Motivation Tips
Do you know what human being need so that we can be alive? What motivate us most? Why do we do a certain thing? What are the key elements that move us toward the things we want? We will understand this more when we learn about human basic needs.
The most known theory on the needs of human being is perhaps the theory laid out by Abraham Harold Maslow, 1908-1970, American psychologist and philosopher. His needs hierarchy theory is known under the name of self-actualization theory of psychology. The theory opened the new era of psychotherapy. The theory strongly suggests that the goal of psychotherapy should be the integration of the “self”.
According to Encyclopedia Britanica, Maslow studied psychology at the University of Wisconsin and Gestalt psychology at the New School for Social Research in New York City. He later joined the faculty of Brooklyn College in 1937. In 1951 he became head of the psychology department at Brandeis University (Waltham, Massachusetts), where he remained until 1969. Influenced by existentialist philosophers and literary figures, Maslow was an important contributor in the United States to humanistic psychology, which is sometimes called the “third force.”
Maslow argued on his work “Motivation and Personality” that each person has a hierarchy of needs that must be satisfied. The needs include physiological needs, safety needs, needs for love, needs for self esteem and needs for self actualization. All five needs can be explained as follows:
1 Physiological need: Man needs foods, shelter, sex, heat, water, air, and cloth. These basic elements are commonly known to be essential for being alive. There will be no progress in other areas of life if these needs have not yet to be fulfilled.
2 Safety need: Human being wants security in life. He wants to be safe from all dangers and want to make sure that he can carry on our life without any uncertainty.
3 Love and relationship need: Man wants to be loved and want to be related to others. We can not live alone and need to be recognized by our love ones. The need for love is so strong that it is the major mould of character in the childhood and it is the major ingredient that shape human life in psychological theory.
4 Self esteem need: This level of needs is understood to be for inner fulfillment. Man wants to know that he is important. Besides he wants to feel that sense of importance through himself. This is why it is called “Self esteem”.
5 Self actualization need: The highest level of needs requires human being to understand himself and see the value in his self. He tries to find himself through religion and his spiritual guidance. This is the area that is most meaningful in human being’s life.
The first two levels are more on the physical side. The later three are more on the emotional value. As each need is satisfied, the next higher level in the emotional hierarchy dominates conscious functioning. Maslow believed that truly healthy people were self-actualizers because they satisfied the highest psychological needs, fully integrating the components of their personality. The area can have the strongest force of motivation if used correctly. Understanding the need hierarchy can help us know how to use the right motivation techniques to ourselves and to others.
Motivation is a complex topic that spans virtually all areas of psychology. No one theory is capable of explaining all that we know about motivational processes. Some motives such as hunger, thirst, and sexual activity seem best understood from a biological viewpoint. Other motives appear to be learned, and such motives help to account for the diversity and complexity of human activities. Still other motives are influenced by the cognitive processes in which we engage. Our interpretation of the events around us influences our future motivations.
Visualize ourselves fulfills all above needs will enable us to be closer to what we want in life. This will attract the circumstance and attributes we need. Visualization will make our achievement more possible and a lot easier according to the law of attraction.
