Why is everyone talking about their why?
It feels like every book I read at the moment talks about finding your why.
When Simon Sinek gave his career-making TEDx talk in 2014, I doubt that even he realised the power and impact it would have around the world.
His book, Start with Why, further explores the basic premise of his talk, but the fundamental principle is the same: everyone knows how and what they do but very people can explain why.
It’s a fairly simple premise, but many business and self-help books now reference the concept religiously, myself included.
When it comes to discovering what drives you, it helps to identify your core beliefs. Is there something which guides you or informs your decisions?
If there isn’t a fundamental core belief which drives everything you do, then it might be time to find one. It might help to think about a core belief which drives one part of your life or area of your creativity if you can’t think of something which drives your whole life.
The exercise Simon Sinek suggests is to draw what he calls a “golden circle” with three rings, and fill in the central Why first. Then you can begin to work on the What and the How.
As he demonstrates in his TED talk, if you know your Why, your How and What don’t really matter. You can switch and pivot easily, because people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
Once you have identified your core belief or driving force, try it on for size in your own golden circle and see what How and What activities your Why can create.
If you feel comfortable with your Why, look for ways you might pivot your What activities and see if your Why still holds true.
