What is your WHY?

Clarify your purpose.

What is the WHY behind everything you do?

When we know this in life, it is very empowering and the path is clear.

– Jack Canfield

Meet Clive,* our High-Performer

Clive* is a high-performer. He runs the marketing division of a large organisation and is always on the lookout for the next big project that will move up the dial on reaching customers in innovative ways. In our conversations, there’s always plenty of exciting stuff going on and, as can be expected, there are also challenges, issues and problems arise that need to be managed.

Overall, Clive is satisfied with his life. However, there are times when he feels like he’s just going through the motions. He knows he’s good at his job (even great at it), he’s adding value and getting recognition from his CEO but somewhere deep down he feels that something is missing. He’s looking for the next big challenge, project, exciting thing to really sink his teeth into.

At our most recent session, he admitted that he’s a little bored. He quickly added that there is plenty to keep him going and there’s never a dull moment and that he’s grateful and yet… he knows what he’s doing so well that he would love to identify that thing that would ignite his passion once again, like in the days when he began working in this role.

Why start with Why?

That’s when we decided to find his WHY…

• What is the WHY behind what he does every day?

• What is the WHY that motivates him to get up every morning and go to work, build relationships, seek thrills and live his life?

• What drives him to seek more, go further, turn up his own dial?

When he articulated his WHY clearly, he began using it. He built on it by creating a plan for the level of impact he wants and taking action on it. His life took on a new level of meaning and drive and he became excited once again.

Articulating his WHY gave Clive the clarity he needed to define his next thing, stemming from who he wants to be and not just what he wants to do.

How about you?

Are there times when you feel like you’re going through the motions?
Times when you know you’re good (great!) at what you do and even love your life but you can feel a bit restless?

WHAT next or WHY next?

Sometimes we fall into a routine of doing the things we know we can do really well.
When we allow ourselves to admit it, we know that we feel a bit bored and wonder if there’s anything more exciting in store for us.
We wonder if there’s another “thing” for us to do that we could get passionate about but at the same time we recognise how good our life is and that we have a lot to be grateful for.
The cost of creating change may be too big when things are going so well. The energy required to muster up, may also just be too great… because ultimately it feels like more of the same.

This is how we feel when we only look at the WHAT, what’s next and not at the WHY, why next?

Inner Work: Discover your WHY

The first step is to do some inner work. Often it’s not about finding the next thing to do out there (in the world) but to get clearer in here (in ourselves).

There are 2 ways to do this inner work

1. DISCOVER YOUR WHY

Discover and articulate your purpose so that you can begin your inner work, gain clarity on the why behind what you do and create a foundation for your “next thing”

2. STRATEGY BOOST & IMPACT PLAN

If you have a clear sense of your purpose and you want to know how to put it into action, this is what we do. You get to create a plan that puts you on the path to your next level.

Are you in? If you want to find your WHY and then keep your focus on it, get in touch with us for one-on-one leadership coaching & mentoring.

*not his real name, of course. I would never divulge details about specific clients.