PhoTones Works #624 © by PhoTones_TAKUMA
The physiological habits are the habits you maintain to fulfil your physiological needs. They are the need for sleep, the need for eating, the need for exercise and the need for keeping a good health. I have grouped the habits in four groups: Sleep, exercise, diet and cleansing.
In the next level in the hierarchy of habits you find the habits you need to uphold a feeling of being safe and secure. This level is the safety habits and encompasses home, work, economy and order. But before you can start developing habit on this level you need to master the habits of the physiological level.
Let us assume that you have just been dismissed and now you don’t have a job. Without a job you don’t have any income. Without an income you cannot pay your bills etc. This is a very stressful situation. If you want to find a new job you have to keep peace of mind, stay focused and optimise your efforts to find a new job.
Do you think you will succeed in getting a new job if you are tired, hungry and have a bad health? No, you will not. If you were to hire a person for a job then you would choose a candidate that seem enthusiastic, energized, happy and by good health. You would want a person with a good spirit! That is exactly why you have to work on these characteristics by mastering your physiological habits.
The Complete Hierarchy of Habits
Hierarchy of Habits © Erik Back 2011
Yesterday I searched for some sort of checklist of habits. I found a couple of good lists and I gave you some links to these lists. While I studied these lists I started to categorise the habits and I scribbled and circled the categories and habits on a sheet of blank paper. After I while I started to notice a similarity to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that I remember so well from marketing in business school.
I rediscovered Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and I started to plot in the different habits and they all make perfect sense. I added the extra dimension of Victor Frankl – transcendence and ended up with a complete model for the habits that form your life. I will call it The Hierarchy of Habits.
This model only represents the categories and grouping of habits and you can use it to get a sense of perspective before starting working on your habits. About a week ago I wrote a bit about the Shaolin monks; in that post the message was that you have to master the basics to become a master. These wise words apply well in the hierarchy of habits, because you have to master and optimise the basic habits that will form your foundation.
That means that you should practice your habits at ground level before proceeding to the next level. Before you even consider start working on your self-esteem you have to master the first three levels. You have to master the physiological habits before anything else. This means that all your focus should be on getting good sleeping habits; getting exercise; have a good diet and make sure that your digestion works well. These are the absolute basics and you will not succeed in the following levels if you do not master the basics.
Take a closer look at the hierarchy of habits by clicking it to enlarge the image. Spend some time thinking about every item in the model and feel free to comment below. In my coming posts about habits I will refer to this model and develop it further.