The 6 Human Needs Test

To understand what the 6 human needs test is, you need to understand what the six human needs are believed to be. When you know what they are you can look more closely at which ones you struggle with. That way you can test them and replace the flawed beliefs that stop you from meeting your needs.

What Are the Six Human Needs?

In order to grasp the 6 human needs test, let me start with the famous quote from the movie “Notebook” where Noah asks his lover Ellie “What do you want?” He doesn’t stop asking until he gets an answer. We often hide or think we hide what we want. We do this because our deep wants are connected to emotions that are pretty fragile.

This topic today is the same. I won’t ask you this, but you have to ask yourself what you desire in your life? Is it money? A person? Is it a career or study plan that you so wanted to achieve?

Wait; don’t allow yourself to go too deeply into thought, it’s just a simple question for your brain.

Calm down, take a deep breath, and sip some water…

Now that you’re all calmed down, I’m here to fill you in about something. Something that has made me realize my self-worth even when I didn’t have a dime in my pocket to afford dinner.

Yes, your net worth doesn’t define your self-worth. These are all social constructs that we should abolish. You have specific needs. How do you want to fulfill them, and to which extent can you go to achieve them?

Today I’m going to tell you about an interesting theory. This theory will help you realize what you need in life, how you can adjust those “needs” and how you can move towards achieving your goals.

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Who Discovered the 6 Human Needs?

While there is lots of disagreement about who developed the idea, Tony Robbins, a leading figure in NLP, speaks often about his belief that a human has six fundamental needs. Most of our deepest desires are developed in childhood when our minds are pretty fragile. So our beliefs are not always logical. Check out THIS for more on that.

We create certain beliefs and values and make up our different worlds. Childhood trauma and stress can also be substantial contributing factors to beliefs that are created later in life.

Then as we grow older we yearn to fulfill our desires. We begin to explore our sexuality and sex life as well as other philosophical concepts. We often focus more on our education and career and do everything to achieve our goals. The goals that we believe will meet our fundamental needs.

Everything we do in life revolves around six needs. The order of these needs or desires is subjective and varies from person to person. They are not numbered or in any particular order.

These Six Fundamental Needs in the 6 Human Needs Test Are:

• Certainty
• Variety
• Significance
• Connection
• Growth
• Contribution

Certainty

Do you take risks in life? How certain are you that your studies would land you the perfect career? Are you sure the person you have a crush on would reciprocate your feelings? What makes you so sure that your current job will take you higher than ever?

Certainty is one of our core needs. We need assurance about everything we do in life. Certainty gives us the sense of security that the decision we took would not come back at us, and we will get through it.

But what if you’re not confident? No scale can assure us that we are 100% heading in the proper direction. But we can indicators that we are on track. A typical perfectionist may try to artificially alter their idea of reality to meet their expectations. But it is much wiser to change your expectations to match reality.

While some people hyper-focus on trying to remain certain. They want things to go as planned and refuse to deviate from their path no matter the cost. Being sure and certain is close but different. We need to be sure about our destination, but remember that circumstances change, and so should our expectations.

Something to Consider about Certainty

Some people introduce deadlines to their daily routine to ensure their assignments and tasks are done on time. Our human brain is not developed to handle uncertainty. We want to believe that our pain, sadness, and other negative psychological issues will diminish. When we do not have the certainty we often hang onto the hope of things we believe are certain.

The best thing to do is to understand that uncertainty is a fact of life. We need to become more comfortable with uncertainty. If you can handle uncertainty well, then you will live happier and more contently. You can motivate yourself to look beyond the stress of remaining uncertain and achieve the impossible.

Variety

On the exact flip side, we humans also get easily bored. I mean, it’s in our nature. Even my pet hamster needs a new play toy soon after it gets bored of the previous one. But why do we get bored?

Living a monotonous life makes you feel like a robot. We are designed to be diverse, different, and daring, we crave variety in our life. Variety is said to be the spice of life.

