The Power Of Need in Forming Habits pt. 1

         Some of us may be familiar with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to some extent or another, and how it influences or day-to-day lives, even if we are unaware of it.  Obviously, food, shelter, water, the need to breath, and the need to sleep are all ones that we are most aware of.  They should be, for they are the foundation of the pyramid, titled physiological needs.  From there, there is safety & security, love & belonging; self-esteem; and finally self-actualization.  It's amazing how many of these I can relate to my Kung Fu, but I'll get to that.

        What has spurred this train of thought for me, is how the habits that I have created, the most successful ones, have come from a need, somewhere on that pyramid.  Even my base physiological needs, the most important one, has helped me form good habits.  Food being the number one.  Food on its own has never been the issue.  By that, I mean I've never gone hungry.  However, I did have poor nutrition.  From this poor nutrition bore maladies such as acne/rashes, inflammation, depression & anxiety, fatigue, sluggish digestion, and pericarditis.  That last one shocked my system and put the fear of god in me.  It was the first time I was truly faced with my mortality and that if I wasn't careful, my time here on this plane could be very short lived.  Thus spurred the NEED to make some changes to how I was living.  Diet was one of the first things that I addressed.  I became very conscious of what I was putting into my body, and even now, I am still refining, not necessarily at the physiological need, but at the self-actualization, the top of the pyramid.  That is a deeper conversation for another time.  My healthy eating is stemmed from a need to heal myself from real food, and water, and sleep, etc..

        This ties into the next stage, safety & security.  Health is apart of this level, as is family, social ability, and employment.  Health has been my main focus, ensuring that I am doing everything in my power to have good health and good habits.  It started with diet, then exercise, and now it is about sleep (recovery) and reducing stress & inflammation.  Last year, and the year before that, was my employment.  I'm self employed yes, but it was about shifting my mindset to that of gratitude, and now my employment is filled with enjoyment.  Friends and family is always something I'm working on in this level, mainly effective communication, and connection on a deep, personal level.

        Love & belonging, which again, includes friendships and family, intimacy and sense of connection.  You can see the pattern of how one starts to feed into the other.  Self-Esteem is the next block, which includes: confidence, achievement, respect of others, the need to be a unique individual.  Lastly on the pyramid is Self-Actualization.  Included in that is: morality, creativity, spontaneity, acceptance, experiencing purpose, meaning, and inner potential.  I see a lot of my Kung Fu, and specifically those of us in the IHC, mastery, in each of these levels.  We learn about breathing in our Kung Fu.  We're improving our health, and creating our own security.  We have a sense of community and connection within our Kwoon.  We develop confidence, respect, and achievement through our lessons and training.  Lastly, we learn of morality, creativity, acceptance, meaning, and inner potential through our Kung Fu.

        I know we talked about our requirements and how sometimes we choose goals that are more for a checklist rather than getting a real benefit out of it.  The point I've been trying to make is looking into areas of life where you see a NEED for change, and focus on that.  I know for me personally, habits formed out of a need, have been way more beneficial and life changing, than those stemming from a want.  Great example is the "beach body".  We diet to get a certain look.  Most of the time, we'll crash and fail, not because it is unattainable, but because of our expectations and perception.  Where as choosing to eat healthier to improve your digestion, your skin, your energy, your mood, etc., is often much more sustainable, because you're seeing a benefit, and a need for better nutrition.  As a nice side effect, we often get that "beach body" look as a result.  So take a good look at what your NEEDS are, and what maybe are just WANTS.