If I were to ask you, “What do you need as the basics in your life?” you may say things like a car, a house, money, clothes, and food. But what we actually need, as human beings, is often not what we end up working so hard to acquire.

A car may be necessary to get you to and from a job, but how often do we just want the most basic, simplest, bare-bones car? We tend to want one that looks good or has all the fancy bells and whistles. What you really need is a way to get to and from work, and that could be a bike, public transportation or carpool situation. The same can be said about a house - what we really need is shelter, but what we want may be something far more than just that. We typically find ourselves a house that is the best possible house that we can afford.

Abraham Maslow was a psychologist in the early 1900’s who published a theory called the “Hierarchy of Needs.” He theorized that there are five layers of needs that we have, and they are prioritized in such a way that the very basic needs must be met before someone can look at or strive for the other layers. The bottom, most essential layer is Physiological needs, or the most basic survival needs. These include breathing, food, water, sleep. Without these very basic needs being met, we would not survive and certainly couldn’t be thinking about things like “being happy.”

The next level has to do with Safety – security in things like our personal physical safety, employment, good health, resources, employment, etc. After that is the Love/Belonging level which includes things like friendship, family, and intimacy. Then there comes the Esteem layer, which includes self-esteem, confidence, a sense of achievement, and the respect of/by others. It’s difficult to feel like these needs are met when the lower layers aren’t being fulfilled. Finally, there’s the layer called Self-Actualization, which is your becoming a person of morality, creativity, problem-solving, acceptance of others and being an integral part of the world around you.

If your goal is to be happy, but your basic needs aren’t being met, you will find that being or becoming happy is going to be a much more difficult goal to reach. Start at the basics - do you have food, water, a place to sleep well, etc? Being hungry or sleep-deprived will keep you from being able to focus, accomplish, or care for anything except focusing on meeting those needs. Do you feel safe, or feel a sense of security in your life? If not, then meeting those needs will become your focus. For love/belonging, do you have friends, family, and close connections in your life? We all feel a need to belong and to be accepted, and that is what this level is about. If you’re missing this element in your life, set it as a goal to build & develop new friendships, extend your family circle through those friendships, and find positive places where you feel like you have a role and a sense of belonging and acceptance. Once that need is met, you will more easily find the ability to feel confidence, stronger self-esteem, and respect for yourself and others.

If all four of these basic needs are met, you will be able to focus on living a life of self-actualization, knowing who you are and where you fit into the world around you, as well as accepting others and where they fit into that world. You will find yourself giving more, being more, and enjoying more, and ultimately, possibly even feeling happier overall.

Do some self-assessment of your life and look at each layer of this Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. If you see where there are unmet needs or gaps, develop goals to start trying to satisfy those needs. Start with the very basics and work your way up. Everyone deserves to have human needs met, and that includes you and those you care about.