Your Hierarchy of Needs for Each Decade of Your Life.

November 16, 2020

Your Hierarchy of Needs for Each Decade of Your Life.

May 29, 2023

A couple of years ago, I wrote a LinkedIn article on “The Advice I Wish I’d Been Given at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50.” Having just turned 60, and being an Abraham Maslow devotee, I wanted to organize my thinking on this subject around the hierarchy of needs for each decade of our lives.

I’ve created five pyramids, and I’m hoping that those of you older than 60 can suggest the pyramid that defines that decade of life. The first level of the pyramid is a “survival” need. The second level is a “succeed” need. And, at the peak is our “transform” need (for more on this model, read my book “Peak”).


Dear Modern Elders, please send me your pyramids that could define my sixties.


One of our MEA alums, Douglas Tsoi, is developing the Decade School dedicated to helping people “learn for the full life cycle of adulthood” and his thinking has influenced this post.

Go deeper with a workshop, in person or online.

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