Client’s Two Levels of Need

When clients (or people in general) focus on satisfying their lower needs—such as survival, safety, social belonging, and feeling accepted among peers—they are essentially coping with their basic needs.

These are necessities that must be met; if ignored, they lead to deprivation, stress, and a lack of well-being. Meeting these needs often demands significant effort and energy—it can feel exhausting. Once these needs are fulfilled, the immediate drive behind them fades, allowing individuals to move on to higher pursuits.

However, there is a mindset shift that changes everything. If we interpret these necessities not as burdens but as values—the foundation of our biological and emotional well-being—then even coping becomes more meaningful, perhaps even enjoyable. When we manage our meanings effectively, basic living can become purposeful, not merely survival.

Understanding Deficiency Motivation

This stage reflects Maslow’s lower levels of the hierarchy—needs that arise from a sense of lack. These “deficiency needs” create internal drives or urges to fill the gap: to seek food, shelter, security, love, and belonging.

Once these needs are met, the motivation disappears. You are no longer driven by hunger once you’ve eaten. This “the more, the less” pattern means that fulfilling the need reduces its motivational power.

Many psychologists once assumed that all motivation worked this way—but that’s only half the story.

Beyond Survival: The Higher Human Needs

Above the basic levels lies an entirely different category—the Being needs or self-actualizing needs. These include the desire for meaning, knowledge, beauty, excellence, justice, contribution, and creativity.

When individuals or leaders work to meet these higher needs, they enter a new dimension of motivation. The “work” no longer feels like coping—it feels like passion, excitement, and joy. Growth becomes self-rewarding. The process itself is energizing and fulfilling.

At this level, motivation follows a different pattern: the more you satisfy the need, the more it grows. This is the “the more, the more” phenomenon. Each achievement expands capacity and deepens desire for continued growth and contribution.

The Two Motivational Patterns

A Personal Reflection

Now pause and ask yourself:
Which type of motivation drives you most often?

How frequently do you feel a sense of Being motivation—a love and passion for what you do?

Those who are motivated by Being values are the ones who change the world. They lead not for money, power, or fame—but for contribution, growth, and meaning. Their joy comes from giving.

The Leadership Connection

Imagine if the leaders in your organization worked not only to meet their own higher needs but also to nurture the Being needs of their teams.

Imagine political and corporate leaders who lead from purpose rather than ego. Such leadership would be the antidote to the kind of short-sighted, self-serving politics that frustrates so many organizations and nations today.

That is why, in Neuro-Semantics, there is a structured path of Self-Actualization Trainings—a full Diploma in Self-Actualization Psychology—to help individuals and leaders unlock this higher level of human motivation.

The Bottom Line

Human motivation operates on two distinct levels:

• Deficiency Needs (D-needs) — driven by what we lack; “the more, the less.”
• Being Needs (B-needs) — driven by what we can become; “the more, the more.”

Both are essential for a healthy, balanced, and fulfilling life. But only the higher Being needs lead to joy, creativity, and the kind of leadership that uplifts others.

Curated by Danielle Tan.

Reference:

1. [Meta-Coaches] 2025 Morpheus #40   CLIENT’S TWO LEVELS OF NEEDS by L. Michael Hall, Ph.D. Executive Director, ISNS.