The powerful why: Mother of all motivators
Today, I came across this video on Jess Constable’s blog. Think UPS whiteboard guy meets Demetri Martin and together they explain how humans are motivated. Turns out, we’re not horses.
In fact, when it comes right down to it, we’re most motivated when we have ownership of our purpose and are mastering skills in order to contribute something meaningful to the world.
But how do we own our purpose? First, we must define our purpose. Then we take ownership of it by drilling down and discovering our powerful why. Our powerful why is the core motivator for living out our purpose.
For example, my purpose is to take care of those I love by helping as many people as possible realize their dreams of health and wealth.
Now, to get to my powerful why, we start asking one question over and over and over again: Why? Ask why at least five times to really drill down and discover your powerful why.
Again, using my purpose as an example…
- Why do I want to take care of those I love by helping as many people as possible realize their dreams of health and wealth? Because I want to be able to support all of my family by doing work that changes lives.
- Why do I want to be able to support all of my family by doing work that changes lives? Because then my family will be together and happy and my life will be spent helping others.
- Why do I want my family to be together and happy and spend my life helping others? Because then my family will be close-knit and my life will have made a difference in the world.
- Why do I want my family to be close-knit and my life to have made a difference in the world? Because my family needs to create and share more memories together and I need to honor the hard-work and sacrifices made by my parents and grandparents on my behalf.
- Why does my family need to create and share more memories together and why do I need to honor the hard-work and sacrifices made by my parents and grandparents on my behalf? Because my family needs to enjoy our time together and because my parents and grandparents worked too many long, hard hours away from the ones they loved so that I would have the privilege of a college education and the ability to improve our family’s standard of living by doing the life-changing work of my choosing.
Do you see how with each iteration of “Why?” comes a deeper and deeper revelation? Knowing that my powerful why is “to honor the long, hard hours my parents and grandparents put in away from the ones they loved by having our family enjoy our time together and raising our family’s standard of living by doing the life-changing work of my choosing” is much more emotional than “supporting all of my family by doing work that changes lives”.
Define your purpose and start drilling down by asking why, why, why, why, why! After all, the world is waiting for you to come alive and take ownership of your purpose.
About Sara
Sara Hefty (B.B.A. and H.H.C.) teaches workaholic women how to have it all and flourish without burning out, binging or being spiteful. As an expert in transformational health coaching, she holds women accountable for letting go of unwanted weight, being brilliantly nourished, grounded in truth and feeling confident, happy and playful every single day.
As a woman with her own weight loss story, wide-ranging family heritage of cancer, and a graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, Sara’s appreciation for convenient nutrient-dense food, personal growth, inspiring design, financial responsibility, and social entrepreneurship led to her “Pursuit of Ownership: Health, Home, and Legacy” model of heart-on-fire-hot empowered living.
Sara is the founder of PROJECT LUX and SaraHefty.com. She currently lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, with her husband Brian and hound-dog Raja.
