Scaling Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is not linear
Historically, human life has been similar to that of our many other fellow species on Earth: that is, governed by a continual need to survive by finding and maintaining access to the other basic components of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in food and water, shelter, safety, and belonging.
Yet, as human society has modernized through the development of new technologies - particularly in this and the last century - these basic physiological needs have become increasingly met for a larger and larger share of people. These advancements have enabled the focus of human society to advance further up Maslow’s Hierarchy, from concrete survival, to the more abstract psychological and self-fulfillment needs.
The approach of survival is a linear one: the more one acquires water, food, shelter, safety, etc. the more satisfied the survival organs will be, with bodily systems such as ghrelin and leptin (appetite hormones) indicating the local maximum satisfaction levels.
The approach of becoming more fulfilled or self-actualized, however, is a much more complex and complicated formula which cannot be solved in the same linear manner as the lower needs. Accumulating more inputs important to the lower levels, such as food, shelter, money, sex, possessions, friends, or a family will not linearly increase the satisfaction of one’s self-esteem or self-actualization organs. Also, at best we rely on underdeveloped bodily systems to tell us when we have achieved local maximum satisfaction levels when it comes to self-esteem or self-actualization.
Adopting the same, linear approach that works for increasing one’s physiological or safety Needs to increase one’s self-esteem or self-actualization Needs does not work.
For instance, it is proven that while earning more money does correlate with happiness for a while, this correlation does not continue past a certain point (in the US this is marked as $70,000 - $90,000 per year in salary). Earning another $5,000 does not generate the same happiness return for one person who makes $200,000, compared to another person who makes $35,000. We also do not have a hormonal system to signal to us the point at which we have enough money is enough to fill our self-esteem organ in the same way that leptin tells us that our stomachs are full. The bodily systems of dopamine and serotonin, which theoretically should play this role, have been rendered woefully inadequate for this task by the reality of how “modern” the modern world has become.
As human society continues to evolve – so, too must our approach to life, in order to realize our full potential as human beings. Simply continuing to acquire more, which works for lower rungs of Maslow’s Hierarchy does not work for higher rungs. Raising crops or animals, getting a job and earning money, buying food/clothes/housing, getting promoted, meeting more people and making more friends, are not enough to continue climbing to the higher levels. To climb the higher rungs of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we need a nonlinear equation.
In order to continue climbing the rungs, the teachings of mindfulness come into play.
Mindfulness transcends the whole paradigm of equations and resets the focus on simply being present.
What does it mean to be present?
Not resisting the past. This means accepting what has happened to us already; the past is non-mutable and to resist accepting what has already occurred is like fighting gravity. An example is to accept that a loved one has passed away, and to not allow the loss to hold ourselves back from continuing to live and seek happiness for ourselves.
Not ignoring today for the sake of the future. This means focusing on what is happening in the here and now, and not to miss out on the good in our lives today for a perceived better future. An example is deciding not to wait for a big project at work to be over to allow ourselves to stop coming home late from work and missing out on time spent with friends and family.
Acknowledging that we can only control our own perceptions and that we can let things go, but we cannot control life. This is related to not resisting the past and means deciding to accept what happens to us in life unconditionally, and learning to let things go - in particular sadness, anger, fear, anxiety, and general feelings of stress or pain. An example is deciding not to become bitter and resolve to never date again because one, three, or even ten dates did not go the way we wished for. We cannot force other people to like us, but we can control our outlook, what we decide to do next, and whether or not we hold on to negatively charged mental matter that will affect us moving forward. For instance, we can try dating again and find ways to enjoy dating (appreciating how it enables us the chance to meet many new people whom we wouldn’t have otherwise!), or we can find fulfillment in other ways that do not involve dating; we may realize that being single is just as valid of a way to be as being in a relationship (and as they say, when you stop looking for connection and just concentrate on living who we are is when true connection is most likely to find us).
Realizing that there is no good or bad event. This means realizing that what happens in life is simply an event, which is not good nor bad. Good and bad are fully subjective labels which depend on the perspective of the person doing the labeling; what may seem good may end up being re-labeled as bad, and vice versa. An example is the event of being robbed and having $100 in cash stolen. While most would label this as bad, there is an endless kaleidoscope of good labels that could be assigned instead, depending on the perspective used. For instance, losing $100 to a stranger is probably good when compared to losing $200, being robbed by one’s child/spouse, or being killed in the robbery. If being robbed becomes a near-death experience and leads to a reflective revelation of what is actually important in one’s life, it could cause a person to forgive their estranged family member and enjoy years of a renewed relationship that never otherwise would have occurred. In that case, is being robbed bad, or good?
Not becoming overly attached to any one thing. This means not allowing too large an amount of our self-worth to become attached to any single aspect of our lives, such as relationships, a societal status/label, money or wealth, material goods, religious beliefs, or anything else that we may identify with. For example, if we put too much stock into our job, then when something causes us to feel diminished (such as an unexpected and painful breakup with a significant other), or even worse when that job inevitably hits a rough patch, then we run the risk of projecting our diminishment onto our job in an attempt to more tightly secure the job against the risk of similar diminishment. If we have nowhere else to spread or soften the shock of the diminishment we are facing, we may cause the very thing we fear most. For instance, we may start to work longer hours or become less tolerant of mistakes in our work or other’s work, which may increase our chances of burnout and alienate us, which may inadvertently cause the security of our job to deteriorate. Yet, if we have other aspects of our lives which can give us outlets to cool off the diminishment of the breakup such as a hobby, spiritual practice, or other strong relationships, then we lessen the chance that our stress will project onto and endanger our job.
What does being present or mindful have to do with self-actualization?
Here is a comparison of a linear vs mindful approach in pursuing self-actualization:
A linear approach may involve continuing to work hard in a job that gives one the highest growth and earning potential, in order to steadily progress through promotions and earn more income. As a consequence, this will likely involve taking little-to-no vacation time, working weekdays or evenings or holidays, accepting duties or roles that one does not intrinsically enjoy, and spending a decreasing share of our energy building or maintaining relationships or developing other interests/hobbies.
Past a point, continuing to accumulate more “job” and income will not continue to fill one’s self-actualization organ.
By contrast, a mindful approach may involve working a job that pays enough for one to maintain a standard of living that is acceptable and in turn which allows one to contribute the level of passion and energy that one naturally has at the stage in life without consistently demanding more than this level, and in a career that allows one to progress in ways that help one to grow in areas one is passionate about. As a consequence, this likely involves working a job that one intrinsically enjoys and frequently enters a “flow state,” where one rarely or only sometimes thinks about work outside of the job hours, with no work done during non-job hours, where the allocated vacation time is taken, and where one is able to maintain or even grow the share of one’s energies devoted to building and maintaining relationships and developing other interests/hobbies.
Furthermore, a mindful approach leaves one prepared to not resist life. If the job becomes unduly demanding due to a company reorganization, it will not lead to the sacrifice of other areas of one’s life to the higher job demands. It may lead to the realization that the job is no longer a good fit and lead one to find a new job without holding onto resentment over what happened. Even if the new job requires an adjustment in one’s status or standard of living, it is accepted as part of life and one even locates elements within the change that can be seen as positive, such as the fact that one was able to find a new job, or is no longer stuck in a draining job situation.
Note how the mindful approach does not involve a linear path and may even involve what may be perceived as backtrack (changing one’s job and standard of living) in order to maintain harmony with the present.
Now - it is important to acknowledge that reflecting on the philosophical nuances of the self is a privilege that is still not realistic or always reasonably accessible for many billions of people across the world.
Hundreds of millions of people still do not have their basic, linearly achieved Needs met - not only in developing, but also in developed nations. Additionally, even people who have moved past the lowest level of Maslow’s Needs may encounter unavoidable barriers to privileges such as being able to switch their jobs with fluidity and accept the trade-off of a reduction in income in order to pursue a job that better aligns with one’s passions/intrinsic motivation; for many, living paycheck-to-paycheck is still a reality.
Yet even in these situations, there are still ways available to taste the fruits of a mindful approach. Eckhart Tolle articulates this in The Power of Now, where he calls out that being mindful and tapping into the benefits and power of being present can be attained through any or all of: enthusiasm, enjoyment or acceptance of one’s current circumstances. When one cannot enjoy or be enthusiastic for one’s life circumstances, one can still accept them and minimize the creation of additional negativity from resisting what is.
To use the job example from above, this means in mindfulness approach terms remaining alert to the ways one may still enjoy the job - such as befriending one’s coworkers, appreciating the chance to learn a new skill, or being able to appreciate the fact that one’s hard-earned income supports one’s family - while remaining vigilant to allow the job to consume only the minimum level of one’s energies, so that one can still find ways to develop one’s life outside of the job. This may mean doing homework with the kids after work, making the effort to enjoy time with one’s significant other, cooking a good meal instead of ordering takeout, or engaging in journaling, woodworking, gardening, listening to podcasts, dancing, or going for a sunset walk instead of filling one’s limited free time watching TV or scrolling social media.
For those with a surplus of resources, adopting a mindful perspective will ultimately lead to the realization that a non-linear approach to self-actualization means redeploying one’s knowledge, effort, or resources to help others scale their own pyramidal needs, which is what in turn enables one to successfully continue scaling one’s own Hierarchy of Needs.
Stay tuned for more mindful musings.