“Put your needs first so that you can help others.” Dr. Gabor Mate
This quote, or it might be even considered a principle, has helped me out a lot because before adopting this mindset I always put results and others first. And what does that say on a subconscious level? That your needs don’t matter. So I always sacrificed myself to work overtime, to make Youtube videos even when there was no humanly way of making it possible, I found time. Preparing and passing exams even when it was almost impossible to do it, I did it, but at the sacrifice of my health.
I developed through a very extended period of time prolonged moods of depression, I sacrificed my health with not sleeping regularly and you don’t want to be there. This is a purpose driven
planner, not a “drain yourself and become a robot driven planner”.
Having mentioned needs, I want to dedicate this entire blog post on discussing the 6 basic human needs which I deem as very important to know about on your journey and learning about them helped me a lot when it comes to having a deeper understanding of myself, and others, why we’re doing the things we’re doing even doe sometimes we’re going against our own selves.
So if you thought that sex, money, video games, sweets etc. were your basic human needs, you got it all wrong. Each behavior and want can be traced back to these 6 human needs and they are:
- The need for certainty
- The need for variety
- The need for love and connection
- The need for significance
- The need for growth
- The need for contribution
A lot of psychologists differ on the basic human needs but they all come down to similar conclusions.
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I got these from Tony Robbins and they came very handy and practical. Each and every single one of us meets the first 4 needs either through a good or a bad habit, and knowing this comes in very handy when we later discuss about destroying negative habits.
The need for growth and the need for contribution are, I’d call them “purpose driven needs” because if you meet these at a level 10 there’s no way you won’t be filled with a massive sense of
purpose.
I know for myself when it comes to my Youtube channel and the joy and passion I felt from contributing to others through my videos can’t be compared to anything else really. That’s where you
get the most juices from, when you go beyond yourself and contribute to others. Also by having the feeling and making sure you’re constantly growing in all areas of your life.
Knowing these 6 human needs see how you can implement them in the “why” segment of the planner which we discussed in post#1 and how you meet them. For example if my outcome is a 10 minute Youtube video, my “why” on which I’ll remind myself, is that I want to contribute and inspire people from all around the World and spread love, thus primarily meeting the needs for contribution and love and connection.
Learning about the 6 human needs we are going to dive into the tool of the day, the 6 human needs tool, where I want you to rate your life through the lenses of the 6 human needs and on a scale from 1 to 10 write down for each need at what level is it met in your life.
You will then see which are the lagging ones and start working on them right away. Maybe you’ve been focusing a lot on significance, being the one! But you forgot about love and connection in
the process.
And usually ignoring some of the needs will later on come down and bite you in the ass in a form of a negative habit, so if you for example ignore your need for love and connection you might find other damaging ways, pornography for example, to meet the same need.
The 6 human needs tool:
On a scale from 1-10 rate on which level is each need being met in your life:
1. The need for certainty ______
2. The need for variety _______
3. The need for significance ______
4. The need for love and connection ______
5. The need for growth _______
6. The need for contribution ______
Start working on meeting the lowest rated ones right away.
See you in the next post!
