Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

photo credit: https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

2020 started for many people just like any year, then things started to get a little weird in the later part of February with talk of a novel virus linked to a fish market in China. If you’re anything like me, you somewhat dismissed this as a real threat because we’ve seen H1N1, Swine Flu, Ebola, Zika, and HIV/AIDS touted as possible epidemics but none have really panned out to be that scary to middle-class Americans. Besides following my blood-borne pathogen training, trying to stay away from sick people, and taking care of my own body, I took ZERO other precautions to those viruses. Then March 13, 2020 happened and yes, it was a Friday, it was the last normal day I had in 2020.

I packed up at work and left early, all I knew was that school was going to be closed for a week, then spring break and if we just “shelter in place this will all blow over by the summer.” I worked feverishly from home, trying to email student-athletes and coaches to check on injuries and provide home workouts. I’d never really done my job full-time from home and it was a wild experience. I redecorated a room into an office/workout area (because I also couldn't go. to the gym) and set out to do my best to help the student-athletes, teachers, and coaches of Fenton High School. That lasted almost a month and then I was put on furlough.

Furlough is weird, because on one hand you’re collecting unemployment money but on the other hand, you have a job waiting for you at the end…or so I thought, I was terminated at the end of furlough (well actually our furlough ended, I was fired, and then everyone else went back on furlough) … it was crushing, while I understood the business aspects of the decision, it was hard to wrestle the personal aspects. I lost the security of knowing I had a job to go back to and health insurance.

Which brings me to the title of this blog, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Abraham Maslow (1943) proposed this framework for how people navigate life. In order to ascend and be “self-actualized” and reach your furthest potential you need a stable base. For many, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted their foundations. Each of us has been affected differently, some have lost a family member or friend, others have lost jobs, houses, or belongings and this disturbs the base of our needs and makes it harder to get to the top of the peak.

We need shelter, warmth, and food before we can worry about PRs in the gym. We need to feel safe going to the grocery store and visiting friends before we can worry about hitting our macros. We need to feel like we are loved, valued, and important before we can worry about being perfect.

If you feel like your world has been flipped upside down and you’re not feeling as motivated in the gym, that’s normal during a stressful time like this but languishing in fear and staying stagnant in life won’t help you get back to where you were before. What can you do today to set up your strong foundation? Do you have a home, utilities, and food? If you don’t, where can you find assistance (if you’re not sure, let me know and I’ll try to help). Do you feel safe? What can make you feel safer? Are you washing your hands regularly, wearing a mask, and socially distancing? The next step up for Covid-19 mitigation is keeping healthy through exercise. Do you miss the sense of belonging from friend and family gatherings? Propose a Zoom happy hour, I know we were doing them early in shelter in place, but as the temperatures go down, it’s time to bring them back.

If you’re struggling, give yourself grace, and start working on your foundation. Once you have that, work on your community and belonging. Then you can layer the exercise back on. If exercise doesn’t feel right, change it up but don’t give up. We will all get back to where we were before the world turned upside down.