Skip Your "Why". Start With "How"

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As a culture, we have become obsessed with understanding our "why", and for good reason.

For years, decades, centuries, when asked "why", we would just lower our heads, try to survive the day and just do things. But now, we want to know why we're doing things. My kids will ask me "why" for anything - "why should I unload the dishwasher?" or "why can't you do my homework?".

We also ask our bosses, customers, vendors, and employees the same question - "why?". And they ask us, "why?". I blame Simon Sinek for this, but I love a good "why". However, once we dig past the initial "why", we need to start taking action.

And I know we want to know what our calling is and our purpose for being.

Case in point: I just wrote a book on starting a business while working full-time, and I ran this past hundreds of people - authors, podcasters, speakers - and got a lot of feedback. However, several people wanted to know "why". Well, why what? Well, why did I write the book? Because people had this question. But why? Most of them wanted to know how to start a business without quitting their job. But why?

Most of us want freedom, independence, autonomy, and the ability to make what we want and spend more time with our families. Our "why" revolves around these ideas and helping others. When someone comes to me wanting to start a business and I ask them why, almost exclusively, I get answers like, "I want to help others," "I want autonomy," or "I want to change my family's history." These answers are often centered around freedom and helping others.

But we can't get hung up on the "why".

We ask "why" to such a degree that we get paralysis by analysis.

We need to figure out how to do things once we have the "why". If you want to help others, how can you do that? It doesn't have to be following your passion - it's about finding ways to use your existing skills and resources to help others. If you're an insurance agent, how can you help people navigate the overwhelming number of options available? If you're a business consultant, what problem does your customer have and how can you help them solve it?

In most cases, it's through education, answering questions, being helpful, being available, training your employees, and creating processes and procedures. Find the two to three ways that you can really help people, and then start fulfilling some of the "why's" out there. As for why I wrote my book, I wrote it because people kept asking me the same question - "How do I start a business while working full-time?" - not because they wanted me to uncover their psychological issues.

So, focus on the "how" and put the "why" to bed.

Small Business Owners click here for The "Get This One Thing Done!" Fill-in-the-Blank Template for Busy Professionals

Start-Ups click here to get the first three chapters of How to Start Your Business While Working Full-Time