The 6 Human Needs

Why do you do what you do?

Why do you engage in the actions you do?

What is the driving force that influences your emotions, behaviours, quality of life, and ultimately, your destiny?

These questions can be answered by exploring the concept of the 6 human needs.

These needs serve as the root cause of both positive and negative behaviours.

Any dysfunctional behaviour stems from the failure to consistently fulfil these fundamental needs. Any remarkable achievement stems from consistently fulfilling these needs.

Each of us has the power to fulfil our needs in a positive manner and attain equilibrium in life by focusing on meeting all our needs.

By understanding your own needs, you steer clear of destructive behaviours and patterns.

This makes it far easier to stay on track to achieving your goals.

We all have different priorities when it comes to our needs.
Our choices are influenced by the needs we consider most important.

What are the needs?

1. Certainty: assurance you can avoid pain and gain pleasure

2. Uncertainty/Variety: the need for the unknown, change or new stimuli

3. Significance: feeling unique, important, special or needed

4. Connection/Love: a strong feeling of closeness or union with someone, or something

5. Growth: an expansion of capacity, capability or understanding

6. Contribution: a sense of service and focus on helping, giving to and supporting others

1 to 4 shape our personality.
5 to 6 shape our spiritual needs.

It’s worth noting these needs can be met in a variety of ways.
They could be met within any of the main evergreen niches:

• Health (Spiritual, Mental, Physical)

• Wealth (Career, Business, Projects)

• Relationships (Family, Dating, Friends)

The needs can also be met through hobbies and other activities.

Certainty

If having a strong sense of certainty is important to you, it’s crucial you have a feeling of safety and security of what lies ahead.

When you receive a positive acknowledgement, it might be accompanied by a desire for assurance that the recognition is genuine.
You may also have a strong desire it will persist!

When you receive negative feedback, you may have a strong desire to be certain the same mistake won’t happen again.

However, in order to maintain a life filled with certainty, you would have to keep everything the same.

Which is impossible.

Therefore, you may consciously manipulate your surroundings by adjusting your expectations or avoiding new experiences and people.

This approach gives you the reassurance that your actions will either prevent pain or bring pleasure, thereby satisfying the fundamental human need for certainty.

How to tell if certainty is one of your core needs:

You’re likely very organized.
You often seek reassurance.
You have a strong need for control.
You can be quite resistant to change.
You like schedules and prefer routines.
You may fall into addictive or obsessive behaviours.
You’re hesitant to take risks and have new experiences.
You fear failure a lot (that doesn’t mean you don’t shoot though).

How to fulfil a need for certainty:

Find activities that you enjoy, but also challenge you.
Incorporate healthy and empowering routines into your life.
Give back to others to promote growth and contribution in a consistent way.

When a need for certainty is unmet:

It’s easy to become hyper-anxious and have increased stress levels.
You may begin to subconsciously adopt control-seeking behaviour.
Decision paralysis may affect you.

Any of this will limit personal growth.

Uncertainty/Variety

Uncertainty is beautiful. We need it.
Having constant certainty would bore the hell out of you.
However, those who experience this as one of their top human needs can take it to a dangerous extreme.

To add variety to their lives, some individuals may frequently switch jobs or relationships.

Others may take unnecessary risks in pursuit of the adrenaline rush they desire.

One thing is for sure though, if uncertainty is one of your top human needs, you will be unafraid of taking risks and will not avoid new situations or people.

How to tell if uncertainty/variety is one of your core needs:

You enjoy exploring, a lot.
You embrace new challenges.
You find monotony very uncomfortable.
You crave change and novelty, a lot of it too.
You’re generally outgoing and like meeting new people.
You’re always willing to do something new and have many interests.
You’re great at adapting because your desire for variety needs you to be.
You can be unfocused and lack planning skills, and perhaps push people away in relationships.

How to fulfil a need for uncertainty/variety:

Break your routines and do new things, fairly often.
Feed your mind regularly with a variety of new information.
Spend time exploring and travelling to new places (anywhere new).
Get creative with your health, wealth and relationship practices, as well as your hobbies.

When a need for uncertainty/variety is unmet:

You’ll likely become extremely bored and face stagnation.
Repetitive and unfulfilling routines may become the norm.
You’ll likely become restless and experience life dissatisfaction.

Furthermore, you may even begin to fear the unknown.
A living hell for someone who used to actively seek the unknown.

Significance

A strong need for significance translates into a desire to be seen, heard and listened to. Essentially, you want to be noticed.

It’s very common for us to determine our significance by what we believe sets us apart from others around us.

Recognition is imperative for us.
It gives us a sense of validation and makes us feel seen, special, and needed. Recognition is, of course, a major driving force behind why people behave the way they do.

It provides a way to measure and keep track of how important we feel and it somewhat measures how much we are contributing.

In the workplace, recognition is extremely important for maintaining employee productivity. However, I never felt significant enough in the workplace.

Sure. I could get a pat on the back every now and then.

But thinking about it, the only time I’ve felt truly significant in the workplace is when I’ve had an increased pay rise. (It’s tough to get a pay rise in employment as most jobs are not based on meritocracy.)

Other than that, employment did not make me feel significant.
In fact, it made me feel insignificant.

It takes money to feel significant in employment.
It’s all money driven.
I didn’t like it.

In my opinion, if the entire attitude towards adding value is to ONLY make money, it’s wrong.

Money’s fantastic. We need it.

However, add value for the sake of adding value.
Add value because you are a valuable person.
Add value because you genuinely want to improve humanity.

With this attitude, you’ll end up adding WAY MORE value than the person who is strictly money driven.

Because of this, you’ll end up making more money too. How’s that?

