"Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning."
Abraham Maslow defined the Hierarchy of Needs nearly 80 years ago. It's time to update our understanding of life needs as neuroscience has revealed. The Radical Purpose Dynamic is not a hierarchy, but a set of interdependent life needs that produce motivation.
Understanding our life needs is an essential part of living a fulfilling life. Psychologists have long known about life needs — however, modern neuroscience has brought to light the significance of life needs to our society.
The Radical Purpose Dynamic frames life needs in a practical way.
Take the Radical Purpose Profile assessment and check out the Needs and Feelings Inventory.
Our needs can be grouped into 5 radical needs. These needs align with what psychologist Robert Plutchik called the "fundamental problems of life." The radical needs motivate us to maintain our body, assess what is valuable, effect change, gain relationships, and assess our efficacy and that of others.
The Being Need motivates and regulates the body's physiological and stimulation needs.
The Meaning Need motivates and regulates seeking the freedom needed to discover and learn.
The Impacting Need motivates and regulates obtaining, changing, creating, and taking care of meaningful things.
The Belonging Need motivates and regulates seeking, establishing, conforming, and maintaining social relationships with those you share similar meaning and impact.
The Becoming Need motivates and regulates the tracking of your and others' behavior towards one another and your accomplishments and personal growth.
Though all healthy people have these needs, we each have them in different degrees. Understanding which of the needs we are high in helps us know ourselves, our feelings, and our behaviors better. We have developed an assessment app to provide you with your profile in as little as 6 minutes.
This assessment tool is still in beta, however it's free to use at this point. Below is an example of the Needs Radar showing values in 25 different underlying needs across the 5 radical needs.
Of the many human needs, we have organized the dynamic to include 25 underlying needs that contribute to the 5 radical needs' fundamental purpose. Scroll down for a more complete list of needs.
RELAX
SLEEP
NOURISH
MOVE
RHYTHM
AUTONOMY
CURIOSITY
SAFETY
PLAY
SENSE-MAKING
ACQUIRE
CREATE
ORDER
IMPACT
NURTURE
ADMIRE
CONFORM
CONNECT
BELONG
INTIMACY
FAIRNESS
RETALIATE
DOMINATE
STATUS
BECOME
Our human needs are integrally tied to our feelings. By understanding your needs profile and the related feelings, you can learn to detect which needs are at play in a certain context.
Our feelings are the first sign that our needs are either being met (positive feeling), or not met (negative feeling). Using the list below, you can identify what you're feeling and what need is causing the feeling. This will help you understand, communicate, and collaborate from the needs paradigm — leading to fulfilling work and life.
( NEEDS )
RELAX
Rest
Relaxation
To-be-Left-Alone
SLEEP
NOURISH
Air
Food
Water
Nutrition
Sustenance
Nourishment
MOVE
Exercise
Movement
RHYTHM
Music
Dance
BEING OTHER
Dry & Warm
Survival
Wellness
Comfort
Recreation
Touch
Sexual Expression Health
Shelter
( FEELINGS )
RELAX
Rested
Relaxed
Tired
Exhausted
SLEEP
Rested
Reenergized
Sleepy
Tired
Exhausted
NOURISH
Satiated
Satisfied
Hungry
Famished
Thirsty
Craving
( NEEDS )
AUTONOMY
Autonomy
Choice
Freedom
Independence
Space
CURIOSITY
Discovery
Adventure
Mystery
Exploration
SAFETY
Safe
Protection-from-Harm
Security
PLAY
Humor
Spontaneity
Recreation
SENSE-MAKING
Information
Predictability
Familiarity
Stability
Learn
OTHER MEANING
Transparency
Openness
Meaning
( FEELINGS )
AUTONOMY
Stifled
Smothered
Suffocated
Held-Back
( NEEDS )
ACQUIRE
Home
Shelter
Resources
Money
CREATE
Creativity
Innovation
Innovate
ORDER
Structure
Beauty
Consistency
IMPACT
Contribute
Contribution
Collaboration Competence
NURTURE
Caring
Kindness
Nurturing
Care
Self-care
Support
OTHER IMPACTING
Initiative
Celebrate-Life
Celebrate-Loss
Celebrate-Dreams-Fulfilled
( FEELINGS )
ACQUIRE
Desire
Crave
Covet
( NEEDS )
ADMIRE
Inspiration
Respect
CONFORM
Conform
Honor
CONNECT
Connection
Bonding
Closeness
Mutuality
BELONG
Communion
Harmony
Cooperation
Fellowship
Interdependence
Solidarity
Inclusion
Belonging
INTIMACY
Affection
Warmth
Caring
Sexual Connection
Comforted
Tenderness
( FEELINGS )
ADMIRE
Admiration
Adoration
Worship
CONFORM
( NEEDS )
FAIRNESS
Fairness
Equality
Reciprocity
Trust
Trusting
Honesty
Integrity
RETALIATE
Respond
Revenge
Vengeance
Get-Even
Standup-for-Myself
DOMINATE
Power
Control
Dominance
Take-Charge
STATUS
To-be-Seen
To-Matter
Importance
Presence
To-be-Known
To-be-Heard
To-be-Respected
BECOME
Achievement
Productivity
Self-Acceptance
Self-Worth
Self-Connection
Self-Esteem
Challenge Efficiency
Authenticity
Competence
OTHER BECOMING
Interdependence
Self-Respect
Wholeness
Balance
Growth
Development
To-be-Trusted
Enrichment-of-Life
Progress
( FEELINGS )
FAIRNESS
Unfair
Cheated
Untrusting
Suspicious
Radical's Needs & Feelings List reflects our research and the work of the Non-Violent Communications (NVC) community. This is a work in progress — additional research is underway.
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