Most goals do not fail because people do not care. They fail because life starts demanding something more basic.
When your sleep is disrupted, money is tight, your health is declining, or your home feels unstable, your brain shifts priorities. Long-term goals do not disappear, but they move to the background until things feel steady again. What felt important last week can feel impossible today, not because you got weak, but because your system is trying to regain stability first.
In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow published A Theory of Human Motivation, explaining that human needs tend to organize into a hierarchy of prepotency. In simpler terms: when a more basic need is unmet, it tends to dominate attention and behavior, and “higher” goals slide into the background until stability returns.
What Maslow actually meant by hierarchy
Maslow described human needs as a hierarchy of relative priority. Basically, some needs take the driver’s seat when they are threatened or deprived.
He did not present this as a rigid ladder where you complete one level before you earn the next. He explicitly warned against thinking of it as step-by-step or all-or-nothing. Most people are simultaneously partly satisfied and partly unsatisfied across the entire framework.
Think of it as a priority system, not a perfect progression.
Here are the five categories:
- Physiological needs: food, water, sleep, health, and basic physical functioning. When these needs are threatened, the brain narrows its focus to survival and relief.
- Safety needs: security, stability, predictability, and protection from threats. When safety feels shaky, people crave routine and an organized world they can count on.
- Love and belonging: connection, friendship, acceptance, and being part of a group.
- Esteem: Self-respect, confidence, competence, and the respect of others, including recognition and reputation.
- Self-actualization: becoming what you are capable of becoming and doing what you are suited for.
Maslow offered a simple way to picture it. The average person is mostly satisfied at the base but less secure as you move upward. For example, someone might be about 85% satisfied with physiological needs, 70% with safety, 50% with belonging, 40% with esteem, and 10% with self-actualization.
That is why the same person can be functioning, even progressing, while still feeling unsettled. Needs do not turn off. They compete for priority.
What this means for self-leadership
Most people have lived this without realizing it.
Think about a time you got really sick or had a medical scare. In those moments, life gets simple fast. The calendar, the big plans, the side projects, even the goals you were excited about, all fade into the background. Not because you stopped caring, but because your brain shifts into physiological and safety mode until the threat passes.
That is Maslow in real life.
When the base is threatened, your attention narrows, and physiological and safety concerns take the driver’s seat. If you try to force “higher goals” on top of that without stabilizing the basics, it will feel like pushing a boulder uphill.
Before you judge your discipline, check your foundation. Ask:
- What is the most basic need that feels shaky right now?
- Is it sleep, health, financial pressure, or uncertainty at home?
- What is one practical step I can take this week to stabilize it?
Stability is not a detour from your goals. It is what makes your goals possible.
What Maslow looks like inside a team
This does not stop with individuals. Teams work the same way because they are not machines. They are people with needs. Maslow applies at work just as much as it does at home.
When the workplace feels steady, clear, and respectful, people have bandwidth. They think and communicate more effectively and solve problems rather than protect themselves. That stability often carries into personal life. People go home less depleted, more patient, more present, and with greater capacity to lead themselves.
But the loop works both ways.
When someone’s home life is unstable, their physiological and safety needs are already under strain. It shows up at work as distraction, a shorter fuse, less patience, and less follow-through.
And when the workplace is chaotic, unpredictable, or emotionally unsafe, you can feel it in the culture: less trust, more defensiveness, more gossip, and more “just survive the day” behavior. Then people carry that stress home to their families and routines.
Don’t just ask for performance. Build the conditions that make performance possible.
- Are expectations clear or constantly shifting?
- Do people feel safe raising issues without fear of punishment?
- Do they have the tools, time, and support to succeed?
- Are wins recognized, and are standards applied consistently?
When the basics are met, people have bandwidth. And bandwidth is where growth lives.
Closing challenge
This week, run a quick Maslow check, personally and professionally.
Personally: Which basic need is under pressure right now, physiological or safety? What is one small action you can take to stabilize it?
Professionally: What is one basic need your team is signaling right now? Clear expectations, predictable communication, support, or recognition?
Pick one thing you can do this week to make the environment more stable.
You don’t build growth by demanding more output. You build it by strengthening the conditions that make growth possible.
Remember: keep showing up, keep practicing, and always stay the course!
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