Do you really want to know what people want? I will tell you. The great secret. You ready? Wait for it…..
They want what you want. It is not that complicated. It really is not. It does not matter how “important” people are or how “rich” or how “beautiful.” People generally want the same thing.
If you desire, read some of Carl Jung’s early works. Amazing stuff really. I mean talk about someone that really thought about this and articulated it in a construct that made sense! Really humbling to know that there have been humans on this planet that are that incredibly brilliant. That is my way of saying that this is NOT my idea.
At any rate, there is some debate to this. However, modern psychologists have settled on this concept of primary and secondary human motivators. They are consistent about this with a few word choices, and perhaps a few additions, but the motivators are as follows.
The big ones are the primary motivators. Things like hunger, thirst, sex, avoidance of pain and fear. Some will add a few. I have seen aggression as a primary motivator. I thought that was weird, but in reality aggression really is a motivation point. Something I had not considered before. Humans have had to be aggressors in order to survive. These are the primal ones that everyone has, at least fully functioning healthy people.
The secondary group of motivators are a bit more controversial, but there are definitely a few that most everyone can agree with. This include concepts like achievement and obtaining power. There a few other areas, I am sure you can think of a few. However, there are not many. I read a paper by a psychologist named Lambert Deckers who tied these motivations, or groups of them to certain personality traits. That was fascinating.
However, the point is that people are really not that hard to figure out. They are actually pretty easy. Identify one or more common motivators and look at how they are acting and why. You will discover that their motivation was quite obvious. For that matter, look at yourself. Why are you acting the way that you are?
Guy Reams
