Why The Hell Do You Do That?
Research states that any goal that has an emotional driver or passion behind it is 70% more likely to be achieved with success. Pause. What? Yes, 70%.
Just consider those odds (or evens, depending on how you look at it). Success is stacked neatly in our favor when we have some passion and emotion behind it. All we have to do is find our reason.
Anyone who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. ~ Nietzsche ~
I love this quote. I found it in my new #selfjournal that I serendipitously found online. The quote follows the same principle shared by Simon Sinek, "people don't buy what you sell, they buy why you're selling it".
Think about. it. Why do we hire the people we hire? Why do we elect the candidates we elect?
Research states that any goal that has an emotional driver or passion behind it is 70% more likely to be achieved with success. Pause. What? Yes, 70%.
Just consider those odds (or evens, depending on how you look at it). Success is stacked neatly in our favor when we have some passion and emotion behind it. All we have to do is find our reason.
"Emotion drives motion." ~ Tony Robbins ~
I was recently asked to present on behalf of a nonprofit organization that does an incredible service of supporting underprivileged kids by providing them with after school programming. As I took on the task to uncover the program's unique selling proposition with the outcome of influencing a room full of parents, teachers, community members and superintendents in a short ten minute time frame, I had to first understand what would mean the most to everyone in the room, including me.
What was the "why" of the program? What was the "why" of these parents? The teachers, community members, and superintendent? What was my "why"?
A little background story:
After some research, I realized that some after school programs are primarily funded by a government grant which, in a nutshell, means the programs are heavily restricted by terms, conditions, and bureaucratic red tape. Basically, all programs are bound by the same four walls, so truly offering something better than the competition was going to be tough, since we were all forced to color within the lines.
After sitting through an hour of pitches by my client's competition, I realized that everyone was talking about their "what" and their "how". In my eyes, everyone was missing the "why".
Why were we doing this? Why were we all there? Why the hell would anyone put up with all of this effort into building a program and dealing with so much bureaucracy?
And therein rested my aha moment -- my tada!
Our why was the same. We were all there to keeps kids safe and to provide them with bright futures. Our programs were all the same, but our passions different.
Kids. This was my only focus. This was my [our] only why. The what and how didn't matter.
I spent the next ten minutes driving home why after school programs were essential to keeping kids safe and providing them with bright futures. Who can argue with keeping a kid healthy and safe; giving kids the tools and confidence to graduate high school and pursue college; providing them with the access and vision to hold a career they love; and ultimately turning them into the community and family contributor we all aspire to emulate?
It was our why. It was a why that we could all understand -- we could see it, feel it, share it and believe it.
The moral of the story: find your why.
If you don't know what this is; keep searching. What can make the difference between you succeeding or giving up is the reason you choose to pursue a goal in the first place. What's the why? If it doesn't drive you, wake you up early (or in the middle of the night), find another one that will.
Keep asking the question -- what will drive me to no end? What will inspire me to wake up early, go to bed late, do anything to reach this goal?
My friends, find your why, and you find your success.
Don't give up. Keep searching. Keep asking questions, and always #GoDo.
Find your why, and #GoDo!
