Your Greatest You! Your Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming Your Greatest Self by Coach Luc Despres - HTML preview

THE POWER OF WHY

If you've known me personally, you know that I want to know the why behind everything.  I'm always studying people and why they do what they do. If you tell me to do  something, I'll always ask you "why" - Why should I do this? Why is this so important to  you? Why should it be important to me? 

Once I hear the why, if it moves me to take action, good luck stopping me. 

A quote I heard one day in church inspired me to write this chapter. It went like this;  "The what informs while the why transforms". Simple and powerful! 

So why do you want to accomplish your goal? What will your life look like when you've  accomplished it? Will the accomplishment of your goal make you more significant to others? Why do you want it so bad? 

These are all questions I've asked myself during my journey through this life and in the pursuit of my dreams. Would you agree that if you don't really know why you're doing something, it never really moves you in a way that excites and motivates you to get it done? Would you agree that if you had a good enough reason to do something, you'd  act toward accomplishing it? 

For the small seemingly insignificant tasks that we face, a reason why may not be  necessary. But when the task seems a tad unbearable, you will need a solid reason why to inspire you into action. 

Let me give you an illustration...

Let's say I lay out a board in front of you on the ground and I say to you "walk across  this board". If you're anything like me, you'll ask; "why?" 

I don't give you any good reason to cross it, but it's a relatively easy task so you walk across it anyway. Nothing good happens and nothing bad happens. 

I then ask you to take the elevator with me to the top of a 100-story apartment building and I start to lay out that exact same board from that apartment building to the one just beside it. The buildings are about 20 feet apart and I say to you "Walk across this board  to the other building". I don't give you any good reason to cross it. Would you do it? 

Absolutely not!

What's the difference? The difference is that the cost of crossing the board this time is too great and nothing of equal or greater value is offered in return. In other words, the why is not big enough, or in this case, the why is missing altogether.

Let's say I offer you $20, would you do it? Probably not! But what if your child or  someone you love more than anything is trapped on the other side of the building, the building is on fire, and their only escape to safety is you walking across that board and  bringing them safely back? Would you do it now? I reckon you'd try a heck of a lot  harder, wouldn't you? 

So, what changed? Did the hardness of the task change? Did I make it easier? What  changed? 

The only one thing that changed was your reason for crossing the board - your  reason why! 

See... when you can develop a why strong enough that it places urgency to achieve your dream, you will find that whether the task is easy or whether the task is difficult, you will do whatever you need to do to accomplish it. 

You Can Read My Why (Ultimate Vision) Here (Link will open in same window.

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The reason this why is so profound for me is because when I read it, it moves me. I get emotional. Your why must move you the same way. Everyone will have a different why.  Some will be complex, some will be very simple. It's important to read your why every day so that it stays in the forefront of your mind. You may have to revise it from time to  time as you progress in your journey. Once you've accomplished your why, you will need something more to inspire you into action for the years to come.

Here's a list of 20 questions that will help you to find your reason why:

- At the end of each question add "and why" 

• What amount of money do you want to make? 
• What places would you like to visit in the world? 
• What type of job would you like to do each day? 
• What would your perfect day look like in terms of how you spent your time and what you were doing? 
• What are the characteristics of your perfect spouse? 
• What do you want to look like? 
• What do you want to give back to the world? 
• What do you want to be known for? 
• What are the things you believe in most? 
• What people can help you get to where you want to go? 
• What are the things you would like to have? 
• What are the most exciting things you'd like to try? 
• What events would you like to go to? 
• What type of house do you want to have? 
• What people would you like to meet? 
• What amount of money do you want to have at retirement? 
• What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? 
• What things would have to happen in order to accomplish that huge dream? 
• What do you want people to think of when they think of you? 
• What people do you want to spend most of your time with? 

As you ask yourself these questions, you will come to know yourself more deeply and  you will begin to discover a greater reason for living and taking constructive action  toward your goals and dreams. You will discover your why!

You obviously don't have to answer every question, just make sure it moves you to take positive, constructive action toward your greater cause.