Motivations, Needs and Wants
By Dr. Tim Ong, MBBS
Everything we say or do is preceded by a motive. It is the very thing that moves us into action. Most of the time, this motive is beyond our conscious awareness. However, if we want to understand ourselves better and to improve our life, then it is essential for us to know our motivations consciously.
In the Awareness Wheel, you will recall that our actions are preceded by our needs and desires. By pausing for a moment to examine our feelings, desires and needs, we can recognize our motivations for the actions we do.
Generally, all motivations can be reduced to just two, our desire to:
1. seek pleasure, and
2. avoid pain or discomfort
According to Abraham Maslow, our actions are motivated by our needs to fulfill certain fundamental human needs, beginning with the needs to satisfy our physiological needs such as food, water, clothing and shelter. Next is our need for safety, then for love, connection and belongings. As these more basic needs are satisfied, we seek to satisfy our higher needs for self esteem, self confidence and self growth. According to Maslow, a human being's ultimate need is one of self actualization - to be the best that he or she can be emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
These human needs are illustrated as a pyramid where the most basic and physiological needs are at the base while the highest self actualization need is placed at the apex.
So, the next time you do something, pause and reflect on what you are about to do, and see if you can identify your motivation for that particular action. Having a habit of introspection like this is a powerful way to gain self knowledge and understand the fundamental being that you are.
The Johari Window is a way to conceptualize what we know about ourselves and what others know about us in a diagrammatic way. The part where we know ourselves and is known to others is called OPEN while the part of us that others know about us but we are blind to it, e.g. some of our faults, is called the BLIND SPOT. Then there is another part of us where we keep hidden from others but is known to ourselves. This is called HIDDEN or FACADE. Lastly, there is a part of us that we do not know and neither do others. This is the UNKNOWN.
Through frequent practice of introspection or self reflection, we can gradually enlarge on the OPEN section. As this OPEN part grows bigger, the BLIND SPOT, FACADE and UNKNOWN correspondingly become smaller. We become more aware of ourselves, grow in self esteem and confidence and has less need to put on a facade or mask in public.
Apart from self reflection, another way for us to know ourselves better is to be able to accept positive criticisms and feedback from our family members, friends and colleagues who may know something about us that we are not consciously aware of, i.e. our blind spot.
Thus, having an open mind is a good attitude to have for anyone interested in self improvement.
About the Author
Dr. Tim Ong is a medical doctor with keen interest in self improvement, mind science and spirituality. He is also the author of "From Fear to Love: A Spiritual Journey" - a book that explores our hidden fears and how we can overcome them. Dr. Ong shares his personal experience as well as relates stories and lessons from his patients. You can get a copy of his ebook here (with a special discount): From Fear to Love.
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