I have been recently thinking about wants versus needs. It seems to me that many people in this western culture (specifically the US) have this obsession with wants. I personally have fallen victim to this way of thinking for many years, and I still fight to get beyond it.
As I get older, I realize more and more that life is not about wants, but about needs. When I focus on wants, I am focused on myself. When I admit that life is not about me, I can start focusing on others and contributing to the world around me.
Surviving
Most people I know talk about "just surviving" out there in the world. What they mean by this is that they would like to make more progress on getting what they want and spend less time on struggling to make ends meet. This whole view point, while common and seemingly innocent, is based on selfishness. I used to say this kind of thing all the time, but now I try and take the perspective that life is about making ends meet, not about getting past that so I can get those things I want.
Joy and happiness can be found to a great degree in "making ends meet". I believe that more happiness can be found in the "mundane" activities of life than in the pursuit of self-fulfillment. When we work to get what we want, we are often disappointed and unhappy - when we work to serve others and make ends meet, we can find happiness and fulfillment.
I say, forget about the self-focused wants, and start doing what you need to do.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Jung Word Test Results
Extroverted (E) 64.29% Introverted (I) 35.71%
Sensing (S) 67.65% Intuitive (N) 32.35%
Thinking (T) 56.25% Feeling (F) 43.75%
Judging (J) 72.41% Perceiving (P) 27.59%
| ESTJ - "Administrator". Much in touch with the external environment. Very responsible. Pillar of strength. 8.7% of total population. |
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Big Five Word Test Results
| Big Five Word Test Results |
| Extroversion (60%) moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity. Accommodation (68%) moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly kind natured, trusting, and helpful at the expense of your own individual development (martyr complex). Orderliness (74%) high which suggests you are overly organized, neat, structured and restrained at the expense too often of flexibility, variety, spontaneity, and fun. Emotional Stability (90%) very high which suggests you are extremely relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic. Inquisitiveness (34%) moderately low which suggests you are, at times, overly small minded, traditional, and conventional at the expense of intellectual curiousity, possibility, and progress. |
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Career Inventory Test Results
| Career Inventory Test Results
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Enneagram Test Results - My Favorite Test
| Enneagram Test Results
Your variant is social |
Main Type | Overall Self |
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Maslow Inventory Results
| Maslow Inventory Results |
| Physiological Needs (20%) you appear to have everything you need to survive physically. Safety Needs (14%) you appear to have a very secure environment. Love Needs (30%) you appear to be content with the quality of your social connections. Esteem Needs (57%) you appear to have a medium level of skill competence. Self-Actualization (36%) you appear to have a low level of individual development. |
Abraham Maslow authored the Hierarchy of Needs theory, stating that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs, and that certain lower needs have to be satisfied before higher needs can be attended to. It is debatable that needs fulfillment occurs in as linear a fashion as Maslow presents (or that Maslows needs structure is entirely accurate), but you can decide that for yourself. Also, higher needs tend to be more complex and vague in what qualifies as need satisfaction. The following results are listed in the order Maslow defined.
Physiological Needs : you appear to have everything you need to survive physically. Maslow speculates that without satisfying basic needs (food, shelter, health) one cannot achieve higher levels of development. This generally makes sense, but the history of starving artists and successful artists who tanked after they became wealthy is important to note.
Safety Needs: you appear to have a vert safe environment. Maslow speculates that without enviromental stability (security, safety, consistency), you can't progress to higher levels of development. Neuroscience research would appear to support this, as higher stress contributes to higher cortisol levels, which impair memory and thinking functions. However, low stress can also lead to obesity and cardiac degeneration. The lazier and weaker you become, the more stressful the most minimal tasks and stimuli become.
Love Needs: you appear to be content with the quality of your social connections. Maslow speculates that discontentment in your connections with others stalls development. Whether the resolution of love needs comes through good relationships and/or learning to be more internally fulfilled is a question Maslow does not answer. But history would suggest many advanced minds had few relationships so this stage would seem to be more about resolving internal perceptions than as a call for measuring/achieving happiness by quality of external relationships.
Esteem Needs: you appear to have a medium level of skill competence. Maslow speculates that until you develop a good skill set (talent, trade, expertise that you excel at) you will be unable to develop further as an individual (much less reliably support yourself financially). This could mean being a good musician, painter, doctor, carpenter, etc.. On some level this stage also requires getting over the need to be appreciated for that skill, internally and/or externally. Even if you develop a skill, you still might be hung up on the need to have other people validate you or you might internally doubt yourself. Then again, you might not be appreciated, or appreciate yourself because your skills are still too undeveloped.
Self-Actualization: you appear to have a low level of individual development. Maslow speculates that individual development is the pinnacle of existence, this means pursuing a career/life that really fits who you are and want to be internally (not based on external and societal expectations). The self actualized person is free from superficial concerns and is internally honest.
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Cattell 16 Factor Test Results
| Cattell's 16 Factor Test Results
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