Why Your ‘Why’ is Key to Your Success

No doubt you know what you do; but why do you do it? Why do you work so hard? Why do you get up every morning and go to work? What is your ‘why’?

The journey to success is often a rocky and winding path. There are many road blocks to overcome and pitfalls to recover from. With so many difficulties, giving up often seems like the easiest option. But with a strong motivation – a deep understanding of your ‘why’ – you are going to be able to bounce back from set-backs and continue pursuing success.

Your ‘why’ is the purpose, cause, and/or belief that inspires you to do what you do. It exists within your mind, even if you haven’t identified it yet. Knowing your ‘why’ and having a deep understanding of it can be incredibly helpful and motivating during trials and in times of uncertainty.

The ‘why’ that you establish will most likely change many times throughout your life as your family situation, age, and aspirations change; but the questions that you will need to ask yourself will be the same.

What does success mean to you?

If you were to look up ‘success’ in the dictionary the definition will likely be along the lines of

“the accomplishment of an aim or purpose” or “the attainment of fame, wealth, or social status”.

But in reality, there are millions of different definitions of ‘success’, because every person has different values, strengths, and desires they will define ‘success’ in their own unique way.

Your definition of ‘success’ is yours alone: it does not have to fit certain criteria and can never be incorrect. Whether success to you is being able to keep the lights on and put food on the table, or to own a BMW, or even if it has nothing to do with material wealth; it is important that you know it.

When you know what you define as success, ask yourself ‘why’ you define it this way. This will help clarify your definition and motivate you to achieve it.

What are you passionate about?

It is easy to confuse skills for passions, but they are very different. Just because you have skills in a certain area that does not mean that you will be passionate about it.

Are you passionate about your job? If not, what are you passionate about?
What do you love doing in your spare time?
What excites you?
What would/do you do for free, because you enjoy it so much?

If something doesn’t immediately pop into your mind, dig deeper and look at the less obvious areas of your life. Whatever fires you up, grab it by the horns and see where it takes you!

What does the best version of you look like?

Often, subconsciously, we are working towards someone else’s definition of success. So, we are essentially working towards being the best version of someone else. In my recent interview with Shar Moore (Creator of the YMag), she said

“If I am being you and you are being me, then who is being you and who is being me?”

She explained that often we are so caught up with trying to copy or mirror someone else’s success that we are robbing ourselves and the world of our own unique genius.

We need to stay focused on being the best version of ourselves and we need to know who that person truly is. We generally know when we are not at our best; in fact we often recognise this on a daily basis. If we can see this, it must mean that we implicitly know what our best looks like.

Take a moment to imagine your best self. What do you look like? What are you doing? What are you feeling? What are you achieving? How are you achieving it?

It’s time to make this person a reality!

Your ‘why’

Now that you have a better understanding of your ‘why’, it’s time to let it guide your choices in career and business, and also what you choose to do or not to do with your life.

When you know your ‘why’, I would highly recommend taking the time to explain it to someone else. I recently talked about my ‘why’ in a video interview at The Point TV. In preparation for this short interview I really had to delve into my ‘why’, so much so that I could explain it to someone else. This was an incredibly helpful process in clarifying my own understanding of my ‘why’.

If you are ready to getter clearer on your ‘why’ and align your life and work actions with it, book a complimentary Holistic Coaching call with me today.

Nicole xo