Maslow Hierarchy, Chakras & US Election 2024

As we woke up yesterday to the results of the 2024 US Election, information kept rolling down our screens about how Donald Trump made his rather extraordinary comeback.

After weeks of polls heralding a neck and neck presidential race, the winner was announced much earlier than was thought.

There are a number of reasons behind Trump’s win / Harris’s loss, among which two seem to prevail: the state of the economy and record levels of illegal immigration.

The piece?written by Sarah Smith, BBC North America editor, gives us an early view of voters’ motivations and sent me straight back to school as I was reading it.

One of the first things we learnt in marketing whilst I was studying for my business degree, was the Maslow pyramid - or more precisely the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs.

In the early phase of his theory?around humans’ motivations, Maslow argued that the physiological needs of putting food on the table and having a roof under one’s head, together with safety and security needs, must be met before the higher needs in the hierarchy.

And whilst Maslow was more nuanced as he continued to refine his theory over the years, proposing that the hierarchy is ‘not nearly as rigid’ and doesn’t follow a linear progression, it is fair to admit that it’s rather challenging to think about self actualisation when you can’t make ends meet or when you feel unsafe.

In this context, it appears that the candidate who kept asking during his campaign ‘Are you better off now that you were two years ago?’ knew he was onto something.

As I’m writing about Maslow, I also wanted to share with you how we can find intriguing similarities between his hierarchy of needs and the yogic chakra system.

When the seven chakras (or wheels of energy in our body) are balanced, they ultimately lead to self actualisation.

Ancient eastern philosophy and modern psychology point to some sort of universal way of looking at humans’ motivations through the course of their life.

Both schools of thought indicate that only a few (Maslow estimated 2% of the population) would achieve self actualisation, whilst the majority would be hampered by deficiencies in the lower needs/chakras.

I once again want to acknowledge that it must be very difficult to focus on finding meaning in our life when our waking hours are spent on an empty stomach.

At the same time I’d like to challenge the hierarchy, especially around the mid layers.

Whilst we seem to have universal needs, society and the media have a great deal to answer to when it comes to the pursuit of wealth and fame. These seem to have become the epitome of a life well lived.

When it comes to our education system (which by the way was created to fuel the industrial revolution), we seem to miss a trick or two in order to create well-rounded individuals.

How about we flipped the whole thing and started with getting to know ourselves better at a younger age?

Imagine if we chose what to do with our life based on knowing where our natural strengths lie and what our innate gifts are?

Imagine the amount of angst and trouble that would be spared!

Imagine the possibilities!!

Doing something that makes us feel alive, less stress, better health, better relationships, easier ways to make a living!

We have the tools, there are many of them widely available.

I have the tools, I have the experience AND I have the motivation to help others find they own path.

You may say I’m a dreamer ??

But if this strikes a chord and you know someone who could well use my guidance, please please please, forward this message to them.

Or book?a time with me to talk about it first.

We all deserve to live a good life, on our terms, no matter who we are.