By Chris Wilkinson
Are you happy? What DRIVES you? Do you tell yourself in your head that you are completely content with where you are at now in your life? Only you know how honest you’re being with yourself.
In the past I’ve written in this column about our human needs and have used Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as the model for how our needs are prioritized and as a potential tool for finding where some gaps may be in our contentedness and life satisfaction. It is one layer of a few.
After connecting with Tony Robbins’s List of Human Needs recently I feel like Tony’s list is a more modern and succinct version that points us in the right direction, faster. Let me share Tony’s list with you and see how you feel about them after:
The 6 Human Needs according to Tony Robbins are:
1. Certainty: basically, safety and security; assurance you can avoid pain and gain pleasure; this is a dominant need for many in today’s modern world of increasing greed, higher pace, and distraction
2. Uncertainty/Variety: somewhat ironic given the first need above; this is the need for the unknown, change, new stimuli; too much certainty creates boredom; consider the person who changes jobs often possibly in connection with this need, or just the feeling of needing something new/fresh
3. Significance: feeling unique, important, special, or needed; can be achievements, fame or importance; can also be sought through destructive means as well (it’s the individual’s choice how they seek and find it)
4. Connection/Love: a strong feeling of closeness or union with someone or something; connection is a most basic human need (think about the studies about babies and the need for human touch starting the moment of birth); search the Harvard Grant study on importance of human relationships — the quality of our relationships determine the quality (and happiness!) of our lives
5. Growth: an expansion of capacity, capability or understanding; feeling of invigoration or enlightenment/expansion of self; also, traveling and new experiences
6. Contribution: a sense of service and focus on giving to and helping others; a higher calling that is deep-rooted; as Tony says, “the secret to living is giving”
The first four (certainty, variety, significance, and love/connection) drive our personality. The last two (growth and contribution) drive our spiritual side. It’s key to remember that these are NEEDS, not simply just WANTS or nice-to-haves. We all need all six of these things in varying degrees.
Tony states that one of the six will be your primary driver, and that one key driver (your top need!) primarily drives your decision making. Therefore, understanding your own needs gives you a great deal of self-awareness and self-esteem, which leads to a higher level of contentedness with your life and your relationships. Which, as we know by now, great relationships equal a great life.
If you want to see what your top #1 need is, take the free and easy quiz at http://core.tonyrobbins.com/driving-force-2 and find out what is driving your decisions! And driving your life.
Chris Wilkinson is the owner/GM for Nurse Next Door Home Care Services for Cowichan and central Vancouver Island. For more info visit www.NurseNextDoor.com or for questions or a free in-home Caring Consult call 250-748-4357, or email Chris.Wilkinson@NurseNextDoor.com
