Do you ever wonder why you are the way you are? Why you want what you want? Why you get frustrated or upset by certain things that don’t seem to bother most people?

Well, it’s because you’re human, if we want to get right down to it!

And it’s good to take a look inside ourselves. “The unexamined life is not worth living,” as Socrates said.

Tony Robbins, the self-improvement guru and author, promotes the concept of 6 Human Needs.

No. 1 on his list is certainty, “𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓲𝓭 𝓹𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮,” he writes.

This might be the most common need, but it can be detrimental when trying to create a fulfilling life. As Tony puts it, “In order to live a life filled with certainty, your life has to stay the same – a nearly impossible expectation to fulfill.”

People who crave certainty more than anything are generally trustworthy. They enjoy planning and tend to be organized but are hesitant about taking risks and trying new things. Too much certainty can lead to obsessive behaviors and even addictions.

The counterpart is uncertainty/variety, which Tony defines as “the need for the unknown, change, new stimuli.”

Here, we see outgoing people who like new experiences and are interested in a range of things. But too much uncertainty can lead to unfocused behavior and poor planning, disrupting things just for the desire to experience yet more change.

What do you think? Are you compelled more by certainty or uncertainty?

I believe a balance between the two is necessary, but I give the edge to uncertainty every time. That’s where we find the daring within ourselves to go on new adventures, to push ourselves to build our dreams, and to feel the exhilaration of living.

Nothing stays the same, so why fight it? Embrace change. I’m certain you can make it work for you.