What Do You Need To Feel Secure?

What Do You Need To Feel Secure(səˈkyo͝or)?

By Steve Pavlina

One value that seems to hold a lot of people back from setting(ˈsetiNG) and achieving big goals is the need for security(səˈkyo͝orədē). Security is a feeling of certainty(ˈsərtntē) that everything is OK and that all your basic(ˈbāsik) needs will be provided for. On the surface there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s great to feel secure. Abraham(ˈābrəˌham) Maslow lists it as one of the basic human needs. If we don’t feel secure, we can’t move onto higher levels like love and self-actualization(ˈakCHo͞oəˌlīz). If we have doubts(dout) about paying the rent at the end of the month, how can we possibly go after our really big dreams? You gotta(ˈgätə) feel secure first, right?

So how is it that most self-made millionaires(ˈmilyəˌne(ə)r,ˌmilyəˈne(ə)r) in America started broke or in debt(det)? How is it that some people are able to start a new business while completely(kəmˈplētlē) broke and with little or no income and with no guarantee(ˌgarənˈtē) of success? Do entrepreneurial(ˌäntrəprəˈnərēəl) risk takers simply have a lower need for security? If you read the biographies(bīˈägrəfē) of very successful people, you see a common pattern again and again — from an external(ikˈstərnl) point of view, most of these people were not in a secure situation(ˌsiCHəˈwāSH(ə)n) when they started going after their dreams. Sylvester Stallone(stəˈlōn) was so broke he had to sell his dog in order to afford to keep shopping around his Rocky(ˈräkē) script (which no one would buy). Tony(ˈtōnē) Robbins(ˈräbənz) did his dishes in his bathtub(ˈbaTHˌtəb) because his tiny apartment had no kitchen. Brian Tracy(ˈtrāsē) was a day laborer(ˈlāb(ə)rər). Og Mandino was a homeless(ˈhōmlis) drunk(drəNGk) who wandered(ˈwändər) into libraries(-brərē,ˈlīˌbrerē) to stay warm. Babe(bāb) Ruth(ro͞oTH) started out in an orphanage(ˈôrfənij). While some successful people start out with a lot of advantages(ədˈvan(t)ij), most don’t.

Meanwhile(ˈmēnˌ(h)wīl), how is it that others who seem to be in a far more financially(fəˈnan(t)SH(ə)lē, fīˈnan(t)SH(ə)lē) secure situation are paralyzed(ˈparəˌlīzd) from taking action? People who have some money in the bank, a nice home, and a steady(ˈstedē) paycheck(ˈpāˌCHek) still don’t feel secure. Meanwhile, others with far worse starting positions pass them by. Why?

The reason isn’t that some people need security more than others. I think everyone needs to feel secure. The difference, however, is that the entrepreneurial-minded define security internally while others define(dəˈfīn) security externally.

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https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/01/what-do-you-need-to-feel-secure/