FIND YOUR WHY…..YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!
Those who fail to achieve their goals in life have one thing in common, they don’t address their WHY? If there have been times when results were poor or you’ve felt uninspired or unhappy it’s probably because you forgot your why or you never knew it in the first place. As German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche once said “He who has a why can address any how.” Your WHY is the thing that motivates you to give your all so you can have the future you’ve dreamed of.
There are 5 fundamental questions we need to ask ourselves to understand what we want out of life:
- What am I passionate about / what makes me feel alive?
- If money was not a factor, what would I do?
- What am I naturally talented at?
- What are my core skills and strengths?
- Where is my greatest sense of purpose/value?
Instead of living a mediocre existence, knowing your why is the vital first step in figuring out how to achieve the goals that excite you and fire you up with energy and drive. If your why is strong enough, you will find the motivation to overcome obstacles, take risks and maintain courage to steer your life in a new direction. While there’s no one pathway for discovering your life’s purpose, the 5 questions above will lead you to what you love, what you care about, what you’re good at and where you can contribute the most. This is about you connecting to a cause that’s bigger than you are, but is congruent to who you are and what you care about.
This does not always mean money as the why, in fact there are many money rich people who are terribly dissatisfied with life. Taking money out of the equation is the difference between a job and a career, a career being something you love and look forward to giving your all to, so you can be your best. Having this attitude generally leads to monetary gain, not as the main goal, but as a by-product of achieving great things.
Skill and passion are often confused for one another, but they aren’t interchangeable. You can be really good at what you do but have no passion for it, even hate it. You will find most personal and professional fulfilment at the place where natural talent and skill meets your personal passion. This is where you will find your motivation and be able to maintain it for the long haul.
Life is a journey and so you must go back to your 5 questions on a regular basis to make sure you’re still aligned to your why. Reassessing from time to time means you know where you’re going and have every reason to get there, the how therefore won’t ever be a problem.
