The Why Behind Your Why

“I’ve hit a plateau with my sales.”

“Organizing the office space is just too overwhelming.”

“I can’t seem to get the grant proposal done.”

“I just don’t have enough time to finish the book.”

“The weight just won’t come off.”

All of us have places where we seem to hit a wall; where we get stymied; where it seems that we just can’t bust through.

It’s usually because we’re not clear about our “why.”

Angelo was frustrated. Try as he did to bring in more mortgage loan originations, none of his warm leads panned out. It was as if the Midas touch he once had had turned to coal.

Angelo was one of my high-performance clients. He knew all the success tools; all the strategies. And he knew how to execute; he was someone who took action.

But when I asked him ‘why’ it was that he wanted to boost his numbers, he faltered. He already made a fair amount of money, so it wasn’t just about the comp. He already had a lot of freedom and flexibility; so it wasn’t about the time. He already was pretty senior in the company; so it wasn’t about position or prestige.

So I dug a bit…. It turned out that Angelo had never been able to take his wife on a honeymoon; and despite the passage of nearly a dozen years of marriage and much success, Angelo still wanted to surprise his wife with a trip to Italy. And he really wanted to create more magic moments for his family. As soon as he focused on this ‘why,’ his numbers soared.

Without the ‘why,’ a task is just a task… yet another item on an endless list of interminable “to dos.”

Take the recyclables to the curb… Check.

Make the cold call… Check.

Stop for milk on the way home… Check.

One is no more important than the next.

The list will wear us down. It is the ‘why’ that lights us up.

Our vision, our ‘why,’ is the North Star. It shines in the darkness; it guides us through our desert wastelands.

It is what excites us and sustains us; it is the fuel that drives us forward.

Author and coach Dan Sullivan writes, “Having a purpose that is greater than yourself will give you a constant impetus to strive.”

Simon Sinek says, “Start with why.” “Those who know their why are the ones who lead," he says. "They are the ones who inspire.”

The most successful people on the planet have a vision of where they’re going… and why they want to get there. Even in the littlest of things.

So dig until you find your 'why."

Because when you know your 'why,' you will find the how.

And then you are unstoppable.