Audit your basic needs

Anyone who's ever taken a Psychology 101 class has probably heard about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and it's as relevant today as it was back in 1943 when he first published it. Maslow argued that all healthy human beings have certain fundamental needs that must be met to operate at our highest order of being, to achieve our full potential. You can't operate at your best before covering the basics first. The very foundation of a high functioning human starts with things like food, water, warmth, rest, security, and safety. It seems like these are things most of our colleagues have on lock, right? Well, you might be surprised. A high achieving media friend of mine once passed out in an elevator in the New York City skyscraper where she was working only to awake in the hospital being told she'd fainted from extreme dehydration. Arianna Huffington shared how she hit such a point of extreme exhaustion and sleep deprivation that she collapsed in her office breaking her cheekbone on her desk as she fell to the floor. And that doesn't even begin to impact the financial insecurity that keeps so many Americans up at night. In the latest federal report, four in 10 Americans said they wouldn't be able to come up with the cash to cover an unanticipated $400 expense without having to sell something they own or borrow it. These chronic insecurities and anxieties can add up and chip away at your psychological foundation. So let's take a moment right now to assess your basic needs and see how you're measuring up. How are you caring for yourself through nutrition, rest, and a sense of emotional, physical, and financial security? In the Exercise Files, you'll see a wheel with six lines representing some of the foundational basic needs in your life. Placing a dot on the perimeter of the circle means you're feeling 100% fulfilled and satisfied and that need is being fully met. A dot in the center means that need isn't currently being met at all. Place a dot on each line based on how you're feeling that particular need is being met right now and then draw a line connecting them all. Look out for valleys as a form of feedback on where to refocus your attention and take even more care of yourself moving forward. Doing this kind of exercise once is a start, but building in a practice of self-reflection is even more important. Set a timer on your phone reminding you to check in once a week and see how you're measuring up. What basic needs are being met and what feels tenuous, insecure, and in need of more attention? Take stock of where you're at so you can take action and take control of how you move forward.