Mr. Achievement – Stanley F. Bronstein – Personal Development BlogPersonal Development Blog of the Founder of the Achievement IQ Movement and Creator of the Laws of Positioning

This chart comes from the Wikipedia Article on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which can be found by clicking here.

Maslow’s Hierarchy – Safety Needs Revisited

The fact is that people are good, if only their fundamental wishes are satisfied, their wish for affection and security. Give people affection and security, and they will give affection and be secure in their feelings and their behavior. (Abraham Maslow)

Some Definitions First

Fact – Something that actually exists; reality; truth.

Good – Morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious.    Satisfactory in quality, quantity, or degree.  Of high quality.

Only – Solely; exclusively.

Fundamental – Of, pertaining to, or affecting the foundation or basis.  A basic principle, rule, law or the like that serves as the groundwork of a system.

Wishes – A desire, longing, or strong inclination for a specific thing.

Satisfied -   To fulfill the desires, expections, needs or demands of a person, the mind, etc.  To put an end to a desire, want, need, etc.

Affection – Fond attachment, devotion or love.  Emotion, feeling, sentiment.  The emotional realm of love.

Security – Freedom from danger, risk, etc.  Freedom from care, anxiety, or doubt; well founded confidence.  Freedom from cares or wants.

Feeling(s) – A consciousness or vague awareness.  An emotion or emotional perception or attitude.

Behavior – Manner or behaving or acting.  The action or reaction of any material under given circumstances.

Maslow’s Ideas In Today’s World

In light of today’s economic / world situation, I think we should all pay more attention to Abraham Maslow’s ideas than ever before.

Interestingly, two days ago, a reader directed my attention to the fact that Colin Wilson, a philosopher and writer of crime and fiction books, has contended that it would not be until the 21st century that Abraham Maslow’s work would be truly appreciated.

Well, here we are. We’re now well into the 21st century and we’re showing no signs of retreating.

It is my contention that Maslow’s work was “spot-on” and we would all do very well to pay attention to his ideas.

Safety Is Just One Small Step Ahead Of Our Most Basic Needs

I guess that after we get through worrying about breathing, eating, drinking, reproducing, sleeping, peeing and pooping, we’re ready for something else.

Abraham Maslow apparently agreed.

If you look back, those functions are indeed the most basic needs of any species, not just homo sapiens.

Next up is Security / Safety.

Security / Safety is knowing that you’re out of danger.  It’s knowing that you’re taken care of, no matter what.

I guess that after our most basic needs are met, we want to know we’re being taken care of.

Based upon my experiences, I would have to agree with this.  I know that just from a recent trip to California in an area where I observed a large homeless population, there #1 issue seemed to be breathing, eating, drinking, reproducing, sleeping, peeing and pooping and security be damned.

In little over 1 hour, my wife and I observed homeless persons doing pretty much all of those things (except for reproducing), out in the open, in public areas.

One might say they could be arrested and thrown in jail for peeing and pooping in public, yet for some reason that was not their concern.

This is where Maslow was RIGHT !   The answer is simple.  If you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go.  Never mind the fact that you’re homeless and don’t have any better alternatives.

These homeless people were obviously willing to risk their security (not being arrested) to do something as simple as going to the bathroom.  I don’t know about you, but personally I can’t blame them.

So What’s My Point?

My point is not to criticize the behavior of the homeless.

My point is to learn from it.

Because of unfortunate circumstances, they have been reduced to lower levels where they must work hard to just meet their basic needs.

And as Maslow observed, their basic needs were the physiological needs of their body.

It was ONLY AFTER THOSE NEEDS WERE MET, that the homeless began to do other things, such as look for shelter and such.

Hopefully they found it.

Conclusion

As I mentioned a little earlier in this post, I believe most human beings are constantly working, simultaneously, to fulfill their needs on multiple levels of the pyramid.

Here’s the catch:

The higher up the pyramid you want to get, the more important the lower levels are to your success or failure.

That’s why I think Maslow was a genius when he came up with the pyramid concept. Not only did he get his points across verbally, but he also got them across visually.

His pyramid says it all.

Some Recommended Reading

Laws of Positioning #86 – Position Yourself To Be Secure

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