How many of you are in the same situation: you’re settled in life, you have a full-time job, you have an active social life, and are more or less satisfied with the amount of money you make.
But something is missing. Maybe what you’re doing is not what you set out to do when you were younger. Maybe you’re waking up everyday without a real purpose, just working the grind.
Well, I’d like to introduce something to you that may change the way you think about you day to day activities, and may help guide you into finding a deeper purpose in life.
I want to introduce to you the Pyramid of Awesomeness (what a name..).
Some Background…
What am I going to be writing about, and what ideas will I be crafting within? Well, I think I found the answer. It all starts with Abraham Maslow and his Hierarchy of Needs. Wait, what? you ask?
Published in 1954, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs was a way to express the human desire for satisfaction, starting with physiological needs (such as food, water, sex and sleep), and moved all the way up to self-actualization.
This was a way of saying that “in order for an individual to be happy and to be creative, they must first satisfy the various levels of the pyramid”.
The hierarchy starts at physiological needs, then runs through safety, belonging, self-esteem and finally self-actualization. Maslow later added self-transcendence at the very top of this point, however this is originally how it was published.
What’s Wrong With This?
Nothing is inherently wrong with Maslow’s thinking. In fact, it’s pretty much genius. It takes the concept of everyday living and the basic fundamentals of ego and happiness and puts into an easy to read chart.
What it doesn’t do however, is explain our current situation. Today, in 2016, we are a community and nation of individuals that often have many of these needs taken care of every day.
In fact, most of us never really have to worry about eating every day, or having a family to love and be loved by. The problem is, Maslow had never explored the top pier of the pyramid, and never answered the higher question:
“How do we discover our purpose? How do we get to the point in our lives where we are doing what we feel most passionate about? How do we become happy?”
I’d like to try and elaborate on my own pyramid, so to speak…
Introducing the Pyramid of Awesomeness
As many of you can tell from the headline of this blog, I believe living with Purpose, Passion and Power can really pave the way towards Being Awesome, and in other words, being truly happy.
Here we have the in order from bottom to top. In order to have one of these areas, you must complete the area before it.
4. Satisfactory Completion of Hierarchy of Needs
Completing the Hierarchy of Needs Brings Satisfaction of Physiological, Safety, Belonging and Self-Esteem.
“Comfortable lifestyle, looking for higher purpose.”
3. Purpose
Purpose is Discovering One’s Passions, Greater Organizational and Analytical Skills to Determine Path to Power.
“Enjoying what you do, and realizing how you get there.”
2. Power
Having Power Means Greater Self-Confidence to Live Through Passions, Strong Ability to Learn Related Skill Sets and Connect with Like-Minded Individuals.
“Following your passions, mastering the skill sets for those passions, and discovering others with the same passion.”
1. Awesomeness
Being Awesome Drives Life Through Passion, Masters Skill Sets of Passions, Spreads Influence to Inner Circle, Community and Greater.
“Total self-confidence and lives through passion, power and purpose, teaches others and like-minded individuals to do the same.”
So, What’s the Point?
The point is that being awesome requires you to have purpose and power on top of your basic individual human needs, and this is a graphical representation of such.
I’d like to stress that being awesome doesn’t just mean perfecting your skill in one category. It is perfectly okay to go up and down the pyramid as needed when you are looking to master various passions in your, so you can be following:
- Awesome with Money
- Awesome at Sex
- Awesome with Relationships
- Awesome at Cooking
- Awesome at Repairing Your Car
- Awesome at Knitting
- and so on….
Being Awesome means easily being able to do what truly makes you happy.
Moving Forward From Here
I’m going to continue to try and refine this idea of Being Awesome with these high-level concepts of how to achieve happiness and how to achieve Inner Awesomeness.
What are some ideas you have about the Pyramid of Awesomeness, share in the comments below!
