Hello and welcome back to the podcast. I was listening to something this week about Maslow's hierarchy of needs. You may remember this from school or reading. It’s basically a pyramid where one need has to be met before you are motivated and are able to address the next level up the pyramid. The most basic needs, at the bottom of the pyramid are physical like shelter and food. Then the next higher is safety and security. Above that is love and belonging, then the next up is esteem and respect. Then at the very top of the pyramid is self-actualization the need to realize your potential and grow. The basic idea was that if you haven't the needs at the bottom of the pyramid you don’t have the capacity to address the needs higher up.
I was interested to hear recently that Maslow didn't actually come up with the pyramid, but that it was an idea was based on his writings. And since then still also reimagined this idea of a pyramid. And one that I liked and thought was especially fitting for financial planning is envisioning these needs as a sailboat rather than a pyramid.
In the sailboat version, life as a voyage on a vast ocean full of opportunities for meaning and discovery, but also danger and uncertainty. In order to stay afloat and keep from drowning you need a boat. A boat without a sail will keep you out of the water but you’re not going anywhere. You’re just bobbing along where the ocean takes you. The hull of the boat represents safety and security. The sail represents growth with the needs of exploration, love, and purpose. Exploration is the desire to seek out and make sense of new, challenging, and unpredictable events despite the pressure that comes with it. Love basically means the desire to feel connected and love with others. Purpose represents the continual pursuit of goals.
I really love about this idea of the sailboat with the hull providing all the safety, security and basic needs and the sail providing the things that really bring personal meaning to our lives. You can survive working and saving solely to build the boat’s hull. Yes the security the boat’s hull provides is critical. It doesn’t matter much much how you feel about love, exploring, and purpose if you boat is sinking and your surrounded by sharks. On the other hand, spending all your energy only focusing on that physical security, safe but adrift at sea isn’t much of a life either.
That’s why I love approaching financial planning as a sail boat. Absolutely, we need to make sure your money keeps you and your family alive, safe, and cared for at every stage of life. That’s essentially a life raft. But how much better is it to plan and build a sail boat? Where do you want your sail to take you? Your exploration, love, and purpose should guide your journey and be the blue print for the ship you build. That’s the part of financial planning I love. Listening and teasing out what kind of life journey you want. What are your needs for exploration, love, and purpose in your life? We’ll definitely make sure you have a safe and secure boat. But let’s get past just the lifeboat and help you use what you have to build the sailboat and navigate the life you want.
I hope todays’s podcast has helped you look past just the dollars and spreadsheets of building your best life you. And helped you think about your sailboat and the journey you want it to take you on.
