In this fascinating interview I had recently with Secret Language of Money coauthor David Krueger [note: name and email login required], Dave said this wonderful thing that I had to stop and think about:
I believe the most basic motivation we have as human beings is to be effective, to be a cause.
This hit me like a thunderbolt. And it got me thinking …
Why do people say they want to become “rich and famous”?
Rich, I understand: the desire to be free of limitations, to be able to do whatever one wants, to have whatever comforts and pleasures one desires, to be free of lack and struggle.
But famous? Why would that be such a common desire?
Is it the desire for recognition? Perhaps. But I suspect that what lurks under the idea of “famous” is the more primal idea, important.
That is, that we want to feel our lives genuinely matter.
Great post!
Think if parents understood this and made their kids feel important as they were growning up. We’d have a whole generation of people who knew their importance and therefore didn’t have to always “prove” it in all the various ways that happen now. The world would certainly be a better place!