Project 2020 Reinvention: Identify Your Whys and Change Your Life
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For the past two weeks, we have looked at different steps in your reinvention process of getting ready for 2020. Today, we will look at your reasons or your whys.
Pro Tip: You need to know your own whys in order to know yourself.
Let’s Find Ourselves
One of the most widely known slogans in the world is the Nike slogan “Just Do It.”
No more excuses, no more talk, no more planning, no more second-guessing…
“Just Do It.”
Maybe that’s just what you needed to hear. Maybe it can give you that push, that nudge you needed to accomplish your goals. But there is something that this slogan does not fully capture: What about the why?
Why should I “Just Do It”? What’s the reason for doing it? Do I even want to do it? In life, you can “Just Do It” day-in-and-day-out and not enjoy a single movement of your life–possibly never engaging in a single moment of passionate, fulfilling work. So, before you go and “Just Do It,” identify your why. This will help you enact real change in your life.
What Do You Love?
The whys in your life are directly tied to whatever it is you love. What you love incorporates other things like what you are passionate about, what you think is important, what you ultimately care about, and what you enjoy doing.
Your whys, or what you love, point to your motivators. Your whys take routine or mundane actions and infuse them with passion and desire. They take the things you do and put life into them.
To identify your whys, first ask yourself: What is it that I love?
How Do You Recharge?
The whys in your life are also directly related to the things that give you energy. Passion is fuel for action. Without it, you will quickly burn out. So, what gives you energy? What are the ways you recharge your batteries after they have been fully drained? Knowing this can help you see what your energy gainers are.
Another method is to identify what areas of life seem to be effortless for you. What can you engage in for seemingly endless periods of time without much output of energy? Both of these strategies can help you identify your whys.
To identify your why, ask yourself: What gives me energy?
What’s Your Highlight Reel?
The whys in your life are also directly correlated with your accomplishments. To make a project successful, it can help to start at the end and work your way back. This approach can help when trying to identify your life’s whys.
Imagine you are near the end of your days, sitting on a porch, staring out onto the beautiful countryside. As you observe the landscape, your mind drifts back over the highlight reel of your life. What are the major scenes you want to see played back to you?
Do you imagine a few career highlights, family memories, personal relationships, charity involvement, or other activities? What do you want to be able to reflect on when your life is near its end? Your answer to these questions will reveal what you think is important.
Create a Personal Mission Statement
Now that you have figured out your why by establishing what you love, what gives you energy, and what you want to accomplish, write these thoughts into a personal mission statement. This will allow you to take these ideas and write them down in a functional, usable format.
Your personal mission statement will help guide you during times of decision making. It will remind you of the reason behind your actions. It not only captures your why, but also your what and even your when.
The next time you are in a situation where are you are going to “Just Do It,” you will be able to support that action with the full understanding of your why. Having true passion behind your actions is a formula for pure, lasting, and impactful changes in life.
Loving Life–The Reboot!
Dominique