Level 1 - Day 9

I had a definite experience with Maslow today. I was in a meeting, trying to focus on whatever they were saying, but was so hungry, I couldn't concentrate on anything other than what I would eat. Oh well.

Stage 1 - Day 8ish?

I'm not entirely sure what day I'm on. Today was great for the experiment. I drank water, didn't eat too much for the entire day and most excitingly, started a regular physical activity. I feel a lot better today. More aware and excited about life.

Level 1 - Day 7

Exhausted. Did not do a great job of chasing happiness.

Stage 1 - Day 6

I'm going to bed early today, instead of trying to stay up to watch the Oscars. That's good, I suppose. Also, a section of stretching before bed. Tomorrow, I'll recap how I feel after week 1.

Level 1 - Day 5ish

I've not been doing great at keeping up with stage 1 so far, which is actually quite helpful for understanding my life. If I'm so unwilling to do things that I know will keep me healthy, it's not surprising that I may be unhappy.

Today was much better in terms of focusing on Level 1 of the pyramid.
Good things: I cooked dinner and exercised, which was great. I also chose to stay home instead of going out to hang out with friends because I felt tired, thus prioritizing my well-being over social needs. I also focused on making my environment a little bit cleaner, hopefully making my allergies and general health better.
Bad things: I wasn't able to sleep enough last night. I went to bed at about 12:30 and was up by 7:00. For some reason, I've been suffering from insomnia lately. When I do sleep, I have nightmares and when I don't, I feel exhausted. I probably could have eaten healthier food as well. Hot dogs, oven fries and salad are probably not the best choice of a meal.


Overall, I feel fairly good about today. I think focusing on one thing at a time is helpful.

Stage 1 - Day 2

Today, I didn't go to work, partly because of a desire to rest. It's my first Maslow-related decision and, while the day was nice, the anxiety from it prompted decisions that reduced some of the other aspects of this level. For example, I ate a great deal of junk food, which, while delicious, caused me to feel unwell. The nice thing is that I can continue on immediately to be better and focus on appropriate areas.

Level 1 - Day 1

Off to a slow start with this project, as I've let other things get in my way quite a bit. So, to recap for myself, the 1st level of Maslow's pyramid involves homeostasis needs: food, warmth, water, shelter, sleep, basic good health, etc. I'd say that right now, starting out, these are all fairly low, if I'm looking to achieve perfection on these categories.

I work graveyard shifts, I toss and turn when I sleep, I eat crappy food (Little Caesar's pizza anyone?) and I do little to no exercise, which leads to aching joints and bones and a general disdain for my body. I'd say that my mood is about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is utter despair and 10 is utter joy, at least when it comes to this level of the pyramid.

My goals for this part are:
1. Sleep 8 hours, or at least until I'm not tired anymore.
2. Exercise at least 15 minutes a day, preferably yoga or pilates, though I'm planning on starting martial arts next week, so that may count.
3. Eat a reasonable amount of food that corresponds to good food practices (dairy, grains, meats, vegetables and fruits, etc.).
4. Make my home and office reasonable places to stay: clean, uncluttered, not actively making me sick.

The Plan

Stage 1: Physiological needs

In reality, the majority of my physiological needs are probably being met right now. I’m not obviously sick or lacking for food or shelter. However, my goal is to achieve homeostasis and satisfy my physiological needs as well as possible. This means, for me:

1.       Getting to my peak physical state. The internet is remarkably lacking in definitions of what this means, so I’m going to use the Navy SEALs physical test and the President’s Fitness Test to see where I am on that scale. I feel like if I could pass army criteria, I’m probably fine for my desk job. This is going to require me to actually exercise, pay attention to what I eat and generally stop being a giant slug. I’m throwing flexibility in here.

2.      Achieving homeostasis. Another weird one. I suppose I could stop at just making sure I’m warm enough or cool enough in given circumstances, but I’m going to go farther. I want to be rid of any diseases (not that I have any), not be subject to rampaging hormones (ceasing birth control is not good for your mental state, btw), and generally be balanced physically. This is going to require active yoga and meditation practices.

3.      Sleep and rest. I’m aiming for 8 hours a night without sleeping pills and vodka. Or either or. That would be great.

