Identify Your Why and Set Strong Goals
🎧 PRESS PLAY TO START THIS LESSON
If you want to be able to take action regardless of whether you “feel like it” or not, it’s crucial to identify and clarify your personal Why. Your Why is the reason you do what you do—it’s the cause, the purpose, or the beliefs that energize you and inspire you to rise and grind. Why is it important to know your Why? Well, no matter what you’re after in life—no matter how big or small your goals are—the one thing you can be absolutely certain about is that you will be presented with unexpected obstacles of all shapes and sizes on your journey.
You may even experience more obstacles than others. Or you may not.
That’s not very predictable.
But here’s what is: If you rely purely on willpower to achieve your goals then you will fail. Period.
So forget about willpower. It’s time for why-power.
If you have a clear Why—a purpose, a mission, a cause, or belief—to guide you, then your likelihood of achieving your goals will skyrocket.
Why? Because your Why springs from something deep and meaningful within you. It matters to you.
When you have a strong Why, you’re more likely to do whatever it takes to succeed because you understand that your long-term results will outweigh whatever instant gratification you may experience from taking the easy route.
Your choices become more meaningful when they are connected to achieving your dreams in a way that’s in-line with your Why—your purpose.
So, now that you know how powerful it can be to have a strong Why—how do you go about finding yours? We’ll get into that, along with a few ideas on goal-setting, in the actionable insights below:
Actionable insights
1. Begin to define your Why by first identifying your core values.
- Grab some paper and start writing down all the values that you hold near and dear to your heart.
- Here are some example values to get you going: Creativity, Growth, Inspiration, Independence, Bravery, Knowledge, Meaning, Power, Abundance.
- Write down every value that comes to mind, and make the list as long as you’d like.
2. Next, choose your top 3 values.
- Once you’ve written down all of the values that describe the core of who you are, narrow that list down to your top 3.
3. Finally, Create a Why-Statement.
- Once you’ve identified your top 3 core values, create a Why-Statement to articulate these values in a way that makes them actionable.
- For example, my Why is to “empower, educate, and entertain people everywhere so that they can improve their lives and achieve their goals.”
- Did you catch my top 3 core values above? They were: empowering, educating, and entertaining. What are yours?
4. Write down your top 3 goals.
- Once you understand your Why, it’s time to begin setting some goals. Goals will help you look for and see the opportunities that come your way. So, choose your top 3 goals and commit them to writing. Once you know what you want, it’ll be easier to take action and make it happen.
- What are 3 of your most important goals? Write them down.
- What habits or behaviors are keeping you from achieving these goals? Identify one for each of your top goals, then review Lesson 5 (on habits) to create a plan to break these bad habits.
- Lastly, what habits or behaviors can you identify that can help you accomplish each of your top three goals? Identify one habit/behavior you can begin developing for each of your top goals. Then, refer back to Lesson 5 to create a plan to install those habits into your daily life.
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