All of us have basic needs, not merely desires but profound needs that underlie and motivate every choice we make. There are six basic needs that everyone seeks to fulfil.
What you need to know about the need CONTRIBUTION
General Overview:
The sixth need is for contribution –Â to go beyond our own needs and to give to others.
A life is incomplete without the sense that one is making a contribution to others or to a cause.
It is in the nature of human beings to want to give back, to leave a mark on the world.
Giving to others may mean giving time to community service, making a charitable donation, planting trees, writing a book, or giving to one’s children.
Not only can everyone contribute in some way, but contribution is essential to a sense of fulfilment and to happiness.
The first four needs, certainty, variety, love, and significance, are essential for human survival.
They are the fundamental needs of the personality.
Everyone must feel that they have met them on some level, even if they have to lie to themselves to do so.
The last two needs, growth and contribution, are essential to human fulfilment.
They are the needs of the spirit, and not everyone finds a way to satisfy them, although they are necessary for lasting fulfilment.
When our needs for love, growth, and contribution are satisfied, they tend to encompass all our other needs.
When we focus on something beyond ourselves, most of our problems and sources of pain become less significant.
Contribution is the human need that effectively regulates your other five needs.
If you are focused on contributing to others:
you have the certainty of being able to contribute (there is always a way);
you have variety (contribution is highly interactive);
you have significance because you know you are helping others and improving their lives;
the spiritual bond created when you help others gives you a deep sense of connection;
and you grow by creatively helping others.
(c.f. Madanes, Cloe. Relationship Breakthrough (Kindle Locations 522-534). Pan Macmillan UK. Kindle Edition.)
If you are driven by the need for GROWTH and want to learn how it is influencing your life specifically, contact me today to apply for a strategy coaching session.
