Good day everybody,
Welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on gaming and literature. Today I will be writing about something that is of vital importance for every human being alive in the world, and something many of us neglect in regards to our daily lives. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a theoretical idea written and examined by American Abraham Maslow and published in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" as part of the journal Psychological Review. He looks at the five categories which all humans require, and which influence their behaviour. Those needs are physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. The first four levels are often referred to as deficiency needs (D-needs), while the fifth and top level is referred to as growth or being needs (B-needs). Deficiency needs arise due to deprivation and are said to motivate people when they are unmet. Also, it is noted that the motivation to fulfil these needs becomes stronger the longer someone is denied them. An example of this would be the longer a person goes without food, the more hungry they will become.
Physiological Needs
This is the basic level of human requirements, and includes air, food, clothing, shelter, warmth, sleep, and sex. These are needs that all humans require to survive, regardless of their class or status. If they are not met, these biological requirements can ensure the body does not function correctly. Until these needs are met, according to Maslow, all other needs become secondary in terms of their importance.
Safety Needs
The theory goes that once an individual has met their physiological needs, their needs for safety and security become the next focus. This refers to a persons need to experience order, predictability, and control within their life. Generally these needs can be fulfilled through ones family and society. This includes but is not limited to emotional and financial security, such as having a job, law and order in society, freedom from fear, social stability, property, health, and wellbeing.
Love and Belonging Needs
Once the above physiological and safety needs have been fulfilled, the third level of requirements for human needs is social. This includes the feeling of belonginess, which refers to a human emotional requirement for interpersonal relationships, affiliating, connectedness, and being part of a group. Samples of this can involve friendship, belongingness, intimacy, trust, and acceptance.
Esteem Needs
To achieve the fourth level of needs, one needs to achieve self-worth, accomplishment, and respect. These are classed into two categories by Maslow, (i) esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, independence) and (ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status, prestige). It is especially important for children and adolescents to achieve these needs before they reach adulthood, to maintain a level of real self esteem and dignity before they enter the wider world.
Self-Actualization Needs
Finally, the top of the pyramid defined by Maslow's hierarchy refers to a person potential, self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences, and most importantly achieving them. This is a person's desire to achieve all that they can in life, to accomplish everything that is possible to them. This can differ from person to person, as some individuals will have a strong desire to become a parent, while other may be more focused towards economical, academic, or sporting achievements. With others still this can be expressed in creativity, such as paintings, pictures, or even inventions.
Every one of these levels can be broken down further into minor categories, each representing a different aspect of things that people needs to feel accepted and happy in life. Below is an image I found online which demonstrates the different aspects from daily life which can have an impact on someone's Hierarchy of Needs.
How does this all relate to Crypto?
Most people, although not all, see crypto as a means to financial freedom (some are in it for the tech apparently). As noted by Maslow, who did redefine his hierarchy and note that not all levels need to be achieved in order, achieving these needs can improve ones life drastically. Crypto can be a resource for achieve many of the levels as described by Maslow. Obviously financial success from being involved in crypto can help to alleviate any persons requirement for Physiological and Safety needs. This is a clear given as if anyone does manage to make a lot of money through their investments they can go on to buy their own home, which provides their safety requirement. They can also afford their food, heating, clothing, etc which helps to fulfil their Physiological needs.
The Love & Belonging, Esteem, and Self-Actualization needs can not be so easily achieved via crypto, but it is possible. Society always views those with financial means as more desirable than those without, therefore being successful with crypto can certainly help to attract somebody or draw their interest. At the same time achieving success in crypto can help with ones self esteem and self actualization, as success will breed confidence at the same time as achieving goals related to financial freedom. From there someone can achieve other goals which they may not have thought possible, such as being able to provide long term for their family, visit new places, and try new experiences.
While all this sounds wonderful, of course it all comes down to being successful or not with your investments. Taking Luna as a recent example, it is easy to see why so many people jump into Crypto in the hopes of getting rich, only to crash and burn. This happens all too often as the majority of people in Crypto are in it for the get rich quick aspect, which wouldn't really fulfil their hierarchy of needs. Of course it would lead to other means of achieving all of their levels, but there is no reason why Crypto in itself cannot be a means of reaching all the levels of needs. While it was difficult to foresee what would happen with Luna, the signs are always there.
Become more involved with a project, whether that means taking the time to learn about its use cases, seeing its plans of development for the future, or even getting to a stage where you make a token based off that coins ecosystem to enhance what that Blockchain has to offer. This is, in my opinion anyway, the real way to achieve true satisfaction from being involved in Crypto. Learning while earning. You will have more knowledge, more thought, more insight, and more depth by getting into the nitty gritty of a project and finding out all about it. You may not enjoy what you learn, which can lead you towards a different project. At the same time you might discover something completely new about it which make you love the project even more. The more you know, the more informed you are and the better your decision making can be. While you cannot always know everything and plenty of shady things happen behind closed doors, there is no better feeling than knowing you backed the right horse even when all the prices are down.
It is important to take all the levels of the hierarchy into account, meaning that while most of us aim to get rich quick, we need to learn to enjoy the journey and experience along the way. Learning about Crypto and Web3 can be just as beneficial to achieving a level of self-actualization as randomly investing in something and getting a 10x. Both are enjoyable scenarios, but the former means a user is more likely to strike rich more than once with their investments. I am not saying people need to learn everything possible, merely that expanding ones knowledge can help to fully realise ones potential along with their safety requirements, Physiological needs, growing your self esteem by knowing you have an in depth knowledge, plus if you really enjoy the hobby and area you have learnt about it can be a great topic when you meet someone new which may end up ticking off your Love & Belonging needs.
Striking the right balance is the key to success, don't overextend yourself while at the same time be confident in your decisions. Find the things that work for you and step by step make your progress. Everyone has the right to happiness in their life, everyone has the right to their Hierarchy of Needs. Finding what works for you will get you one step closer on your journey to fulfilment.
Conclusion
The Hierarchy of needs is a very interesting topic, I believe anyway, when applied to the use case of individuals participating in the crypto space. We are all trying to be something in this world, whether it is a good parent, an independent individual, or a savvy investor. Each of us is on our own journey in life, and while some of us are desperate to get to a place where we are financially free, it's not always that simple. Things take time to work out in life, but applying the simple steps of learning, developing, interacting, and growing can help anybody achieve greatness in life. Whatever your aims are from crypto, you have to truly enjoy the experience for it to be worthwhile. If you don't, it just becomes another job. Get stuck into your projects like they are your hobby as much as your investment and there is a good chance you will learn and feel so much more from it than just randomly throwing money at a coin. Everyone can make it through CRYPTO, even if you failed with LUNA you can still make it with others. Time, interest, and a willingness to learn will help you achieve your financial and potentially all other needs in life. Just make what you will of Maslow's theory and find a way to link each need to how you approach Crypto / any other hobby you enjoy. It might be the beginning of your journey to real happiness, along with hopefully financial freedom down the line.
*All images used are referenced below*
I hope you enjoyed the piece, have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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