Exploring the Fundamental Needs of the Human Mind | Tony DeRamus | TEDxLSCTomball

Translator: Tanya Cushman Reviewer: Peter van de Ven

So, the last talk of the day.

Are you guys ready for this?

So, I’m always amused that, you know, sometimes in life

we may be going through something at that time

that doesn’t really seem too significant.

But in hindsight,

that something may be leading us into a completely new direction

or a new level of understanding,

and that happened to me

when I began to study the Indian medicine wheel,

or some people call it “the sacred hoop.”

You see, as a child, I was always fascinated with Native American history

and, in particular, any mythology.

So it doesn’t surprise me that as an adult

I gravitated towards studying the Indian medicine wheel.

Now, that sounds really good for a talk,

but the real reason why I studied this as an adult

wasn’t because I was curious like I was as a child;

it’s because I wanted a tattoo,

and I thought the medicine wheel would make a cool-looking tattoo.

So, just like any tattoo that you have,

someone inevitably is going to ask you “What does that mean?”

So I knew I needed to study it, so I did.

And as I began to study this,

I was so fascinated with all the different meanings behind the medicine wheel;

I was fascinated with all the unsolved mysteries of this medicine wheel,

but there was one thing that really stood out to me

that kind of changed the way I look at life now.

Now, the medicine wheel itself has been around for about 5,000 years.

It’s pretty old.

And there are hundreds, if not thousands, of these

spread throughout North America.

Now, the meanings change from tribe to tribe,

but there is some consistency in the meanings,

such as the circle represents the circle of life

or the cyclical nature of life.

The two cross-hairs in the middle

represent that everything in life is connected.

Everything in life is connected.

Now the two cross-hairs also make up what’s called “the four corners.”

Now this is where it’s been debated: What do these mean?

Well, most commonly you’re going to find

that the four corners mean the four directions

of North, East, South and West.

It also means various colors which could represent various tribes,

it could also represent the various colors of the people of this world.

It also represents various animals.

But where I got fascinated with this, and what we’re going to discuss today,

is the four aspects of life:

the physical, the mental, the spiritual and the emotional.

Now, in studying this,

there’s something that really stood out to me in the physical component.

And that was there were very basic needs that need to be met

in order for us to be physically healthy.

Now these were universal, these were across the board:

Everyone had to adhere to this, like we adhere to the laws of gravity.

Now, if everything is connected,

does that mean or does it stand to reason

that there are basic needs or basic requirements in the other categories,

that are universal for everyone?

And it turns out that there are.

But let’s go in and cover this for one second.

The emotional component does not have any basic needs or requirements.

You’re going to see people that will place mental and emotional together

as if they’re the same thing, and they’re not – they’re different.

Your emotions are just a barometer or a thermostat or a feedback mechanism

to allow you to know

whether you’re meeting the needs in the other categories.

Those are what your emotions are for.

Now, getting back to the physical.

If I asked you guys to give me the basic needs in the physical category,

every one in here would get them right.

Some of you may say “shelter,” which I completely disagree with

because shelter is not a basic need – it’s a basic want.

Now, I may be stuck outside for the night and be very uncomfortable,

but in the morning when I come in the door,

I’m still going to be pretty physically healthy,

assuming the neighborhood cats and dogs didn’t attack me.

So, if we break this down, we’ll find that most people are going to tell you

food, water, sunshine and rest.

True?

I thought about placing movement on this

because for the first time in history we’ve had to ask people to move,

but that is a basic need.

But let’s look at the other components here, the other categories,

not so easy.

Let’s take spiritual, for example.

We all know that there are many different definitions and meanings of spirituality.

I know because I looked for about a year and a half

for a universal definition of spirituality.

But if you comb through most of these spiritual texts and the religious texts,

you’re going to find one common theme,

and it’s going to have two basic requirements.

And that is love and service.

Now, this is not love and service

in the sense of serving and loving ourselves –

which sounds a little dirty –

but it’s about serving and loving other people.

It’s about the connections you have with the people around you;

it’s about your community,

which is why being social,

not socialist but being social,

is so important to your spiritual health.

I wish we had more time to spend on this,

but we have to get to the last category, which is the title of the talk.

But this is very important.

Why is it important?

Because 350 million people worldwide of all ages are depressed.

And you have 20% of this population,

20% of the adult population in this country,

or 40 million people, have anxiety.

Time magazine came out with an article just yesterday that said that kids,

teenagers in this country,

20 to 30% of those kids have anxiety.

It’s a big problem, isn’t it?

I will tell you this was the most difficult category of all

to try to find the basic needs.

It took me almost two years to do this,

and I found three.

Would you like to know what those are?

Yes.

The first one that we deal with –

the first basic need that is universal for each person is purpose.

