The idea is, you can't achieve a higher level until whatever comes below it is satisfied. So to quickly go through this, "Physiological" is like, you need air. "Safety" is, you need physical and financial security. "Love/Belonging" is just what it sounds like- family, romantic, friend, whatever. "Esteem" means both respect from others and self-esteem.
Once you've got all that out of the way (easy-peasy), you can proceed to self-actualization, which means achieving your potential as a human being. You need to understand what you're capable of doing and then doing it.
I haven't thought about this particular triangle for a while, but it occurred to me today because I was trying to have some context for things that are happening in my life at the moment. And what I realized was that, for the most part, I'm pretty self-actualized, if that's a thing. I know this sounds self-congratulatory and I suppose it is, in a self-actualized kind of way. I certainly don't achieve my potential all the time, but I'm pretty good about trying at the very least. I know and understand myself pretty well and I am able to go about my life in a positive way.
The point here is not to highlight how cool I am, but rather to note that being self-actualized, or indeed, to be reasonably psychologically healthy in any way, does pretty much nothing to reduce the number of problems or "issues," as the kids say, that one faces. I think I have just as many problems as anyone else; they're just different, because my problems are less often based on not understanding and more on understanding.
What does that even mean? Well, there's a pretty clear solution to problems caused by lack of understanding. You do something to gain the necessary understanding. There's not such a clear path when you're dealing with the ramifications of understanding something. I spend a lot of time thinking, "So now what?" So yes, that's my question of the day. What do I do now?
