Just like Maslow
Any teachers reading this are likely familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Today I present to you: Shearon’s hierarchy of work situations 🙂
It is very similar to Maslow’s hierarchy, in that basic needs are fulfilled first and upper levels encompass all the needs.
In reverse order, from the bottom of the pyramid, the work situations are:
6. You don’t have a job and you need one
5. You have a job but it doesn’t cover your basic needs
4. You have a job that covers your basic needs
3. You have a job that provides you with some luxury
2. You have a job that provides you more money than you can comfortably spend
1. You don’t need income from a job
Notice that this hierarchy has nothing to do with whether you like the job, enjoy doing it, or think that it is important. It is just about income and needs. The goal is to move up the pyramid in order to become more comfortable or secure.
The astute will notice that you determine what ‘basic needs’, ‘luxury’ and ‘more money than you can comfortably spend’ mean.
Once you reach level 3 you can start saving and investing money to provide you with passive income.
Once you reach level 1 you are free to do whatever you want with your time.
I think though that job satisfaction is a huge factor and you can’t simply remove it from the equation. for example I’d take a lower income job with more “satisfaction” and less money today, especially since I’m at level 2 of your pyramid right now
Hi SB
I completely agree! However, you can do that because you are at level 2… if you were at level 4 you wouldn’t be able to do that 🙂
That’s why I think this is independent of job satisfaction (that was covered in the previous post (the Work Suitability Scale). I use both to think about my life.
Actually the reason I posted this is because I have realized that a side gig I have is probably the key to our financial future.