By: Elaine Fraser
You know how every once in a while you do something and the little voice inside says, ‘There. That’s it. That’s why you’re here.’ … and you get a warm glow in your heart because you know it’s true?
Do more of that.
Jacob Nordby
Why am I here is a more impacting question than what I do and how I do it. If we skip the why, we miss an essential part of the equation of life. That’s often why we find people totally uninspired in jobs they hate or in relationships they feel trapped in.
Last week, I was at a conference where we were encouraged to live a life of why. Why do you do what you do? What is your purpose? What are your values?
In Simon Sinek’s book, Find Your Why, he suggests constructing why statements using this basic structure: To: _______(Contribution) So that: _____________(Impact)
Our why is about what we give to our family, our friends, our work, our community, our world. The impact is about the effect our contribution has on others.
I’ve been working on articulating my whys. I find it much easier to explain what I do and how I do it. Working out my whys is a deeper process. I thought I knew them, but I’m taking some time today to reflect on my whys.
Finding each of your whys refreshes or renews your passion and connects you to your ultimate why.
In working out my why, I’m taking time to reflect on standout memories, defining moments, and the connections between them.
I’m taking time to write about significant moments of the past and retrieve them one by one and turn them into signposts for the me I want to be.
I’m asking myself some questions:
Think back to ten year old you and now. Then think of the person you will be in ten years.
What would that person want? How will your why impact your what and how?
Take some time this Monday to consider what it is that drives your why.
Article supplied with thanks to Elaine Fraser.
About the Author: Elaine Fraser is from Perth WA and is a teacher, mentor and author.