Maslow’s Hierarchy, as researched and created by Abraham Maslow, is a pyramid that identifies the different levels of human needs, from the basics of food and water, all the way to contributing to something greater than self. Originally, Maslow identified five levels, but later added three more. Read on to find out more about each level of Maslow’s Hierarchy:
Physiological Needs
The first level is the physiological needs that include finding food, water and shelter. In the city this is taken care of by having an apartment and going to the grocery store. In the wilderness, this is taken care of in a very different way.
Here in the Institute for Human Potential community we harvest food from nature in line with the seasons and regulations, taking only what we need and reciprocating nature for the benefits it gives us by contributing to its conservation. This includes meat, fish, berries, nuts, onions, sorrel and potatoes. We also get vegetables from our garden and eggs from our chickens. Any food we can’t obtain from wild harvest or the ranch, we have to plan ahead and order from town to pick up on the next trip. Our water comes gravity-fed from the creek, free of chlorine and the other chemicals that are found in city water. Part of ensuring we have water is maintaining the reservoir in the creek. Shelter comes from the accommodation that we build including our historic lodge, modern log cabins, prospector tents and our 25 satellite research camps in the wilderness. We keep our accommodation warm by bringing in firewood from the forest that we then cut with a chainsaw, split with a sledgehammer and use to keep the fires burning. We share this physical environment with horses, chickens, cats, dogs and the resident wildlife.
Safety and Security
Once we’ve taken care of our food, water and shelter, we work in the second level of Maslow’s hierarchy which is safety and security.
Part of this is learning how to live alongside the big predators such as grizzly and black bears, cougars and wolves that could physically harm us. It is also to become aware of the risks of living in a wilderness environment such as heavy equipment, fire, chainsaws and that we are a long way away from a hospital. When we are aware of this, we can mitigate the risks, we learn how to split wood and use the chainsaw safely. We learn how to store food so it doesn’t attract bears. Everybody learns how to do everything so everybody is capable, independent and empowered which increases the communal safety. There is the support of the community which creates a safe place to leave our comfort zones. By carrying out conservation projects we provide security for the environment we benefit from. By working outside, eating healthy home-cooked food and having a community with no drinking, smoking or drug use we naturally live a healthy lifestyle.
Love and Belonging
Once we have met these two needs, we strive for more belonging and our place in the community.
Before arriving we already assessed we are a good match of like-minded people, now we work out how we can be part of that, we are driven by our need to contribute. As we learn more about the community, we find our particular niche where we can contribute the most. However, we also belong to ourselves. This means we also have the strength to stand up for ourselves, our ideas and our values. Although we have different backgrounds and different interests, we are aligned by the common big picture goal. We build deep connections and meaningful relationships by sharing successes, challenges, growth and evolvement together. Living in a purposeful community brings out the best in everyone on their transformational journeys. One person’s success is acknowledged by everyone and is a community success. The same applies to challenges.
Esteem
As we contribute and invest in our personal development, we enter the level of esteem as we have more confidence in our growing abilities, as well as a sense of accomplishment, which makes for a self-perpetuating positive cycle, we develop, learn, evolve and grow.
We learn how to take initiative, have commitment, contribute, take responsibility and have a positive attitude. We understand how things work. We are motivated by our increasing self-esteem and find ourselves having more achievements, gaining more confidence and independence. We become empowered. By first investing in ourselves, we gain the respect and trust of the community who invest in us in turn.
Cognitive Needs
Once we have experienced esteem, we are driven by curiosity and the search for meaning.
This could be our curiosity to learn more about the wildlife in the area, a desire to test ourselves to see how self-sufficient we can be in the wilderness or to understand the environment better so we can conserve it more effectively. This is our innate human motivation to continue progressing with the levels of Maslow’s hierarchy in our contribution to the ranch community and the natural environment.
Aesthetic Needs
Our curiosity leads us to an appreciation of the natural world, such as its unique balance of simplicity and complexity, the interactions of the different wildlife species or the sense of peace and calmness that being in nature creates.
Seeing the purpose and rhythms of nature is a humbling and clarifying experience that resonates deeply inside us. In nature we see how a tree grows with no attachment to its specific form, it grows because it is its purpose to do so. We see how the mountain goats find a way to survive through the long winters on near-vertical rocky cliffs. We feel a sense of contentment and appreciation for the sub-alpine meadows that provide a home for grizzly bears and mule deer and through which flows the creeks that provide drinking water to us and all the wildlife.
Self-actualization
As soon as we align our interests, goals and purpose with contributing to something greater than ourselves, we reach the level of self-actualization where we become the master of our own destiny, achievements and empowerment.
We live our purpose, actualizing everything we are capable of. Every challenge along the way appears solvable to us, we are creative in how to make things work, and we have a positive attitude. Every person’s purpose is different. That means what self-actualization looks like varies from person to person. In our ranch community it could be to share the philosophy with other potentially like-minded people through writing about life in the wilderness, inspiring them on their own journey of self-actualization. It could be to work on high level conservation projects that ensure the wilderness is conserved long into the future. It could be to mentor others in essential wilderness life skills. However, nature is the key in our community to unlocking the potential within us for self-actualization. The thing all these self-actualized people have in common is the need to contribute to something bigger than themselves. We are also highly conscious and aware, of ourselves, other people, animals and the environment which is what allows us to live a self-actualized life.
Transcendence needs
Once we have achieved self-actualization for ourselves, we are motivated to help our community members and others do the same as a mentor.
This deepens our connection to the people, animals and natural world around us. Nature is where we experience transcendence. To be deeply connected with nature is to feel both incredibly insignificant and absolutely vital at the same time. This is because we become highly conscious and aware of everything we are capable of. We see what the horses are capable of as they carry us over slippery shale slopes, over rocky mountain tops or across rushing creeks. But we also see the eternity of nature through 6 million year old fossils, volcanic ash from a volcano that erupted thousands of years ago and valleys carved out by glaciers long since melted. Then we see that our life is just the blink of an eye compared to nature. Here we know that we are a part of nature, not apart from nature, even if it is only for a short time, our purpose is to contribute to conserve it so it will continue long after we are gone and allow other people the opportunity to experience its impact.
Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Want to learn more about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and how to apply it in your own life? Take a look at the content in our Self Study program where you will see how we are always assessing our level on Maslow’s Hierarchy, or sign up for Online Training or Immersion Training:
