#StartWithWhy

If somehow, you haven’t seen the incredibly powerful Ted Talk by Simon Sinek, here it is.

Starting with “why” is useful not only for businesses and their marketing strategy; it is also useful for our lives. Starting with why makes us pause for a moment and think about our purpose — Why do we choose to pursue that career in banking or law or medicine, is it for the wealth and the prestige? What is it all the hustle for? What do we want to get out of our lives?

I was confused for a long time too. Until I stumbled upon a framework which helped me put things into perspective, and I’m going to share it with you.

Renowned coach, Tony Robbins tells us there are 6 universal fundamental human needs. They are the following:

The Six Fundamental Human Needs

Need 1: Certainty, & Need 2: Variety, are opposing forces lying on a spectrum. Some of us may lean towards one more so than the other. Maybe you are someone who needs certainty in your career, and you might prefer to pursue a safer path by getting a steady job. Or you could be someone who likes variety and adventure and give entrepreneurship a try.

Need 3: Significance, & Need 4: Connection/Love. Ideally, we can desire significance while craving love and connection. In fact, it can happen when we are able to balance these two forces. But it is when we try to take each of these forces to the extreme that it becomes obvious that they are in fact exclusive. On one hand, it is often lonely at the top and on the other; making truly strong connections with others requires you to not be as outstanding as you would like to be.

Need 5: Growth, & Need 6: Contribution. Instead of competing with each other, these two needs actually feed on each other. It is only by growing that we can contribute more and when we contribute, we will realise that we too grow by giving. I’m sure you must have had an experience whereby you feel like you actually learn more by teaching a friend or helping someone with something you’re good at.

Almost everyone I have spoken to have these needs in varying degrees. As far as I know, this is quite a exclusive and exhaustive list of needs. And it makes for a great framework for you to start thinking about what’s the “WHY” in your life.