Taylor Swift’s Real Superpower

It isn't storytelling, songwriting, or even music business. It's the ability to answer for others the question she has quietly wondered for herself.

Welcome back to the Primal Question Newsletter.

My name is Mike Foster. If you’re new around here, I’m an Executive Coach who works with all sorts of world changers, from Navy SEALs to reality stars to nonprofit founders to executives of billion-dollar companies.

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Every time I talk about Taylor Swift, the wolves come out.

I recently posted something as innocent as, “I’m so happy for these two lovebirds,” about her engagement to Travis Kelce. And I got hammered. Instagram messages saying she’s demonic, she worships Satan, she’s evil. One person even said, “I think I need to unfollow you,” and I told them… “I think that’s probably for the best.”

Love her. Hate her. I don’t care.

That’s not the point.

The point of today’s newsletter is to gain a deeper understanding of the Primal Question through the lens of one of culture’s most iconic pop icons.

So today, we’re talking about…

Taylor Swift’s Primal Question.

If you're not familiar with my work, watch this video to understand how the Primal Question works.

In short, we each have 7 core needs. Growing up, we subconsciously wonder if those needs will be met. At some point in early childhood, one of those questions is answered with a “NO” or a “MAYBE,” and that leaves an imprint on our minds. It becomes sort of a filter through which we see the world. Until you’re aware of it, it drives every aspect of your life.

With that said…

I believe Taylor Swift’s Primal Question is Question #6: Am I good enough?

The first reason is simple: she was a child performer. I almost joke that if you were a child entertainer or actor, you're automatically imprinted with Primal Question 6. When a child grows up under the spotlight, love and approval often come through applause. Every song, every scene, every audition becomes a test of worth. Instead of believing “I am good enough because of who I am,” the child begins to believe “I’m only good enough if I deliver.”

That subtle shift becomes the lens through which they experience life.

But that’s not specific to Taylor, so let’s dive a little bit deeper into her childhood imprint.

In her Netflix documentary Miss Americana, Taylor opens with a disarming confession: “My entire moral code as a kid and now is a need to be thought of as ‘good.’ It was all I wrote about, it was all I wanted, it was a complete and total belief system that I subscribed to as a kid.”

She continued, “And obviously, I’m not a perfect person by any stretch, but overall, the main thing that I always tried to do was just be a good girl. I became the person who everyone wanted me to be.”

In that vulnerable admission lies the key to understanding Taylor’s inner drive, the hidden script that has fueled her journey from a wide-eyed girl in Pennsylvania to the most powerful pop artist on the planet.

Deep Down, Taylor is Still That Little Girl Trying to Prove She’s Good Enough

No matter how high you climb, no matter how many Grammys you win or stadiums you sell out, there will always be critics in the nosebleeds (or even backstage) waiting to chip away at your worth.

When that happens to someone with Primal Question 6, they don’t just retreat quietly. They don’t bow out and disappear. They rise up. They fight. They prove their worth and prove you wrong. A Q6 will take a challenge head-on, and if you come for their value, get ready because they know how to take you out at the knees.

This is where I think Taylor’s story makes her Primal Question unmistakable.

When someone’s Primal Question is answered with a “NO,” it triggers what I call the Scramble —it’s all the unhealthy coping mechanisms, addictions, strategies, etc., we use to force the answer back to a yes.

For Q6s, that usually looks like perfectionism, overwork, and excessive striving.

They are the epitome of high performers, and Taylor’s life has given us a front-row seat to this. When Scooter Braun bought her masters, she didn’t just complain. She did something no one had ever done before: she re-recorded her albums from scratch.

That’s a Q6 at work, “You try to take away my value, and I’ll turn the tables to create so much new value that it will bury you.”

She’s done it over and over…

• “You don’t nominate me? I’ll just make an even better record.”

• “You think I’m finished? I’ll just reinvent myself and win in every genre.”

• “You think you can cancel me? I’ll sell out a stadium tour that rakes in billions and boosts local economies.”

Time and time again, Taylor has proved her critics wrong and proved her worth by creating more value than almost any other artist on the planet.

Which brings me to her Primal Gift.

