05/03/2026
Daily Growth 2.0
growth-u.com
Communication
Standing Out
Today the focus is on one of six basic human emotional needs - the need to feel Significant.
It's the need to feel special, to be heard, seen, valued, admired, or accomplished. It's the desire to be acknowledged and appreciated for who you are or how you're uniquely you.
It can also include the desire to stand out from the rest.
Feeling significant is a fundamental emotion that is at the heart of some of your behavior and decision-making.
It can come from the person you're in a relationship with, or your children, from the car you drive to the part of town you live, from the cause you stand for to the title or degree you have, from the way you handle a situation to the eyeglasses you wear, from the pets you have to the tattoos you have, and on and on.
Goal
Identify some ways in which your need to feel significant is being met in your life right now.
How
Refrain from judging the way your needs are being met. There's no right or wrong. Just be curious and aware.
Why
Feeling significance is a basic human emotional need that can be supported by internal factors and external factors.
It's common to find significance in your capability, your career/business, your relationship, where you live, your role as a parent, etc.
It's also common to feel insignificant in your capability, your career/business, your relationship, where you live, your role as a parent, etc.
It will fluctuate as life changes, you change or other people change.
While feeling significant is important, sometimes we are so focused on being significant that we become imbalanced in our excessive need for it.
When you consider the six basic emotional needs that drive your decisions: Significance, Growth, Connection, Certainty, Variety, and Self-esteem, it's helpful to create awareness around how you're meeting them, or perhaps feeling a void in meeting them.
Ideally, you want to have an outlet that supports each need and your overall well-being.
These six emotional needs were introduced by Dr. John Schindler (How to Live Happy 365 Days a Year, New York: Prentice-Hall).