The Six Human Needs

One of the cornerstones of my practice is helping my clients understand their lives through the lens of the Six Human Needs. This list was compiled by the world-renowned Life Coach, Anthony Robbins, after he had worked with 3 million people from 80 different countries. Robbins discovered patterns in the people with whom he worked that did not vary, and this list of needs is based on those patterns.

Here are the needs:

Certainty: This relates to the belief that your needs for comfort and safety will be met up to a certain level. The level of certainty that is needed varies from person to person.

Variety: The human energy system must have a certain amount of variety in its field. Variety exists in balance with Certainty.

Significance: We all have the need to believe that we matter and, more specifically, that we matter to someone who loves us.

Love and Connection: We need to love and be loved, and we also need to feel connected to the wider community. Love can feel scary, so many people settle for connection in its place.

Growth: A healthy person continues to grow in at least one area throughout their life.

Contribution: Whether we are aware of it or not, we all need to give back somehow in order to be emotionally healthy and happy.

In addition to knowing what the needs are that drive us, we need to be aware of how we priortize these needs in our life. We are each unique in how important each need is to us, and also in how we strive to get each need met.

When attempting to understand how we are attempting to get our needs met, and which needs we value above the others, it is helpful to sit down with someone who is versed in this understanding.

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