Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

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Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist. The Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory is often taught in business management principles.

Maslow’s theories state that a person’s needs or wants are relative to what he or she has already achieved. The first or bottom level is physiological or survival requirements. A person who has no food or water, craves only what is required for basic nourishment.

Once this requirement is met, the need for simply basic day by day wants is gradually replaced with desires for safety and security. As a person progresses in these steps, the basics are replaced with more sophisticated requirements.

At this stage when the first levels have been satisfied, new living conditions and priorities are put in place. These optional extras were not a pressing concern previously, but as the individual progressed in improving their standard of living, new needs took the place thereof.

Then the social needs kick into play, where a better relationships with friends, colleagues and family take precedence. At this point it is no longer enough just to have food, water and a place to stay. Status in society and within one’s social circle is important.

The next phase is esteem needs. This could be seen as keeping up with the Joneses or driving the car one always wanted. A standard of living is maintained, which falls in line with what one can afford or even living above one’s means to maintain the image of wealth.

The final stage, the self actualisation phase is where a person wants to be at the top of his or her game and be in contact with similar people that are experts in a particular field. At this level all previous hierarchical structures have been met to the individual’s satisfaction and it is a far cry from purely struggling for survival or living from day to day.

The introduction of new needs as earlier ones are met, also apply in a reverse sliding scale as the situation goes backwards where an expensive lifestyle is no longer affordable, the belt needs to be tightened. People who once had and lost it all, might once again start from scratch and only want to have a plate of food or a roof over their heads.

This purely goes to show that according to this theory people have unlimited needs and as soon as they think they have what they always wanted, new priorities and goals take the place of the earlier ones.

People will always strive to improve themselves either in dreams or in actions. Money is a limited resource and there is definitely not enough going around to satisfy everybody’s needs. It is also human nature to seek out the quick fix or easy solution to their financial problems.

“When life passes you a lemon, reach for the tequila and salt”. This kind of mind-set is heavily exploited by unscrupulous con-artists, who know there is a lucrative market in get rich quick schemes and make unrealistic guarantees as to the money making potential of their system. These guarantees are often backed by watertight “terms and conditions apply” disclaimers in fine print, or are outright fraudulent and illegal.

Many people have been caught in such traps, sometimes with financially devastating consequences. Tricksters often target the elderly or the desperate, who in good faith gamble their life savings and are left with no recourse after they have lost all their hard earned money.

Making money can be done the hard way or the easy way, but more often than not, there is no effortless way of getting rich quickly. As the saying goes “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”.