You’re probably familiar with Simon Sinek’s business theory, ‘Start With Why’… The reason we’re talking about your strong reason why today is to bring it the forefront of your thinking, to make sure you hold it in your vision and refer back to it as an aid to making decisions in your business.
How your why affects your business
‘Fulfilment comes when we live our lives on purpose…’ Simon Sinek
Do you have a strong reason why you do what you do? Why you work the hours you do, why you stay late, or why you sometimes compromise on other things you’d like to be doing?
As an example, one ‘Why’ is to earn enough money to afford a mortgage on a larger house.
- Why do you need a bigger house? So a home office can be set up
- Why do you need a home office? So I can run a business from home
- Why are you running a business from home? So I’m no longer an employee/so I can be available for family needs/so I have more control over my work life.
I frequently ask my clients, ‘why’ when they answer a question, repeatedly until they get to the route of their purpose. In this example, the reason why is not getting a bigger house, it’s actually achieving a better work life. And incidentally, we can now identify other things that can be done to improve that work life which all drive you closer to your reason why.
It demonstrates that for many of us our business goals and personal goals have to be aligned. In this example, we want a better work life as the outcome, and the bigger house is part of the equation. However, our business goals now have to align in order that the profits are generated and the business creates the available cash for you to buy and maintain that bigger house. Thus, the business goals for delivering this become purposeful and fuels your motivation.
I invite you to take a moment now and think about why you want to earn that money, why you want that time away from work.
Got it?
Keeping your reason why in focus helps you shape your business in many ways. It influences strategies, culture, decision making, growth plans, relationships and many more factors.
Using your why to help you stay on track
The next shiny thing can easily distract you from your original purpose. It might look like a short-cut or be something else you’re passionate about. But can it help get you closer to your why? If the answer is no, let it go.
Stay focused on that why, and it will influence everything you do and how you do it.
Imagine you’ve been asked to shoot a clay pigeon down from the sky, but you can’t clearly see the clay, and you don’t know when it will be passing. You’d be tempted to start firing into the sky without judgement or precision. However, if you can see it clearly, focus on it well and you know when it will appear, you’re more likely to hit it, and hit it sooner, saving ammunition too…
If you’re not someone who is familiar with Simon Sinek’s Start With Why, I would recommend joining the 28 million-strong audience who have made his TED Talk the third most popular one ever produced! Start With Why on TED.com
If you are familiar with it, know your why and would like support getting that laser focus and defining the steps towards it, get in touch with me to make a plan you can work on with purpose.
As always, I hope this article has helped you in some way towards greater clarity in decision-making within your business. More support is available in my YouTube videos, Step Change Podcast and other blogs.