4.      Other incidentals (shelter, sex, warmth, food, etc.). I think for these, I’m going to go with the basics: making sure my house is clean, has the things I need to prepare food, having sex(? Not clear on if this is what Maslow meant. I’m not a monkey, so I feel like I’m less in need of sex, but maybe that’s what’s wrong with my life right now), etc. I wonder if moving close enough to work so I don’t have to be cold when walking to the bus would fit there?

Stage 2: Safety Needs

I’m pretty sure this is where I’m stuck. Safety needs include all sorts of security (financial, physical, etc.). I have not been great at managing my finances in the past, which has left me with a great deal of debt-related anxiety. Not credit card debt, mostly student loans, which relate to job security. I digress. So…

1.      Financial: Pay off my debts. The ones that people could come get me for. I don’t think there’s debtors prison anymore, but I certainly don’t want the government or private agencies to have any hold over me. I recently read a book where demons invaded the world and the economy collapsed as part of that and people who had a lot of debt saw the government call those in. Kind of like credit card companies can do if they really want to. Or landlords. I’m psychologically scarred from a lot. So, yeah. Aggressive debt repayment so that my net worth is >0. I realize this is going to take a while, so I’m going to say that I’ll set this as enough money to pay off more than my minimum payments would be without IBR and still be happy. Also, savings. 

2. Physical: I'm frequently stressed about not being safe when I wander around. I'm thinking karate is the way to go with that. I have a taser and stuff, so being able to fight would make me feel better about life in general. 

3. Home: The actual owning of a home is fairly linked to financial security, but home security is also a concern for me. I want a gun. And to know how to shoot it. Also, if zombies were a thing, I would want food storage and stuff. 

4. Employment: I should probably secure employment that is fairly secure. Or ask my current employer if I'm still hired for this year. 

Stage 3: Love and Belonging

I have definite issues with this one. It involves

1. Friendship: Make some friends that I can go to lunch with and have dinner with from time to time. Maybe 3. And have at least 2 close friends and 1 best friend. Maybe be part of a group of some kind. I think I'll start playing an MMO. I've met cool people there before. 

2. Family: Maybe spend more time with my family. Speak to one member of my family at least once a week. Reconnect with extended family at least once a year.

3. Sexual Intimacy: This seems fairly self-explanatory. Have a good romantic relationship as defined by both of us feeling cared about. 


Stage 4: Esteem

I don't have any clue how to get to these right now, so I'll just list the requirements: self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others.

Stage 5:Self-Actualization

Morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts.

The Idea

Recently, I've been thinking about my life. For some reason, I keep feeling like there's something missing  even though I seem to, on paper anyway, have everything I could want out of life: I'm married to someone who's not abusive, have a home, a job, family nearby, etc. And I honestly think that my life is okay, but it certainly doesn't make me feel fulfilled. Instead, I feel like running away and starting anew almost every day. My family has a very "The Secret"-ish approach to happiness, so I've tried to deal with that by focusing on the positives and thinking about what I want. And that works to some extent, but definitely isn't perfect. 

So, inspired by a conversation I had several years ago with a co-worker, I've decided to start the Maslow Experiment. Maslow's theorized that people had a certain hierarchy of needs that needed to be fulfilled before someone was able to move up to the next level. I think almost everyone has seen this before at some point. Or maybe I just feel that way because I have a psychology degree and almost everyone I've ever talked to about this also has at least basic knowledge of psychology. Which is odd, now that I think of it. I don't think I'd ever heard of this before going to college, but since then, it's like it's always been there. 

I realize that there are some definite problems with Maslow's hierarchy and people say it doesn't represent how people act, but my for the sake of simplicity, I'm not going to worry about it right now. This is a nice discussion on the hierarchy, its weaknesses and things like that. 

Anyway, my hypothesis is that the reason I fee dissatisfied and have trouble with some areas is because I'm neglecting the base of the pyramid. Using myself as a guinea pig, I'm going to focus on moving up the hierarchy to determine if that will make me feel better. I know that life fluctuates greatly and one day, you could be at one place, and the next in another, but it's worth a try to me. I'm going to see how long it takes me to go up each level and see, at the end of 6 months, whether I feel a greater amount of life satisfaction. 

That being said, I realize that there are things that I can’t stop doing while I focus on just one area. I can’t stop talking to my husband or going to work just because I’m not that portion of the pyramid yet. But I definitely can focus my attention on one thing at a time and get it done really well.