Americans are tired. We are hearing it over and over.
We’re tired from stress, stress levels that are maxed out. Chaos, confusion and crime are the buzzwords of 2020.
Fear, stress and worry fill our headlines and our hearts. Our adrenal systems are on overload, emotions are raw.
Stress-related fatigue is chronic across America.
We must ditch the drama and chide the internal chaos. It is imperative that we learn coping skills that pin stress and anxiety to the mat. We must shift the narrative from negative to positive and from reactive to responsive. Let’s turn it around.
6 Human Emotional Needs
The six human needs will resource our soul with strength. Tony Robbins is best known for coining the six human needs:
—Certainty: A sense of security, safety and comfort in the world.
—Uncertainty (Variety): A sense of change, interest and adventure.
—Significance: A sense of uniqueness, individuality and being special.
—Love & Connection: A sense of acceptance, belonging and support.
—Growth: A desire to learn, grow and develop.
—Contribution: The desire to give to those around us.
The six emotional needs are profound and have served as a foundation for self-discovery and personal achievement for several decades.
The Importance of Human Needs
Emotions are how we tick. We all have a desire to experience emotional wellness. Understanding these six human needs paves the way for greater emotional health.
When the human needs are active in us, we thrive in our existence.
All six human needs flow through us in different seasons.
When all six needs are operational, a person will live a happier life. Where we lack meeting our emotional needs, we will feel dissatisfied, frustrated—searching for something.
It is crucial to know which of these human needs makes you soar.
The Importance of Significance
Significance is the need to feel special, meaningful and to feel needed. Everyone has an innate desire for meaning, purpose and direction.
This leads to significance. We are all made different and have unique emotional needs.
Some people find significance by achieving success, buying sizable houses, beautiful cars and joining the country club. Others feel significant by dressing uniquely, counting their Facebook “likes” or tattooing their body.
No one can convince us how significant we are. That comes from within. We call it self-worth. What we think of ourselves is essential.
What we feel about ourselves will determine how we treat others. To know we are loved is to accept ourselves. When we accept ourselves, we experience peace.
When we lose a sense of significance, we lose our emotional balance.
Losing a sense of significance is damaging. It bombards our minds with thoughts and self-destructive behavior can take over.
We turn to substances to make us feel better about ourselves. These substitutes include things like; alcohol, drugs, porn, sex or food.
Searching for significance can turn dark or self-defeating.
“You can feel more significant by achieving something, by building something, by learning something or even by tearing other people down. They are all legitimate ways to fulfill the need for significance. The need for significance can help you achieve more, do more and become the person you desire to be.
Maybe we set our significance on our ability to drink more than our friends. Or perhaps we are significant because we slept with more girls than anyone we know.
A long-term sense of insignificance is damaging to our emotions. When our significance turns narcissistic, we use our life for the wrong purpose. Therefore, it is vital to discover the human needs that satisfy the soul. Emotional wellness is vital to a well-balanced life.
When the tank of our human needs is full, it is satisfying. We experience an extra skip in our steps. A sense of significance increases our self-esteem and adds confidence. When we are confident and full of life, our relationships are vibrant.
People need us, and we need people. There are days our emotional IQ is on point. There are the other days where we feel alone and insignificant.
We are both needy and needed. A sense of insignificance negatively affects our self-esteem. Behaviors such as timidity and a lack of confidence arrest our personality and negatively affects our emotional response.
The ultimate significance in life comes not from something external, but something internal. It comes from a sense of self-esteem, which is not something we can ever get from someone else. People can tell you you’re beautiful, smart, intelligent, the best, or they can tell you that you are the most horrible human being on earth—but what matters is what you think about yourself.
When we capture a sense of our own significance, our life turns epic.
Most people enhance their sense of significance from outside sources or achievements. It’s like an emotional feeding tube. That is OK.
But there is a greater way.
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Thomas McDaniels is a pastor/writer and the guy behind thomasmcdaniels.com. He has written for ChurchLeaders.com and currently is a contributing writer for Fox News. He is also the founder of LifeBridge.tv and the Longview Dream Center in Longview, Texas. Thomas can be found on social media, Instagram and Twitter.
Curt Landry 
Michael L. Brown 
Rabbi Eric Tokajer