Thoughts on the Self-Actualization Landslide That Has Been the Pandemic

Just when you were diligently working your way to the top of the pyramid that illustrates Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, striving for fully realized self-actualization – BOOM! You’re hit with a landslide of world-shattering proportions in the form of the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on your life: physical, emotional, and spiritual. (Not to mention economic!)

It likely comes as no surprise that many have abandoned striving to meet their “higher needs” to cope with the safety and physiological levels of their “basic needs”.

Yet, considering where the world was just six short months ago, it is still jarring to realize that your life may have devolved to the point of simply ensuring you and your family are safe from deadly infection.

In other words, it must seem to you that Maslow’s pyramid has been flipped on its top and is now teetering on a single, precarious point – as is your life and the lives of those you love.

Even setting aside business concerns and whether you still have a job to return to, how do you cope with a life that is balancing on a single point, rather than the solid foundation you believed you had built beneath it?

What Happens When Maslow’s Hierarchy Pyramid is Flipped On Its Tip?

To put it simply, the physical threat posed by the virus has put your very existence at risk. Next, the various “stay-at-home” orders and “lockdowns” have affected your ability to provide for yourself and your family. With these vital needs in limbo, it seems that relationships, esteem, and working on realizing your best self must take a back seat.

As Glenn Geher Ph.D., writes in an insightful article for PsychologyToday.com, “We can’t worry about higher-level needs when we’ve got physiological and safety needs that need to be addressed.”

And yet, the real challenge may be something completely different than Mr. Geher imagines. For, as he goes on to explain, “… it occurred to me that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs provides a powerful and useful model for understanding the large-scale psychological effects of the coronavirus.”

Yes, the psychological effects could be devastating and long term. Although, it may also be true that, by accepting the upside down nature of Maslow’s hierarchy, you could realize an opportunity for growth instead of devastation.

For, while a wide-based pyramid is generally accepted as the ultimate model for Maslow’s hierarchy, the man himself did not present the pyramid as strictly hierarchical. Further, thinking that you cannot work on your higher needs while fighting for survival is a misrepresentation of Maslow’s ideas. (Viktor Frankl and his Man’s Search for Meaning comes to mind.)

Build Your Personal Pyramid with the Tip as Its Foundation

While it may seem that the highest levels of the pyramid have been put at risk, consider instead that those very qualities are  the tools you need to overcome this physical and emotional landslide. When you think of it this way, you may begin to see that it is actually possible to balance all of your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs on the very point of this pyramid!

• Truly, those who have developed the ability to think well of themselves and their competency will respond to a crisis with energy and focus.
• Those who enjoy the support and love of others will also be available to provide such support to them.
• Those who have worked so hard to become their own best versions of themselves, those who are in fact self-actualized human beings, will accept the challenge and race to defeat it.

In the face of such confidence, energy, and positivity, these individuals and their families are bound to feel physically and emotionally safe from harm and genuine threats. At the same time, they will do whatever it takes to ensure that their basic physical needs are met.

All of Your Needs Can Still Be Met

For a self-actualized person, the fact that the world and their life has been flipped from a broad foundation to a single point bothers them not at all. The fact that Maslow’s base needs now rest at the top of the pyramid instead of the other way around, simply means that they must maintain their balanced approach to life – which was the point of the entire exercise to begin with!

I suppose the easiest way to conclude this post is to ask you to keep things in perspective. Yes, it’s true that many of us have been put at risk through no fault of our own, but focusing on a higher purpose can “dissolve” much of the anxiety and fear. Doing this will allow the best version of yourself to emerge in spite of the circumstances.

As always, I am available for a consultation if you are struggling to find a path to self-actualization in the face of the pandemic (and other upheavals taking place). Click here to find out how and to schedule your free call.