The Three Universal Human Desires That Connect Us All

The media wants us to believe we are fundamentally different from each other. After traveling across cultures, religions, and economic levels, I have found the opposite is true, and it changes everything.

📸 Slowing down and reflecting (somewhere in Germany)

I have been incredibly lucky and privileged to travel the world. I have visited countries with vastly different backgrounds, religions, cultures, levels of wealth, different skin colors, different ethnicities... the full spectrum of human diversity. 🌍

Something that strikes me every time is how similar we all are, no matter where we come from or what country we live in.

The media tends to create this sense of "us versus them." They always focus on our differences and try to make us hate each other because we have different sets of beliefs, customs, and traditions.

But what strikes me the most, besides the fact that we are all fundamentally the same, is that we share three primal desires. All of us. Every human being, whatever our age, status, culture, or religion. I think we all have these three things in common.

Here is what I want to talk about today. These are not in any particular order. I do not think one is more important than the others.

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1. We All Want to Be Wealthy 💰

It is not about a specific number. It is not about having a million dollars or being a billionaire.

But all of us, wherever we are from, want a certain amount of money and a certain level of wealth that will let us, and the people we love, live a comfortable life. Food on the table, a roof over our heads, a bed, and all the basic necessities we need.

We all want that, wherever we are.

On top of that, there is another level that is more about bonuses, luxury items and things of that nature. But if we go back to what really matters, we all want a minimum level of wealth just to create a sense of freedom and not be restricted in how we can live our lives. Just so we can live a decent life.

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2. We All Want to Be Happy 😊

The word "happy" means so many different things, so I am not attached to a specific definition. But I think we all want to be happy, joyful, at peace, content... all those positive feelings.

No one wants to be miserable.

We want to feel positive emotions and feel good about ourselves and within ourselves. This inner peace, this internal balance where we are peaceful with how we live our lives, who we are, and what we are doing.

It shows up very differently for all of us.

In the western world, these days that looks like chasing material possessions, wealth (we tend to believe money will make us happy), connections, status, and other external markers.

In other parts of the world, happiness or inner peace can be explored through more spiritual practices, or simply by having food every day and a roof over your head.

But wherever we are and whatever that looks like, I think all of us on the planet want that. We are all trying to "get it" in our own ways, but ultimately, I think that is a very basic need that all of us are looking for in the world.

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3. We All Want to Be Healthy 💪

This is not about being ripped or anything like that. Here I am talking about having a decent level of health and fitnessso we can enjoy our lives and be able to do things without being or feeling restricted.

We all want physical well-being. We do not want to feel sick or have pain. We do not want diseases impacting our quality of life.

We want to feel good in our bodies so we are not feeling bad, miserable, or in pain all the time.

This specific desire connects with the previous one, happiness and inner peace, because I think not being physically healthy eventually impacts our quality of life, and thus our mental health… which often influences our happiness and sense of peace. That makes it even more important.

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Why Does It Matter?

I think it is extremely important because at this moment in life, in 2025, the world, society and human beings seem to be very disconnected and disjointed.

Politics and traditional media consistently create tension between "us and them," and I think we can all feel it.

But understanding that the 8.2B of us, despite our differences, all want the same basic things is such a powerful reminder to be kinder and more respectful towards one another.

We might pursue those desires differently, in ways that we might not fully agree with or understand… but knowing that we are pursuing the same goals should unite us.

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Now, Here's What Makes This Interesting

This is where it gets fun.

Some people reading this will not agree with me, but what I think is really interesting is that all three of these desires can be learned and achieved if we make the choice to pursue them.

I know it sounds controversial, but I strongly believe that to a certain extent:

• We can learn how to make money: education is widely available, for free online or in libraries.

• We can learn how to be happy: this one might be the most surprising to people, but I think happiness and inner-peace are a mindset and habits that can be developed through practices such as meditation.

• We can learn how to be healthy: again, thanks to free resources online, we all have the ability to make decisions about how and what we eat, and how we move our bodies in ways that are good for us.

Once we have this knowledge, it is up to us to apply a set of principles and actually take action to reach the level of wealth, happiness, and health that we want.

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The Problem? We Are Not Willing to Do the Work

Here is the thing I have noticed: we are very good at saying we want things, but we are not willing to do the work for them. And we blame other people.

I think this applies to all three areas. We can all learn how to make money, we can all learn how to be happy and at peace, and we can all learn how to be healthy. Most of the time, we actually know what we should do.

We know that spending more than we make (often on things that we do not need) is not helpful. We know that focusing on negativity or putting ourselves in situations we hate does not help our mental health. We know smoking, drinking alcohol, or eating processed food is bad for us.

Yet millions still do these things every day.

Again, we know what we should do. But sometimes it would mean changing, getting uncomfortable... and many do not want that. It is much easier to blame others.

I believe in personal responsibility. We know what we should do. Whether we actually do it or do not do it? That is on us. That is personal responsibility. And it is ultimately a choice.

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Making Better Choices

I think if we were a little more intentional about the choices we make every day, and why we are making them, we could all reach those three basic primal wants and desires to a certain extent.

And I think we should prioritize that.

Instead of chasing a bunch of other wants or needs that are just about signaling value, status, and external things that ultimately do not satisfy us. Because we can see it is not working right now in the world. All these things are bringing more misery to people than contentment.

So I think we should reframe what our priorities are and remember every day that ultimately, if we make choices to be wealthy, to be happy, and to be healthy, we will all live better lives and the world would be a better place.

So here is my challenge: pick one of these three areas where you are making excuses. Spend the next week learning something new about it instead of complaining. See what happens. 🌟