Whenever I speak to a new client or my course students, one of the very first questions I ask them is Why. Why are you here? Why do you want to start/improve your business? And, Why do you do what you do? So today let’s take a look at the importance of starting with why.
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If you’ve read any of my other posts you may have come to realise I’m always one to ask Why about a lot of things. So when it came to finding a deep sense of Why for my own life and purpose it made total sense. It was ingrained in me from early on in my online business path that my Why was going to be important.
Actually, one of my earliest blog posts back in 2016 was on this exact topic. After reading Napoleon Hill’s, Think and Grow Rich. In this book he talked about uncovering your Major Definite Purpose. I was so inspired, I wanted to share this concept with as many people as possible.
Then I discovered Simon Sinek and the message became even more clear.
What message, you may ask?
Start With Why
This week in a group coaching program, our facilitator shared a recording from a TED Talk Simon Sinek did on this topic. I’ve read his book but I’d never actually watched this talk. And seeing him speak about it reminded me of the potency in this message.
You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/u4ZoJKF_VuA
He talks about how inspired leaders think, act, and communicate from the inside out. And one part of his talk that really stood out for me was his explanation about leaders.
He says “there are leaders and there are those who lead.” You might be thinking, ok that’s the same thing. But he goes on to explain how “those who lead, inspire us. We follow them for ourselves. It’s those who start with why.”
How does this work?
The Golden Circle
Sinek conveys his message through a simple circle, which he refers to as The Golden Circle.
Most people work from the outside in. They start with what they do, and how they do it, and most of the time they don’t even think about Why. But it’s those people who work from the inside out, that go on to have a far greater impact.
When you have a strong sense of Why you’re more motivated to keep going. And because everything in life is an energy exchange, it’s those with the stronger Why that show up with more passion. And people can feel that.
I’ve noticed this a lot in my online business journey. I started paying attention to what kind of behaviours triggered me and why. Who I was drawn to work with and why. I trust my intuition, it’s never steered me wrong. And the more I learn how to tap into that, the more magic I attract into my life.
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
I’ve always lived by the saying, “people don’t buy products, they buy people.” But this quote from Sinek is even more powerful. And it’s so true.
When I choose to work with someone there’s usually not much of a reason, except I’m magnetically drawn to them. I can feel their energy. Sense their mission and purpose. I know they’re here to genuinely make a difference. That’s how I choose to invest.
You can have the flashiest material objects, the most elaborate marketing strategy, amazing income results. But if I don’t get a good feeling from you, I don’t really care what your credentials are. I’m connected to energy. I want to know the person I’m hiring has got my back and isn’t just in it for the money.
I’m pretty proud to say the coaches I’ve worked with have all led with why. Interestingly, they were also the more ‘real’ humans online. They didn’t present themselves as the typical business coaches. They didn’t try to prove their superiority or credibility. And that’s a big part of why I was drawn to them, they weren’t trying to play some role. They were simply being themselves and showing up in their truth.
Leaders vs Those Who Lead
Let’s come back to this concept. I think a perfect way to understand this is to look at what’s going on in our world right now.
We have the leaders who we’ve always been told to follow — government, churches, health officials, celebrities, royals, media. But none of us really know why we’re following them. It’s just because we were told to. We didn’t choose to, we just had to. That’s the way it is and that’s that.
With everything that’s unfolding, more and more people are becoming disillusioned. They’re starting to question things, look beyond the ‘leaders’ and start to make decisions for themselves. Do the leaders even have a strong sense of why they do what they do, or are they just driven by money?
So those of us who no longer buy the narrative start to look elsewhere. We seek out people who we feel genuinely have our best interests at heart. We connect with people who have similar ideas and beliefs. People who inspire us and can lead us on the path back to ourselves. These people who lead us aren’t necessarily big names. But we’ve chosen to let them lead us because we’re connected to their Why. We feel their purpose. We feel their desire to help us. We’re inspired by them.
See the difference?
My Mission
And this leads me to my own mission. This morning as I was writing in my journal. I was just following my usual morning practice of writing whatever I felt called to write. Then I pulled a tarot card to see what my message was for the day, and started writing about that.
Without even thinking, my hand intuitively started writing about my mission. These are the words that flowed out:
“My mission is to awaken women to their full potential, to take them out of the shadows and shine their lights brightly on the world. We don’t need anymore generations of women suffering from unworthiness, not enough-ness, too muchness, or anything else that dims us down. We need women to lead, women to shine bright and be the beacon of light and inspiration for others too. I remember who I am, I remember why I came here, now I’m ready to lead the way for others too.”
When I first started working online my Why was always about freedom. And it 1000% still is. It’s always been about freedom. But the more inner work and healing I do, the more I realise it runs so much deeper than that. By helping and inspiring others to shine their lights bright, to come out of hiding, to build powerful personal brands. I help them gain freedom too.
And with everything going on right now, I’m more driven than ever. I care deeply about humanity. I care deeply about each and every one of us maintaining our sense of freedom. And I truly believe the key to that lies in building a powerful personal brand. In owning your voice. In following your own mission and having a strong sense of why.
Remembering who you are
A few days ago I wrote a post about remembering who you are, and why you came here. You can read it here.
I believe this is now more important than ever.
Every single one of us is here for a purpose. Every single one of us is here to fulfil a mission. And when you take the time to fully connect back to who you are, to unlock your Why, you can start living up to that. That’s the key to unlocking your freedom, that’s the key to living a fulfilled and passionate life.
I watched another video this morning which really helped me to connect to this as well. It was on a YouTube channel that I’ve only been introduced to recently but I really love this lady’s way of explaining things. Her name is Gigi Young and she talks a lot about spirituality and human consciousness.
This video particularly talks about how to remember who you are. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/cl67YrTsaSA
So how do you find your Why?
Ok, so now you understand the importance of starting with why. But how do you actually know what yours is. Aside from watching the videos and reading the books I shared in this article, a great way to truly connect to your Why is to connect to yourself.
You could do this through meditation, breath-work, dance, journalling, or any other method. And while you’re doing that focus on some (or all) of these questions.
- What is my life purpose?
- If I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I do?
- What would I do if money wasn’t a concern?
- What lights me up?
Keep focusing in on these questions until you land on something that truly lights you up. If you’ve connected to yourself enough, you’ll have an instinctive knowing.
For more details on how to do this check out one of my older blog posts – https://jadescarfone.com/2019/05/finding-your-why/
It doesn’t have to make sense. Most times it won’t.
But this is where the magic happens, if you allow it. Because the true key to living that totally wild, inspired, fulfilled, magical life. Is to act on that desire. To breathe life into your deepest dreams. To fully trust in yourself and know the universe always has your back.
And with that, I’d love to know what your ‘why’ or ‘mission’ is too. ???✨
As usual, thanks for reading. And if you enjoyed this post please feel free to like, comment and/or share. Your support means the world to me.
Jade xo
