Remembering our "why"

It's been a tough past few weeks for the team at Blue Coding. With the economic downturn really kicking in we've had work slow down quite a bit. We saw our profitability go down significantly in the past quarter and our profit sharing looked rather bleak. Our management team sat down this week and had some deep conversations, and we decided that it's time to keep our heads down and work hard for the next 6 months so that when things pick up we are ready to continue growing. I personally had a tough week, I've been dealing with some unpleasant negotiations that I really don't enjoy. This morning I received this picture via Slack:

That's Nelson, he's been with Blue Coding for a few years now. Nelson lives in Santiago, Dominican Republic, and has recently completed his MSc in Clinical Psychology. Nelson is well-liked by his team for his good nature and collaborative spirit. The photo was accompanied by this text:

"I wanted to share the news that I bought my first car this week. I have no words to thank the team for the opportunity to work here, I've been able to achieve many things in my life because of this job. Thank you so much for everything!"

That's the message I needed to hear this week, a reminder of our purpose at Blue Coding:

"To improve our lives and the lives of those around us, to do great work that we are proud of."

It's a choice we've made that guides our work every day. As a CEO, I really don't care about whether we are offering software development services, recruitment services, or even if one day we decide to pivot and become a law firm. I also don't care about whether we work from home or from the office, or if we have strict schedules or flexible ones. The thing that really matters is our "why": Can we improve our lives and the lives of those around us? Can we do great work that we are proud of?

I'm not naive about it though. I like money and so does my team. I know that we need to excel at what we do and outmaneuver our competition. I know that we will have great quarters and poor ones and that sometimes we will need to make tough choices that will make people unhappy. My team understands this too. Our company's purpose is what helps us make the right choices at difficult times.

We all have a personal purpose too. Sometimes we get distracted by the trouble in our life: the tough situation at home, the difficult co-worker, or the problem with a critical project. Everything is great when things are easy, but when things are tough is when we start forgetting why we are doing what we are doing. It's at those times that we really need to remember our "why", our purpose, the reason we do what we do.

What is your personal "why"? Do you remember it when things are tough? or is it like those mission statements that people write and never look at again? Do your decisions day to day follow your purpose?