Find Your WHY?

Do you have a feeling that there is something significant that you want to contribute in your life?  Are you stuck in the 9 to 5 rut thinking there must be something different?  Are you in a role that does not quite fit you, a little like an undersized shirt?  Are your values not quite working with the behaviours that you see around you? Do you believe that finding your why will help everything else align and flow?

Recently I have been having many conversations about “the why”, both mine and other people’s.  One I had last week with a colleague stimulated my interest in pondering through a blog.

Many of us make our way through life with little thought or planning on our own behalf.  Many people give the example of the average person doing more research on what kind of car they want to buy than what kind of life they want to lead or contribution they want to make.

You of course, get the rare person that from day dot knows that they want to be a teacher, nurse, vet or engineer.  Yet the story is much more commonly, “what do we want to do when we grow up”.

Much of this struggle comes because of our lack of recognition of how important our why is.  Without our why, we get pulled or pushed along in all sorts of directions that we may have not gone if we had been actively creating the lives that we wanted on purpose.  I know that in my life when I have been in a place that is not aligned with my why, it has been hard work and made life feel difficult and unrewarding.

So… what is your WHY? Your WHY is more important than your WHAT.   Your Why gives you a context or a framework or a motivation for everything else in your life.  Once you know your WHY and you actively align your choices to it, your entire life becomes easier and everything is more filled with purpose than ever before. You have the feeling of being in a state of flow where things are coming to you to support you in the creation of your why.

One of the most powerful examples I can point you to is of the business called “Thankyou”.  I’ve recently read Daniel Flynn’s (the cofounders) book called “Chapter One”.  It is the story of how they have created a business from nothing that has a massive impact in the globe through funding water and food projects with the profits the business makes.  In the chapter on his why it is clear that the business is a practical extension to his personal why.  This kind of embedded connection bodes well for this already successful social enterprise.

Personally, I have found that the more life decisions that I make that allow me to fully align with my WHY the easier, more rewarding and fun the whole thing becomes.  Sometimes these decisions of alignment are a big deal, sometimes they are fine tuning.  But the worst thing we can do is to ignore them and hope they go away.

If you have answered yes to any of the above questions about your WHY then the below exercise is for you.  Do the quiz below and get much closer to knowing your WHY.  Make some (easy or difficult) decisions and take action based on the answers and watch your life blossom.

Find a quiet place to reflect on these questions (adapted from Tara Moss).

My Why Is…

My idea of success is…

I am very passionate about…

My amazing strengths are…

My business or role is an extension of my passion through…

If I knew I couldn’t fail, I would…

If I could make a difference for anyone or anything, I would…

My perfect day (how I’d spend my time and what I’d be doing)…

Thanks for reading. I’d love to see your answers and hear your questions.  So if you’ve completed the quiz and want to have a conversation please contact me on 0432265335.