Why We Do What We Do
There is a “why” for everything that we do in this world. What is the “why” that drives you for your business or your ministry? One of my coaches once asked “What is the WHY that makes you CRY?” Happy tears, sad tears, angry tears, frustrated tears. Just a “why” that moves you to deep emotion.
Don’t judge your immediate reason. I’ve run across this a lot when it comes to money. If the initial “why” is because the person needs an income there seems to be a knee-jerk attitude to defend that. No defense necessary! Money is necessary for the things we need in this world. Money mindsets are deep-rooted and you might need some help there and Patti Fagan is just the person I would recommend!
Whether money is your “why,” or it’s something else, let’s go deeper.
WHY (ha, see what I did there?) Is Your Reason Important To You?
Let’s continue with the money example since we’ve already gone there. Money is your reason for your services or your products. The next level is: What do you want to do with that money? How will you use it?
One of my clients said that she was going to use the additional income to help fund a health clinic for women. Fantastic! I was bowled over. Let’s go deeper yet.
Why did she want to fund that women’s health clinic? Her mom had died from cancer diagnosed far too late because she did not have ready access to regular health care. We were beginning to get deep into the heart of things. This woman lost her mom at what she considered far too young an age. She has daughters, sisters, cousins, friends. She doesn’t want to see any of them go through that. That is a why that makes you keep going when things don’t seem to be falling your way.
Some coaches recommend that you peel back five layers deep to get to a solid, down-to the-heart WHY. For some other initial reasons for “why,” that is probably a good exercise. I thought this client and I could stop here.
Why Is Your Why So Important?
Business and ministry are hard. They can both push you to the brink and then a little more. Those times are the reason your “why” is so important. It’s the thing that makes you dig in a little more deeply. It’s the reasons that you continue to care when it would be easier to just quit.
Your “why” is also the thing that keeps you true to your purpose. God gave you this thing to do, whatever it is, but there are a lot of temptations to pull you off track. My friends and I call them “bright shiny objects,” because that’s exactly what they seem like! Distractions! Holding tightly to your reasons for doing what you do will keep you from wasting time, effort, and money chasing what really isn’t meant for you.
If You Don’t Know
I think most of us have at least a surface idea of what our “whys” are. It’s my suggestion that you go deeper. Sticking with the money example, if you just say you want to make money, when things get hard with your business or ministry, it becomes easy to quit and go work at McDonalds or do something else to make money that isn’t what we are called to. Whatever your initial “why,” try to go at least two levels deeper.
You can read about my why on the about page.
It’s a solid foundation for your business or ministry.