In the span of 3 months, my business and brand have made me feel more significant than all my employed jobs have.

Reason? I am adding serious value to people’s lives.

If you don't find positive ways to feel important, you may resort to extreme measures to make yourself feel better.

Turning to alcohol/other drugs or getting into frequent arguments is common for people with significance being the highest need.

I have fallen victim to both before.

You may also choose to surround yourself with people you perceive as less skilled or accomplished. Purely to highlight your own achievements.

Both of these situations can temporarily increase your sense of importance, but neither behaviour is healthy.

How to tell if significance is one of your core needs:

You may be sensitive to criticism.
Others tell you that you stand out.
You have a fear of feeling insignificant.
You have a need for status and achievement.
You engage in recognition-seeking behaviour.
You’re committed to a cause – or several causes.
You’re highly driven to be successful and love setting and reaching goals.
You can be overly competitive, perfectionistic or dramatic. (I know I certainly can.)
You compare yourself to others and place importance on what makes you feel unique.

How to fulfil a need for significance:

Set meaningful, significant goals and make daily progress towards them.
Channel your competitive nature into healthy activities.
Commit to total mastery of your profession or career.

When a need for significance is unmet:

It’s very easy to begin struggling with low self-esteem. Making it easy to adopt negative coping mechanisms as you feel like you are not worth looking after. You may also begin attention-seeking behaviour.

Love/Connection

If love and connection are your primary fundamental needs, you are always looking for meaningful relationships and bonds.

You deeply appreciate the value of love and recognize how it enriches your experience of life.

The need for connection can lead to incredibly satisfying relationships.
It can also make you prioritize the well-being of others, or the maintenance of a partnership, over your own self-care.

How to tell if love/connection is one of your core needs:

You become fulfilled through relationships.
You are willing to invest a lot of time in relationships.
You have a very strong desire for good relationships.
You have quite a strong fear of abandonment and rejection.
Empathy and compassion are some of your greatest strengths.
You may struggle to assert your own needs and boundaries, often putting others before yourself.

How to fulfil a need for love/connection:

Build and nurture relationships.
Practice empathy and compassion.
Cultivate self-love and self-acceptance.
Respect boundaries, especially your own.
Express vulnerability and authenticity, allow others to see your true self.
Communicate your needs effectively and listen carefully to others when they do the same.
Deepen your spiritual connection by engaging in practices like prayer and meditation, and immersing yourself in nature.

When a need for love/connection is unmet:

It causes overwhelming feelings of loneliness and isolation.
You experience reduced levels of social and emotional support.
It also becomes progressively more difficult to form and maintain healthy relationships.

Growth

Individuals who prioritize growth as their primary core need are constantly seeking self-improvement and acquiring new knowledge.

They excel in their professions but often move on swiftly once they feel they have reached their maximum potential.

While their continuous pursuit of progress ensures they remain engaged and stimulated, they may lean towards perfectionism.

They may also overlook the importance of rest and relaxation, which is crucial for managing stress levels effectively.

How to tell if growth is one of your core needs:

You thrive on challenges.
You set very ambitious goals.
Self-improvement is your way of life.
You find a lot of fulfilment in progress.
You have a strong desire for continuous learning.
You feel very uncomfortable when you’re stagnating.
You’re very independent and are not attached to material things.
You may find it hard to connect with others and move on too quickly from relationships.
You tend to push boundaries, both your own and those set for you by others and by society.

How to fulfil a need for growth:

Cultivate more curiosity.
Fully embrace a growth mindset.
Actively step out of your comfort zone.
Focus on spiritual growth, never neglect it.
Seek feedback and engage in self-reflection.
Set meaningful goals and make daily progress.
Continuously learn and acquire new knowledge.
Challenge yourself to truly master a difficult skill.
Seek mentorship or role models (particularly when feeling frustrated).

When a need for growth is unmet:

It causes you to feel stuck and largely unfulfilled due to stagnation.
There is a lack of progress and personal development due to reduced motivation.

You may even become resistant to change, and growth is all about change.
A nightmare for a growth-minded individual.

Contribution

Individuals who prioritize contribution as one of their core needs understand that the key to a fulfilling life lies in giving.

They have a strong inclination to make a positive impact in their communities.

It's important to note that in the pursuit of changing the world, they may sometimes overlook the significance of giving within their own homes and relationships.

How to tell if contribution is one of your core needs:

You want to leave a legacy.
You have a desire for social impact.
You love to volunteer and give back.
You have a strong desire to make a difference.
You’re an extremely empathetic and compassionate person.
You may burn out easily or be taken advantage of by others.
Your actions inspire and motivate others to contribute and make a difference.

How to fulfil a need for contribution:

Fulfilling the need for contribution is best achieved through giving back.
Start small. Begin by making a small impact on your family/community.

Furthermore, rather than simply joining a volunteer group, consider starting your own initiative.

When you choose a cause that deeply resonates with you, the sense of fulfilment you experience will be heightened.

When a need for contribution is unmet:

The diminished impact on others will cause you to feel incredibly unfulfilled. You may feel disconnected and have a loss of meaning and purpose.

The Importance of Meeting These Needs

Your behaviours are influenced by whether your needs are fulfilled or not.
Your predominant personality traits determine which basic human needs you focus on.

Although it’s crucial to understand and fulfil your highest needs, failing to satisfy them all can have a seriously detrimental effect on your overall sense of happiness and life satisfaction.

Understanding which of the six human needs is your main motivator is essential in understanding what truly drives you. You can level up your health, wealth, and relationships optimally when you understand what truly drives you.

Take this quiz and find out your driving force:

Click Here

Mine is significance.

What’s yours?