NEEDS

Needs

Abraham Maslow (1906-1970), a psychologist, suggested a hierarchy of needs because he observed that problems usually stemmed from an inability to satisfy needs.

You are unable to work effectively and happily if all of your needs are not met, if they are not met then you will have a strong desire to find somewhere else which can fulfil your needs.

There are five fundamental needs and each builds upon the foundation of its predecessor, these needs motivate us, whether it be a career, relationships, house, investments.

The Hierarchy represented as a pyramid (Maslow, 1943; Robbins and Judge, 2016).

Physiological-

This is your first and most basic need, you need to eat, breath, sleep, regulate temperature, not be in pain. When we are not having our needs met we often go back to our most basic need which we can satisfy our need eg. overeating or sleeping, resting to recover.

If our physiological needs are not met, unfortunately, we die. We always strive to meet this need and it is a comfort zone to fall back to if we don’t feel safe or are unable to move up the pyramid to meet other needs.

When you know someone with Binge eating or other unfortunate eating disorders, please take the time to consider why they may not be feeling safe.

Be understanding of their situation and help them by creating a safe space and enhance the feeling of belonging, once you have accomplished this you should be proud of yourself and them and start towards building their esteem and self-confidence.

Safety-

This is based on all aspects of safety, shelter, food reserves, comfort. Very important for survival and self preservation, when you feel vulnerable you will be tempted to go to your safest location eg. bed, wrapped in blankets, isolation.

Once you feel safe again then you can proceed to the next levels of need.

This may seem incredibly simple and it is. Sometimes it is unfortunate that people cannot find a safe space or do not have the knowledge on how to create safety. There may be relationship abuse or it could be that their shower isn't working properly and they lose the ritual that they have developed over the years, patterns and habits are safe and if it is disrupted it can have large impacts on our life.

I challenge you to think about when you may have felt unsafe but maybe not been aware of this feeling.

My example is the last holiday I went on and I came home and I hadn’t picked up my dogs yet from my parents who were looking after them. My home became a house and I didn’t find the safety I was expecting.

Love & Belonging-

Friendship, social circles, intimacy, family.

These all provide acceptance and comfort, support is very very important and they often create safe places. Feeling like you belong is powerful, and can give you the confidence to go further up the pyramid. Most people require friends and or family to have self-esteem, be comfortable being who you are and your support network act as a test run, if they can accept and love you surely you should too.

Make sure that you be a friend to everyone and create a sense of belonging in a community,

They will always make successful gyms, you gain loyalty, comfort and openness.

I want you to compliment everyone that you talk to, try to always talk about the other person, think of it as a game.

Get the other person to talk more about themselves than you talk, after each interaction thinks about percentage-wise how much they spoke compared to you.

The more you get that person to talk, the more they will think that you are a great communicator.

Esteem-

We seek respect from ourselves and others for who we are and what we do.

Are our hobbies, professions, opinions accepted and valued? What do we do if we do not have self-respect or respect from others? You go back to where you feel belonging.

Everyone has interests and hobbies and some people are open and bubbly about it and some people are shy and reserved, both are completely fine. Having self-esteem allows you to feel comfortable and unashamed to have side interests such as building model aircraft or doing pole dance classes.

I suggest that when you are in your office or whatever space you may have, put down or showcase your hobby if you can. Place one of your model aircraft on your desk or maybe a picture of your pole dancing class friends, people admire the confidence and it opens up a dialogue for you to ask about any hobbies that they may have. Confidence is key.

Self-actualisation-

We are at the top of the pyramid now, this is where we are able to express our creativity and reach our full potential. If you manage a team or have clients, this is where they will be more comfortable to share their thoughts and ideas eg. a new exercise in the circuit or maybe a great new innovative way to build a business.

You can only reach this confidence with a solid foundation of all the others.

You can help your friends by offering them choices on what they want to do, it also gives you an idea of what they prefer and you can create new activities targeting what they enjoy and making them comfortable.

The big challenge now is to use this base model of needs to help yourself.

The big picture and Point of it all

We have covered a lot about neuropsychology and the basics on what happens with stress,

It is important to understand the foundation of stress so that you can help your clients and more importantly yourselves. The big goal everyone should achieve is to reduce psychological and adrenal stress no matter what form it takes.

The number one way to do this is to use techniques that activate the frontal cortex, give yourself a sense of control and focus on logical reasoning and step by step planning.