We’ve all seen Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Diagram. The theory goes that humans need to secure basic survival needs then they can move up to the needs relating to relationships and love. After that they can work on self-esteem and finally have a go at self-actualisations.
According to the common interpretation, we start at the bottom and work our way up. But this doesn’t work or at best it takes a long time to achieve.
In reality, the world’s most successful people start at the top and work their way down! It sounds counter-intuitive but let’s explore the concept.
Imagine you arrive in a brand new city with a big purpose. You have a dream, you know how what you want to be known for and you have a high-standard for the conduct you want to live by. Imagine your first goal is to connect with influential people and discuss big problems that could be solved, create approaches to solving them and align to strong purpose or vision. Very quickly you earn the respect and admiration of a few key individuals and you hold yourself in higher esteem too.
As your purpose and vision become more refined and other influencers have input and get involved, you start to widen your circles, attract opportunities and meet desirable partners who want to deepen their levels of intimacy with you. You start to feel a sense of security that you have a great network, plenty of opportunities and lots of love around you. Every breath starts to fill you with life, food tastes better and the basics of survival will never be an issue because of who you know and what you share.
I know some people will say “but what if you don’t have any food or shelter?”. For starters, by virtue of the fact you’re reading this blog tells me you are like 95% of people in the western world and you’re in a position where the very basics of food and shelter are almost guaranteed. If you’re reading this, you’re able to make a choice between focusing on your survival and security while putting off your vision or you can focus on your vision and trust that this will improve every aspect of life.
The Will Smith movie “Pursuit of Happiness” is a great example. A father who’s homeless choses to focus on his vision rather than his circumstances and rapidly elevates himself from living in a homeless shelter to getting a high paid dream job.
Starting with the bottom and working up takes years to change things. Starting at the top with vision, commitment, creativity and openness changes your life in a heartbeat.
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