Your WHY is what motivates you to get up each morning. Without it, it can be difficult to find meaning in your day and satisfaction with your life.
“Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do what they do. By WHY I mean your purpose, cause or belief – WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?” – Simon Sinek
Your WHY is what motivates you to get up each morning. Without it, it can be difficult to find meaning in your day and satisfaction with your life. Simon Sinek was the first person to really highlight this for me. If you haven’t listened to his Ted Talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action, you should do so immediately after reading this post. Purpose allows you to achieve success. Why did you start your company? If you didn’t create it, why did you choose the company you work for? We develop strategy from purpose. We develop motivation and passion because of our belief in our purpose. Without a why, a purpose, how will you ever feel like you have achieved success? Discover what drives you. Then set goals. The first thing to do is contemplate what drives you, whether it is to seek out adventure and experience, contribute to a colleague’s progress, set an example for your friends or serve as a leader in your community (or the world). Follow this drive and the money and recognition will follow. Successful leaders all live purpose-driven lives. They set goals, targets and objectives that serve as stepping-stones toward their path of success. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but it needs to be repeated – as a leader, money should never be your end goal; as an organization, your bottom line should never be your defining performance indicator. Knowing what drives you and mixing it into your life, your career and your business is what will lead you to undeniable success. To begin doing this, you must commit only to tasks that will bring you closer to your big picture. Think big picture and you can lead a life of purpose. The first step toward doing so, and leading a life of purpose, is pinpointing exactly what that big picture looks like for you. A good technique for this is vision boards. Create a collage of pictures of things you want and need to lead a fulfilling life. Keep your vision board in a place where you will look at it often. It will serve as a constant reminder of where you are and where you want to be. Believe in yourself as you drive toward this big picture. Feeling purposeful each day will help your business grow. By implementing this big picture in your organization, you will always have your purpose in front of you, which allows you to create short and long-term plans that will grow your business. Simon Sinek explains, “People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.” Whether your big picture includes being a decent sales person or not, you will find selling a whole lot easier if you’re simply explaining your passion. Customers will see it and, even more, customers will feel it. Once they feel it, they will want to be apart of it. You’re accountable for your success and your happiness. Your life is a unique experience that only you can understand, and only you can be held accountable for living it. Happiness is achieved through living a purposeful life. So set goals, reach those goals and let each milestone feel like a small achievement toward your greater purpose. Understand what it takes to get to the next level and commit to it. In a business, every employee should have a thorough understanding of the organization’s big picture. If you need help making your big picture known, or have yet to develop one, All Systems Grow is here to help. Call us today and find out how we can make your big picture an even bigger reality.