Variety could be anything. It could mean watching a new TV show or wearing something that is not necessarily your style or maybe ordering food that you thought you would never try.

Variety is different for different people. Some people are more adventurous. They want to explore the hidden seas, and tall mountains, jump from heights, swim with the sharks, go deep into the unexplored caves, etc… But no matter, find a way to do something different or out of your rut.

But if you ask, why is it necessary to have a change?

Why do we want to change our routine, go to a spa, and experience things we never have before?

The answer is simple: It gives us a sense of achievement.

Variety exercises our mental, physical, emotional, and psychological range. It helps adrenaline rush through our bodies. People who welcome variety into their lives are often happier. Remember, however, be cautious not to indulge in activities that are harmful.

Smoking, drugs, and other illicit variety activities should be avoided.

Also, read this Article on Empowerment Coaching

Significance

I remember back in childhood when we had a tiny home. My mom would make hot chocolate in the evening and would always put extra marshmallows in it for me. Her gesture made me feel so special but fueled a little sibling rivalry.

This is it. You need to feel significant. It’s important. It makes us think that we are still needed and wanted in someone else’s life. 

Lack of feeling significant can cause major troubles. Most serial killers were neglected in their childhood. I’m not saying that feeling insignificant will create a serial killer, but it is believed by some to be a strong contributor. The 6 human needs test is important beyond just this one single need.

Many people think about us, and each one of them has their ways of expressing their love. Even our pets and kids need us. You are more important than you think. 

Some people change their appearance by changing their hair color, getting piercings, or dressing differently to seem significant. In contrast, others adopt a personality that makes them feel better about themselves. 

Connection

Do you exist for love? Would you like to have someone in your life that understands you, vibes with you, and tells you that you matter to them? I wish that for everyone.

Connection and love are necessary. We, humans, are built to be connected with others. Humans are very social animals. We are given names so people can easily communicate with us and connect with us. Connection with friends, family, colleagues, and every other social acquaintance is necessary.

Connection is not only about marrying someone and making babies. No! It is about having someone who wants to live with you, who makes you feel better about yourself. Someone who helps you see how beautiful lovely, sexy, and kind you are.

Keep in mind, that your connection to others should not become an addiction. Don’t let anyone use you as a toy. Your self-worth always comes first. Having a balance between your love connections and self-esteem would be the perfect thing.

Growth

We are born, we grow, and we become big humans. After middle age, our growth starts to decline. This is the cycle of our physical evolution. Our mental, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth tends to go parallel with it.

We are at our most vulnerable during our teenage years. We start to explore our emotional and sexual needs at that time and often make mistakes. Then we cross the twenties and realize how dumb we used to be. This is mental growth.

Likewise, when we grow older, we lose our tight skin, our eyesight is not the same, the brain starts shrinking, and our cognitive abilities begin to slip. We look over our past and think about the growth we had in our lives and how our choices lead us to where we are now.

The best way to grow is to be open to everything and adopt good habits. Intellectual and spiritual growth never stops so that we can focus more on the greater good.

Contribution

Contribution can be a subset of everything we discussed above. What did we contribute to others around us? Are we only thinking about ourselves? Ask yourself, are our loved ones happy with our life’s contribution? Are we needed anymore?

The answer is yes. There are many brave people out there who would do anything to help others and improve their lives. We can contribute till our last breath.

I won’t talk more about it. You should think for yourself. How will you contribute to society and your loved ones? Or share the talents and gifts you have with others? Be your best self.

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The Importance of Meeting the 6 Human Needs Test

Having a sense of achievement in life is crucial for us to survive. Many suicide victims or serial killers are left with no choice. There is no one to help them see the better side. It’s okay to feel bad and have suicidal thoughts, but we only live once. What’s the fun of leaving the party early?

The Bottom Line

You need to understand what fuels you. The 6 human needs test could be the fuel you were searching for. Test yourself with these needs. Learn to prioritize yourself and, for once, stop thinking about negative things. You have a great future ahead.