3 Things Everyone Wants
There are universal desires, specifically three things everyone wants, but few have the audacity to go after.
In my experience as a personal and business coach, I consistently noticed common themes that were the underlying basis of client goals. They wanted to prioritize purpose and passion-driven endeavors, increase productivity so they had more time for loved ones, or significantly increase their income. Yet they came to me because they couldn’t see a pathway for achieving one goal without compromising another.
The issue is that they were compartmentalizing their goals instead of looking at them as an interconnected set of desires that collectively contributed to their life vision. And even after they took a step back to work on crafting a holistic life vision, they struggled to build up the courage to step off the beaten path and pursue it.
There are three universal desires that everyone seems to want, but few have the audacity to go after. However, they aren’t impossible to achieve. You first have to know what they are and then be fearless in your pursuit of them.
Freedom
Freedom means empowerment to live on your own terms and freely express your ideas, talents, and interests. It is all about having the liberty to live and speak your truth (your truth is that which gives you self-esteem and is directly linked to happiness).
When you don’t know your truth or feel restricted in the pursuit and expression of it then your self-esteem plummets and you can’t be happy. There are two core elements — Empowerment and Expression — that make up the freedom element of your life.
Empowerment
When you feel confident and in control, you are empowered. So your ability to thrive relies on building up and protecting your self-esteem. Though we may not admit it, we all regularly face empowerment challenges, especially when dealing with uncertainty.
People are most confident when they believe they know what lies ahead. But it’s hard to be fully confident in the future as no one can predict it. Without knowledge of what each new day will bring, it is best to stay present and focus most of your energy on today. Live as close to your truth as you can right now — because that's what you have the power to control.
Expression
Your ability to communicate clearly, effectively, and consistently is fundamental to your sense of freedom. So all manner of expression — be it visual, verbal, etc. — should be actively refined and come from a place of truth.
The way you present yourself and your work to the world does wonders for your sense of pride and freedom, while simultaneously attracting a dedicated audience who can relate to your unique voice. So commit to self-expression as a powerful mechanism of exuding authenticity.
Fulfillment
Fulfillment is obtained by listening to your intuition and building a growth mindset to enhance creative output. Humans have an innate desire to grow. After our basic needs are met we shift from the drive to survive to the desire to thrive. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs explains this more thoroughly:
We all ultimately strive for self-actualization i.e. granting our deepest desires, achieving our loftiest aspirations and fully utilizing our innate abilities (some may call this pursuing purpose).
— Abraham Maslow
But you can’t accomplish self-actualization (or fulfill your purpose) without a commitment to improving yourself and your work with smart strategies, good habits, and well-placed investments in your future. So the key to fulfillment is having the right mindset, which you can develop in three ways.
Emotion
Regardless if you perceive them as negative or positive, don't ignore or try to overcome your emotions but learn how to listen to them and use them as energy to fuel your life and work. Identify your dominant emotions and understand how they show up in your life. Then create strategies that leverage those emotions in order to bring about desired outcomes.
Intuition
Your ability to tap into your intuition and balance rational with emotional thought (i.e. listen to your head and heart) will help you think clearly and make better decisions. You are likely disconnected from your intuition if you:
don't know how to start or stop something
don't know what to do or where to go
don't know which decision is best
"Don't know" is often a symptom of noise — too much information, too many opinions, etc. So work on turning down that external noise so you can become familiar with your own inner voice.
Creativity
Nurturing your creative energy will help you live a more dynamic life and consistently generate unique ideas, insights, and experiences that will add value to yourself and others. Modern life has us hyper-focused on outcomes and end goals instead of the journey itself, which shifts the focus away from creativity. So the best way to nurture creativity is to understand how you are creative and to integrate that into a routine that gives you space to create.
Fortune
Fortune is a byproduct of mastering the art of creating value for others so you can live abundantly as well. Most people want to make a living doing work they love, which is also able to sustain their ideal lifestyle. However, the issue is that most people tend to overly fixate on the financial aspect of their work.
But financial growth and personal growth go hand-in-hand. Think through what will give you freedom and fulfillment first, then shift into considering how to achieve financial success without compromising these other core elements of your life plan.
Service
Adding value is fundamental to your ability to generate wealth. It’s virtually impossible not to prosper when you are being useful to others. Because when you are truly meeting a need, fulfilling a desire, or solving a problem, people will gladly compensate you in exchange for what you have to offer. Having a service mentality makes it easier to understand how you can uniquely add value with your ideas, skills, and talents.
Abundance
To be abundant you must think abundantly, develop a growth mindset and stop scarcity thinking. This will make you more in tune with the needs of others and thus in a better position to create value for them (and subsequently wealth for yourself).
Getting out of a scarcity mindset is the first step. This is the negative belief that everything in life is limited or never enough (be it money, time, or relationships) such that your thoughts, decisions, and actions are driven by a fear of lack. Next, is building a wealth mindset which means thinking positively about your resources, practicing gratitude, and mastering the art of creating value.
The major cause of imbalance and blocks in your life is likely not having a clear life path or being overly focused on only one part of it. However, freedom, fulfillment, and fortune are the interconnected elements that are central to your ability to thrive. Imagine what life could be like if you designed your life path around these universal desires and fearlessly committed to them.
