• Home
  • /
  • Blog
  • /
  • Your Hierarchy of Needs for Each Decade of Your Life.

Your Hierarchy of Needs for Each Decade of Your Life.


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”).

age 10 pyramid
age 20 pyramid
age 30 pyramid
age 40 pyramid
age 50 pyramid
age 60 pyramid

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.

Discover More Wisdom

January 27, 2022

We are funny humans when it comes to age. Sometimes we are curious about ...

Are you Age-Curious, Cautious, Contemplative or Catastrophic?
{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

Choose Your Path to Midlife Mastery