1. Certainty/Comfort. We all want comfort. And much of this comfort comes from certainty. Of course there is no ABSOLUTE certainty, but we want certainty the car will start, the water will flow from the tap when we turn it on and the currency we use will hold its value.
2. Variety. At the same time we want certainty, we also crave variety. Paradoxically, there needs to be enough UNcertainty to provide spice and adventure in our lives.
3. Significance. Deep down, we all want to be important. We want our life to have meaning and significance. I can imagine no worse a death than to think my life didn’t matter.
4. Connection/Love. It would be hard to argue against the need for love. We want to feel part of a community. We want to be cared for and cared about.
5. Growth. There could be some people who say they don’t want to grow, but I think they’re simply fearful of doing so—or perhaps NOT doing so. To become better, to improve our skills, to stretch and excel may be more evident in some than others, but it’s there.
6. Contribution. The desire to contribute something of value—to help others, to make the world a better place than we found it is in all of us.

You have 150 billion brain cells that together are twinkling with the circuitry of a thousand cities. Your ears can hear 1,600 different frequencies, ranging from 20 to 20,000 cycles per second. Your eyes can detect a single photon of light. And the 800,000 fibers in each of your optic nerves transmit more information from 132 million rods and cones to your brain than the world’s largest optical computer system. The more than 300 million tiny air sacs in your lungs provide oxygen to the 100 trillion cells throughout your body. Your 206 bones and 656 muscles form a more functionally diverse system of capabilities than any known creature. And these and other tremendous abilities to function and learn can be applied in many different ways. You can’t count all your capabilities - there are too many.