People that do not have purpose in their life

are 2.4 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s Disease.

But on the contrary,

people that do have purpose in their life live longer,

they die less of heart attacks,

and they have less chance of developing a stroke.

But purpose, now, is so important

because it allows you to feel like what you are doing really matters,

it gives you significance in life.

Victor Frankl, who wrote “Man’s Search for Meaning,”

said the greatest task for any person

is to try to find meaning in his or her own life,

and that is so true.

Maybe you’re not the astronaut you thought you’d be,

or maybe you’re not the doctor you thought you’d be,

or maybe it’s this or maybe it’s that, but you are something;

you are someone to somebody;

you have purpose.

If you don’t know what the purpose is, then you need to find it.

And if after looking for this, you can’t find it,

then you have to create it,

which leads us into our next topic, which is creativity.

Just like food is nutrition for your body,

creativity is nutrition for your brain.

You were designed by nature to create;

you were designed by nature to be a creator.

And if you’ll allow me to try to prove this –

I’m going to get a little hippie for a minute but just bear with me.

When we think about creation, what comes to mind?

The universe.

This is creation at its finest.

If something is always changing,

and something is always expanding,

and something is always growing,

that’s creativity.

And I’m going to suggest you are actually part of that process.

If you’ve ever heard of a supernova –

A supernova is a very large, large star that gets so compressed,

and then it just explodes its guts into the universe.

And inside these guts are the elements that then began to form the planets.

So that the planet that we sit on

has all the elements from an exploding star

billions and billions of years ago.

Now, if you take the human body and look at all the elements in it,

we can find those in the dirt of the earth.

So, you’re not just sitting on this earth, hanging out;

you’re physically a part of this earth, which makes you part of the universe.

So you were designed to be able to create.

But if that is way too right-brain for you guys,

let’s talk about the left brain, look at the neurology of creativity.

People think that this is a right hemisphere event.

And it’s not; it is a multifaceted, multiregional event

that every single part of your brain is getting involved in the mix with this.

From the frontal lobe, back to the occipital lobe, to the cerebellum –

everything is working and firing.

And I guarantee you can’t do this

while you’re watching TV or flipping through Facebook.

It’s impossible.

So, creativity is extremely, extremely important.

And we’re not asking you to become an acclaimed artist like Picasso,

but creativity is about expressing what’s on the inside of you –

that’s very important.

If anyone ever asked me, “What do I need to be to be creative?”

that’s not my job,

that’s part of being creative.

You have to figure it out.

So now here we are at the last one.

And this one was saved last on purpose because it is extremely important.

This one of all other basic needs or requirements

will destroy not only a mental component,

but it’s going to destroy the physical and the spiritual as well.

If you’re not meeting this basic need,

you’re in trouble.

And that basic need is self-esteem.

When you look into the mirror, what do you see?

And when you talk to yourself – which we all talk to ourselves –

what do you say?

Are they self-deprecating thoughts?

Right?

What is your self-worth? Or what is your self risk?

I will tell you that self-esteem is damaging.

Do you know what all drug addicts share in common?

Low self-esteem.

And just because you’re not a drug addict doesn’t mean you’re scot-free here,

because 85% of all people have some level of low self-esteem.

It’s a really big deal.

Nathaniel Branden, who is considered the father of the self-esteem movement,

he said, “Self-esteem, whether it’s high or whether it’s low,

tends to be the generator of self-fulfilling prophecy.”

I want to get as real as we can get here

because I know that some people in the audience are going through this now.

If someone or something –

and keep in mind that that someone can be you as well –

if someone of something is robbing you of your self-esteem,

you have to get out of there,

you have to have an exit strategy.

If you can’t change that, you have to leave.

If your goal in life is to be happy,

or if it’s to be fulfilled or at peace,

you will never, ever get there if you have low self-esteem.

Kind of took the wind out of everyone’s sails just now, didn’t I?

But it’s important.

So let me leave you with this for just a second.

Everyone in here, whether you know it or not,

are leaders.

Know it or not, you are a leader somewhere in your life –

I truly believe that.

You’re leaders at home; you’re leaders at school;

at your church and community;

you’re leaders at work.

You just have to start behaving like a leader.

And I’ve got a very dear friend of mine who said –

that gave me a comment once about leadership,

and she knows leadership

because she was a general in the U.S. Army.

Her name is Rebecca Halstead.

And she said that if you want to be a good leader,

the first person you must lead is you.

If you want to be a good leader, the first person you must lead is you.

So now, if your barometer is telling you that things just aren’t quite right,

that something is not quite there,

then you need to ask yourself a very honest question.

Be honest with yourself. Say, “Am I meeting my basic needs

in order that I can be the person that I know I should be?”

Now, all of this came about

because some grown man decided to get a tattoo.

Thank you.

(Applause)