The Power Of Necessity

One of the lesser talked about but biggest influences in our daily decision making is ‘necessity’. Necessity basically refers to how important it is that something gets done. And when something truly needs to get done, people figure it out somehow, some way.

The power of necessity is clear in an example Darren Hardy shares in ‘The Compound Effect’, but he calls it ‘Why Power’. He basically sets the scene of a plank connecting to skyscraper buildings. Would you cross the plank for $20? No way. But what if your loved ones were on the other side, they need help, and the building was on fire. Would you cross then? I bet you would, or at least you’d be way more likely to!

That’s exactly what necessity does - it influences you to do things you wouldn’t if you didn’t have the need to. It changes the way you evaluate risk, find motivation, and navigate the world in order to meet the demands of the moment.

Last week I was getting on an airplane and had a middle seat. As I found my row, the woman on the aisle was fast asleep and blocking my way. Under normal circumstances, waking up a stranger by tapping them on the shoulder is something I’m very unlikely to do. But in this moment, with a line of people behind me waiting to find their seats and no alternative option, I didn’t hesitate for a second and woke the woman up right away.

Necessity works unconsciously. It’s not like I thought through all of my options in real-time on the plane… My brain made an instantaneous evaluation, weighing the necessity of the moment, and drew a conclusion. Necessity influences you at all times without even realizing it.

And necessity takes two different forms:

The first is as something that you want, like a goal you’re passionate about or approval from a loved one. When you want something so desperately, you become willing to do things that other people won’t.

The second form is as avoiding something you don’t want. A father works long hours at a job he doesn’t like to keep his family from facing hardship, or a mom who finds super-strength to lift a car to save her trapped child from getting crushed. 

To really simplify it, humans are motivated to change course in order to satisfy unmet needs. And the greater the unmet need, the more motivated you become to do something about it.