What is Your Why?

Oftentimes we find ourselves stuck at a bit of a crossroad when it comes to understanding how to drive our own motivation. The simplicity of “Just Do It” can be complex all on its own which can cause those struggling with dim introspection to lose drive and motivation. Many can relate to this paradox with the goal of health and fitness. You might have said this a time or two: “I’m going to start working out at the beginning of the month,” or “ I am going to make healthier food choices starting Monday.” That illusive Monday never comes… Perhaps yours is, “ I want to lose weight, and I know I have to exercise, but I can’t exercise until I lose some weight first.”

If you find yourself in one of those positions, and we know there are plenty more, the best way to illuminate your path is to ask yourself : “Why do I want this, what will my life look like if I have it.” This is the identification process. Here is where you see yourself living, having, and feeling the way you want. Once you have identified the desire, you have the first step to understanding your why.

Living life well is more than just being fit or eating healthy. It is being competent in all areas that influence your total being. And they all rely on each other. When you work out, chances are you crave healthier foods. When you crave healthier foods, you plan your meals before going grocery shopping, or you have an idea of what you will be eating to avoid irrational hunger. You save money because of your planning. That is one less stressor on your finances. You take your own food to work, you are more energized from eating a balanced meal, and you look forward to another healthy decision after work. With all of this healthy activity, you find that you sleep better. You are less restless because you have expelled excess energy, and properly fueled your body for the day. You are more mindful of the week ahead, therefore you are more prepared. All because of one healthy change to your lifestyle.

The second step is the reality check. You’ve identified where you want to be, and you start to compare that to where you are. This can be overwhelming. It may appear that your goals are far beyond your reach, only because you are standing at one point and expecting to just step into the desired point. But it doesn’t work that way!

In such a world that thrives off of instant gratification, this is likely one of the hardest pills to swallow! Vince Lombardi once said to his players, “Only in the dictionary does success come before work.” Without putting in the effort, there can be no result. Winning does not come if you never got around to starting! And once we get past this thinking, we can open up the possibilities to what lies ahead of us. This brings us to the third step: The work.

The work process can be long and grueling, or fun and challenging. It is all about perspective. In this work phase, I like to think of it as laying a bridge. This bridge connects you from where you are (your current state) to where you want to be (your desired state). It is made up of the steps needed to get you there. This bridge is laid one brick (step) at a time. Start to scale back your thought process of what life should be, while expanding off of what life is. This is called brick laying. One brick = one small step that you can take that collectively adds to the whole.

Now that you see can see where you want to be in relation to where you are, building the bridge to get you there seems more realistic. You can become proficient in laying the bricks to success in whatever capacity. Only then can you truly begin to live life well, and know from within what you why is.

Challenge: What are three small intentional steps you can make and complete within the next three weeks?