3 Problems with Unmet Needs

Learn about problems that arise when your six universal human needs aren’t met.

I’ve previously talked about the six universal needs (aka the foundations for flourishing). Today I want to highlight what happens when those needs aren’t met at a sufficient level across work and life.

Problem #1: Energy Drain

First, it is subtly or noticeably draining on our energy when any of our six fundamental human needs is not being met. For example, when your need for security isn’t met, the energy loss tends to be substantial, as you tend to operate in a state of perpetual stress. Stress is taxing on the body, mind, and emotions in many ways, and it means a portion of your energy is always being fed to your fight, flight, freeze, or faun response. This isn’t a productive use of your energy, given the situation. The amount of energy lost when the other five needs (autonomy, belonging, connection, expression, purpose) aren’t met varies by person.

Problem #2: Lack of Fulfillment

The second issue with unmet needs is that it tends to make us feel unfulfilled overall. Our activities increasingly lack meaning. We know something is missing from our lives. We wouldn’t describe ourselves as flourishing. What’s interesting is that even one need not being met can be enough to trigger the feeling of being unfulfilled.

Problem #3: Subconscious Driver

Thirdly, you are hardwired to try to get your needs met. While your conscious mind might not realize that your needs aren’t being met, your subconscious is well aware. Your subconscious is going to be nudging you in the direction to get your needs fulfilled and if you don’t realize it, it can seem at odds with your conscious choices.

At work this might look like:

• trying to force a relationship because you are craving connection,

• pushing your ideas because you need to express yourself, or

• being overly controlling on a project because you need to exert autonomy.

It’s much better to be aware so you can make conscious choices.

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Behind the Scenes of MOTIVATED AF

A glimpse into what it takes to write, publish, launch, and perpetuate this book.

Let’s talk about branding for a minute. It’s important to establish a cohesive visual identity for the marketing activities related to one’s book.

Today, I specifically want to share I how I approached visual identity for the MOTIVATED AF Substack.

First, when I think about the vibe that my book cover and title projects, bold and direct came to mind. Those become my touchstone words for the visual “personality”.

Second, since my book cover is white with green and orange text, I decided I would stick with a green and orange color palette (quite visually striking together if I do say so myself).

With this in mind, I kept the word mark and logo straightforward. The wordmark is the same as the main title and the logo is simple and bold.

The other main element I’d need for Substack was a preview image for each post. I browsed some Unsplash images through my lens of bold and direct, and realized that I was drawn to striking or otherwise visually interesting patterns. From there, I searched for background patterns in my color palette. I realized white backgrounds weren’t really going to be appealing so I allowed for gray and ivory.

To add a personal element for contrast (and because authors are selling themselves!), I selected one of my headshots to use on repeat.

For the post titles, I opted for a semi-opaque rectangle in orange, green, or white. And given the colorful backgrounds, I decided to do a variation on the wordmark. It’s got a green and orange background with MOTIVATED AF in white.

Here is a snapshot of twenty preview images from my posts. These are in chronological order. Even if you were entirely unfamiliar with this project, at a glance, you can see it all hangs together. I personally don’t care that all the oranges aren’t the same, etc.

Aside from creating a visual bridge between my book and this Substack, and establishing a cohesive visual identity for this Substack, it turns out there is another benefit to taking some time up front to pick colors, a vibe, and an image brief to guide me.

I spend very little time on selecting each week’s preview image. It is incredibly easy to select an image because I’ve narrowed down the number of decisions I need to make regarding it. Basically, I just have to see where I am in the pattern. Oh, it’s a green week? Go look for a green background pattern that I like. Pop on a title box in a contrasting color. Pop on the wordmark. Done.

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Katherine ✨