February 18th, 2009 
Yong-Long Lai Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a model that shows what motivates a human.
There’s 5 level in the model and in order for a person to “move up” in the model they must possess or are satisfy with all of the below.
- Physiological – Basic Needs (Food, Water, Shelter, Clothing)
- Safety – I guess this is where insurance comes in handy and some sort of financial reserves or protection
- Love/Belonging – building relationships with friends, finding a live partner, having family and starting family
- Esteem – I think this is were people wants their name written on something important, whether getting an award, getting published somewhere for achievement or just the sight of their name flashed on the TV when they donate to Telethon
- Self-Actualisation – This is where a person find something bigger than themselves and commit to the cause, some social entrepreneurs fall in this category and I’m thinking many of the religious priest/monks etc.
In my mind, most people in 3rd world country will be in the bottom two, where they spend most of their time searching for food, water and to make sure they are safe. People in developing country start breaking out one level because they will most likely have the survival (food, water, clothing, shelter) taken care of. For the lucky people in 1st world country, I guess they start thinking about getting ahead and making a ‘name’ for themselves.
So the question is, do you know where you sit? If not, look at what you are motivated by or what you are spending most of your time doing…
- are you working on some ground breaking project?
- are you struggling to balance your finances and make ends meet?
- are you looking for that special somebody?
- or are you meditating under a Banyan tree waiting for enlightening?
Once you understand where you sit, you can start to build your foundation and pursue something that excites you (ie. your passion, unique potential, sleeping giant). So don’t spend too much time walking around in circle doing your boring routine in the game of life when you can do so much more!
Its amazing that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs model still makes so much sense in today’s world and culture.
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