Q6 Primal Gift: The Value Creator

Here’s the beautiful twist in the Primal Question story:

Our deepest wound often reveals our superpower. The very insecurity that plagued Taylor also sharpened extraordinary gifts. In the Primal Question framework, each question comes with a Primal Gift – a relational superpower developed in response to our pain. For a Q6, the gift is being a value-making machine, someone who relentlessly creates value and sees potential all around.

Because they’ve worried so much about their own worth, they become experts at uncovering worth and creating value in the world.

This absolutely shines through in Taylor Swift.

Even as a young artist, she went toe-to-toe with the biggest tech company on the planet. Over what? The value artists are paid for their music. When she perceived injustice in how the music industry treated artists, she boldly stepped up. She wrote an open letter advocating for little-known musicians to be paid fairly during Apple’s trial streaming period, famously declaring, “We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”

And, “The music giant blinked first,” backing down within 24 hours.

Taylor’s need to prove she was good enough expanded into a remarkable ability to make others feel good enough.

She writes songs that say “I see you. Your feelings matter” to millions of fans. From the awkward teen pining to belong in “You Belong With Me,” to the person grieving unspoken pain in “Bigger Than the Whole Sky,” Taylor instinctively creates anthems that assure listeners they’re not alone in their stories.

Taylor’s true gift is her ability to make people feel valued.

It shows up in the way she pays her team generously, handing out massive bonuses and earning a reputation in Nashville as one of the best bosses in the business. It shows up in the quiet moments, when she slips into a hospital room, guitar in hand, and spends hours playing for someone who needs to feel seen. It shows up in the experience she crafts for her fans, hiding Easter eggs for them to discover.

Beyond the records, the tours, and the headlines, this is Taylor at her best: making others feel cared for and deeply valued.

That’s the redemptive irony of a Primal Gift.

The thing that once was your wound becomes your greatest weapon.

From “Am I Good Enough?” to “I Am Good Enough.”

If I were sitting with Taylor as her coach or friend, I’d want to gently remind her of the Primal Truth waiting on the other side of that question: “I AM good enough.”

Not because of album sales or accolades or being a “good girl,” but simply because she’s a human being with inherent worth. Full stop. That’s the truth that eluded her (and so many of us) for so long. It’s the simple truth that can finally quiet the hustle and turn down the volume on the Scramble.

We catch glimpses that she’s inching toward it.

In recent years, she’s seemed more willing to take risks that might upset some people, to own her voice unapologetically, and even to laugh at herself. Those are signs of someone beginning to accept their whole, imperfect self rather than perform for love. Still, the story is ongoing.

The Primal Question doesn’t vanish overnight.

It requires daily tending.

Taylor will likely always be ambitious and driven – that’s part of her brilliance – but hopefully, as she lives in the truth, it comes more from inspiration than desperation. When a Q6 heals, their productivity doesn’t vanish. It just blossoms in healthier soil. They create and achieve not to prove their worth but to express their worth and share it.

That is the freedom I want for anyone reading this who secretly resonates with “Am I good enough?”

So to Taylor, and to every Achiever, Perfectionist, People-Pleaser out there hustling for their worth, I echo this Primal Truth: You are good enough ALREADY.

You have nothing to prove. The little child in you that was starved for affirmation can finally be at ease. You’re allowed to put down the guitar, the pen, the project, the persona, and just rest in the knowledge that you’re valued and loved for being, not for doing. If that feels hard to accept, picture a little baby. We all inherently know that babies are precious and valuable and worthy, even though they can’t earn it.

For some reason, we stop giving ourselves and others that grace along the way, but I’m inviting you to extend it to yourself again today.

Paradoxically, from that place of wholeness, your gifts will only shine brighter.

There’s so much more to unpack in Taylor’s story, but I’ll leave it there and turn to you.

What’s your story?

What question have you been pining to answer all along?

What’s your unique superpower that the world is waiting for you to fully step into?

It’s all on the other side of your Primal Question.

If you don’t know which one is yours, click here to take the free assessment and send it to a friend so they can discover theirs, too.

To your growth,

Mike Foster.

P.S. Was this insightful? Did you learn anything? If so, please like, comment, or share this with a friend. Your engagement helps others discover their Primal Question :)