Chicitynomad

There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we are born and the day we discover why. -William Barclay

What is your Why? Have you ever asked yourself this question before?

Dear Self, what is my why?

Welcome to the new year lovelies! Before I start talking about 2019 goals and which to set for your personal development, career and business (which are all very super important), I want to talk about something more important Defining your why.

In a nutshell alot of us have been writing our goals and some of us are writing a wish list, bucket list, to do list, of the things to achieve before the new year ends, all these goals/lists for the new year are usually based on all the things we want in our lives which are usually very numerous. We are excited for the new year but may also be experiencing the familiar feeling of fear and pressure lurking somewhere within us saying “how do I achieve all these things? ” “these are so many things I want but how do I get all of them?” this is where the question of your why comes in.

Your WHY

Your Why is the reason you smile, the reason you get up from bed, why you are reading and studying and improving yourself, why you work that job, have that business, have the friends you do, all these and many more are encompassed into your why. That is your Why and this is why defining your why before goal setting is very important, your why informs your purpose which informs the goals you set.

When I was in uni you would think my Why will be passing all my exams and graduating. No. It was a goal but crazy as this may seem that wasn’t my why. For me, college was a new ground, new slate and I wanted to have an experience worth while, I wanted to be a better person than I was in high school, I wanted to do great things, improve my mind, meet new people and that was my WHY. 4 years later, I achieved my goal of passing my courses and graduating with a good grade but most importantly I satisfied my Why, which was much more important to me than the degree.

According to Simon Sinek, in his book Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Finding Purpose for You and Your Team he explains that once you understand your WHY, which he means your purpose in this context, you will be able to discern what gives you fulfillment and you will discover what you are naturally able to do best. Once you can do that, you will have the ability to make more international choices for all aspects of your life which obviously has to do with goal setting and implementation.

I believe everyone has a purpose and figuring out that purpose is key to having a successful and growth-filled year and life in the long run.

We all have to define/discover our individual why because our why will tell us which goals are to be set this year, which goals are important and which aren’t worth pursuing.

Alot of us pursue life, career, education etc blindly without any sense of direction, why do this without knowledge of our why (our purpose) and end up dissatisfied at the end of our journey?

Therefore, I urge you right now to take that pen and paper,instead of writing 2019 goals write on the top of “what is my why?” and answer the following questions as truthfully as possible:

1. What gives me a sense of satisfaction? What is that thing that makes me happy? Like what is that thing that I do that gives me some sense of satisfaction? For me it’s writing and giving information what is yours? Write it down.
2. What I’m I very good at? What naturally comes to me, for example I have a sister that cooking is her passion. Like it’s her natural ability she doesn’t have any problem cooking different dishes simultaneously. I also have another sister that is the ultimate planner she can plan any and everything she is so organized it’s amazing. I am sure you have your own super power too, so write it down.
3. What problem do you help solve? This can be individual problems or problems in your community so which can you solve?
4. How do I want to be remembered? Aminat asked me this question in our collaboration last month and it actually got me thinking. When I die and go and meet my maker what do I want to be remembered as. This question brings out your truth. What is your truth? Write it below.

It’s not enough to say I want to be rich and famous or read quotes and write random goals which you chase blindly through out the year to no end. We all have to define our why and let this dictate our 2019 goals. It’s not too late to start over again. I hope the above post helps you in any way possible to define your why.

How has the new year been for you? Have you set your goals? Do you know your why?

Cheers to a new and purposeful year. Love D. A.