological and security needs. Relationships such as friendships, romantic relationships and families help fulfill this need for companionship and acceptance, as does involvement in social, community or religious groups.

~ Esteem Needs

After the first three needs have been satisfied, esteem needs becomes increasingly important. These include the need for things that reflect on self-esteem, personal worth, social recognition and accomplishment.

(The security needs, social needs and esteem needs are limbic driven ego attachments)

~ Self-actualizing Needs

(Moving into the superego…The Neo-cortex)

This is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others and interested fulfilling their potential.

(Philosophy fans may recognize a similar theme from Nietzsche’s definition of Uberman…  (Supermen) “People who experiment with life and are constantly in the process of becoming something other (better) than what they once were.”)

Self-actualization people (supermen) are located at the peak of Maslow’s hierarchy… he described this high-level need in the following way.

"What a man can be, he must be.”

Maslow…“This need we may call self-actualization…It refers to the desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for him to become actualized in what he is potentially. This tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming."

~ Characteristics of Self-Actualized People

Maslow also identified some of the key characteristics of self-actualized people:

~Acceptance and Realism: Self-actualized people have realistic perceptions of themselves, others and the world around them.

~Problem-centering: Self-actualized individuals are concerned with solving problems outside of themselves, including helping others and finding solutions to problems in the external world. These people are often motivated by a sense of personal responsibility and ethics.

~Spontaneity: Self-actualized people are spontaneous in their internal thoughts and outward behavior. While they can conform to rules and social expectations, they also tend to be open and unconventional.

~Autonomy and Solitude: Another characteristic of self-actualized people is the need for independence and privacy. While they enjoy the company of others, these individuals need time to focus on developing their own individual potential.

~ Continued Freshness of Appreciation: Self-actualized people tend to view the world with a continual sense of appreciation, wonder and awe. Even simple experiences continue to be a source of inspiration and pleasure.

~ Peak Experiences: Individuals who are self-actualized often have what Maslow termed peak experiences, or moments of intense joy, wonder, awe and ecstasy. “After these experiences, people feel inspired, strengthened, renewed or transformed.^”

Conclusion:

Personal transformation demands an awareness of one’s psychological health within our hierarchy of needs.

Transformation includes…

~ Acknowledging “Who I am”

~ Recognizing my place within “my” hierarchy of needs

~ Emphatically state how I want my life to move forward

Always remember that our physical health is a reflection of our emotional health. If you are seeking the “Holy Grail” of fitness…look no further. You truly posse’s power that you never dreamed of, and can use those powers the moment you become aware of your internal drives/urges and the external attachments they are paired with. There are no limitations in what you can accomplish except the limitations of your own personal awareness. 

"Here in your mind you have complete privacy. Here there's no difference between what is and what could be."  ~ Chuck Palahniuk

“That a man can change himself… and master his own destiny is the conclusion of every mind that is wide-awake to the power of right thought”.

                                                                        Christian D. Larson