Your why is another way of thinking about your life purpose or underlying reason for doing what you do, how you make your contribution to the world.  It’s all about how you make your mark and create your legacy.

Uncovering or rediscovering your why allows you to gain a sense of energy and clarity about the underlying themes in your work. Knowing your why can help you keep your work truly meaningful and inspiring and help to keep you going if you hit an obstacle or face some challenges. It’s also particularly helpful if you want to bring several themes together or create a portfolio career and is a very powerful aspect of your personal career brand or your USP (Unique Selling Point) if you decide to work for yourself.

If you have people working for you, understanding their why will help you to motivate and engage them really effectively.

Simon Sinek: The Golden Circle

Simon Sinek is an expert in the field of “Why” and his talk explaining how great leaders inpire action and the power of why is fascinating and insightful. You can watch a 6 minute excerpt of it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Tw0PGcyN0

or the longer version which is 18 minutes long here if you have time or want to know more:

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

Questions to help uncover your personal WHY

The following questions will  help you make your why more specific and meaningful to you:

What is the one problem in the world that you would like to solve more than any other?

What are the topics that really fire you up, that make you want to jump into action and take anyone on?

How are you uniquely placed to make the world a better place?

What really excites you?

Is your why getting clearer now?

If you’d like some support to help you develop your why and put passion and purpose back into your work please get in touch.

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how” Frederick Nietzsche