Maslow had his hierarchy of needs.

The self-employed have our hierarchy of success.

In this series, I’m going to cover each of the levels, look at how you move up the hierarchy, and explain why you’d want to.

This is based on my own direct experience and on the experience of the dozens (if not hundreds) of successfully self-employed people I’ve had the pleasure to know.

An Overview

First, this is just a high level look at [1] Maslow’s hierarchy. It’s well worth [2] learning more about if you have any interest in the theory of what drives us. As a [3] business person, you should.

You’ll notice, where Maslow’s pyramid has 5 levels, mine has 4. But they match up pretty well (click each image to enlarge).

[4]   [5]

The levels are:

• Freelancer (physiological needs)
• Contractor (safety and social needs)
• Expert (esteem needs)
• Guru (self-actualization)

Now, let me try to alleviate some concerns.

This series and its levels are based on the typical experience.

If you are a freelancer, are making butt-loads of money, and only work 25 hours a week, you’re a rock star. You’re not typical.

If you call yourself a contractor, but basically set your own hours, and name your price for a project, you’re not a contractor. You’ve moved to the Expert level and didn’t even know it.

If you love where you’re at, and have no aspirations to move anywhere else, awesome. I doubt anything I ever write here will be of any use to you, but please keep coming back for the cartoons.

So I have to point out that there are exceptions.

Nothing in business or life falls nicely into little boxes. If it did, we’d have a lot fewer therapists in the world.

The important thing is to consciously know where you are, and have a clear picture of what you want.

My goal with this series is to give you some fundamentals to start from.

Hierarchy of the Successfully Self-Employed Series

• [6] Part 1: Hierarchy of the Successfully Self-Employed
• [7] Part 2: Freelancing Is For Suckers
• [8] Part 3: All the Aggravation of Employment, Without All the Perks
• [9] Part 4: You May Already Be an Expert… You Just Don’t Know It
• [10] Part 5: Gurus Share More By Doing Less