‘Why’; it’s one of the five W’s and it’s one of the first words children learn when they begin dialogue in early life. “Why is the sky blue?”, “why is the grass green?”, “why is your tummy jiggly?” (that’s always a fun one).
‘Why’ is one of those words that becomes a part of our spoken vocabulary from a young age and as we age it becomes one of the driving forces of our lives. It takes on a strength of its own going from just a word to becoming the source of our calling.
Knowing your why for any aspect of your life, be it a career path, building a family, embracing a new habit, approaching any new path will inform how you navigate the journey going forward. Your why will determine whether or not you end this next chapter in success, or whether you discover that this was just a minor blip on your journey of life.
Why does knowing your ‘Why’ matter?
“It’s worth repeating: people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it” – Simon Sinek. Start With Why.
In 2009 Simon Sinek wrote his book, Start With Why. He addressed inspired business leaders and shared how they all had one thing in common; the source of their success was the focus on their why. Using examples of various major companies, including Apple, Sinek addressed that the focus of these businesses was not what they were selling but why they were selling it.
They banked on selling a feeling, an emotional connection, a pillar of belief and that is why people then flocked to purchase from them.
Beyond business, in everyday life, our why has just as much value. It is what helps us maintain consistent in our goals, overcome setbacks, and remain true on our path. It speaks to our emotional values and the purpose behind what we hope to achieve.
Suddenly our why is actionable, as we connect it to a how and a what.
Steps to Find Your Why
Write – write your thoughts, your feelings, your behaviours and track your patterns. See what comes up again and again and recognise that this may be a driving purpose that is developing.
Explore your passions – thinking about your passions and the things that peak your interest to the point that you go out of your way to read, learn and explore them; these are things that can fuel your why and help you build actions to produce a successful what.
Ask your inner circle – Sinek insists that the best way to find a core value is to ask a friend (not a family member) why they are your friend. Gradually the conversation will move towards what you offer them, and that is essentially your driving core value; your why. Your compassion, your self determination, your kindness; these can all be why’s.
Seek out new perspectives – when you broaden your horizons and explore new view points and experiences you can have an awakening of sorts; a possible recalibrating of your why. This is your opportunity to find renewed purpose, further helping you in making actionable choices.
Self experiment – explore patterns, shifts in behaviours, and reassess your values from time to time. These activities will give you the chance to recognise that you are on track with your why and are being driven towards things that you are truly passionate about.
Conclusion
Your ‘why’ is one of the most meaningful things that you will discover within your life. It is what will define the values you embrace in this lifetime and the way that you intend to navigate your time on this earth.
Develop your why early and use it to fuel your choices; for a life without purpose is a life wasted.
Have you ever thought about your why? What does it look like?
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