Feeling Out of Sorts? Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Might Help

What are your most important needs in life? Take a moment to consider. Don't think about hopes, dreams, or goals, but needs—things you can’t do without.

Has there ever been a time in your life when all of your needs were met and you wanted for nothing?

Probably not. It's more likely that you’ve always felt the need for something beyond what you already had—better health, more job security, more time with friends and family, more time for hobbies, or a greater sense of fulfillment in life.

When you've come to the conclusion that something's missing in your life, how do you name what it is?

When you've come to the conclusion that something's missing in your life, how do you name what it is? And what needs do you focus on meeting first?

Dr. Abraham Maslow wondered about this almost 80 years ago and came up with a framework called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It’s an oldie but a goodie! In this theory, Maslow proposed that we have five categories of needs, and these categories are arranged in a hierarchy. 

You can visualize the different categories of needs stacked on top of each other like in a pyramid, with the lower levels as prerequisites for the higher levels. Maslow believed that we progress through the hierarchy of needs from bottom to top—once one level is adequately satisfied, the next level comes into focus.

What is Maslow's hierarchy of needs?

Let’s briefly look at each of the categories. Consider whether you feel fulfilled in each of them.

Physiological (basic) needs

These are basic survival needs like food, water, sleep, and ambient temperature so that we’re not too cold or too hot.

Notice that these are biologically-driven needs. If something's amiss, you'll know it! If you don’t have enough food or water in you, your body will tell you. And if you're chronically short on these essentials, your mental health will suffer, too. Research has demonstrated that food insecurity—not having enough access to nutritious food on a regular basis—is associated with psychological stress and psychiatric problems.

Because these needs are so fundamental to survival, Maslow considered them to be...

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