Does Your Why Matter?

Speaking notes

What is your WHY? And does it matter? Do you need to know why you are working for some epic goal?

A lot of coaches will tell you that you need a strong WHY to keep you moving toward your goal. 

But is this true? Maybe . . . maybe not.

Does knowing your WHY help motivate you to your goal?

Coaches – you need a big enough WHY to have the mindset to keep going when things get tough. “Mile 73.”

Sounds like good advice. But does it help?

Yes . . . but. It might not help as much as you think. 

And for some people it might not help at all.

Goal-oriented people – finishing the goal is what you do.

For the rest of us, our reason for setting a goal is harder to pin down.

The night before my 1st attempt to run a 100 mile race, my wife asked, “Why are you doing this?” (she thought I might die)

I realized right then I’d never thought about WHY I was running.

I only knew I had a hunger inside me that needed to go run this race.

I knew she deserved a better answer. 

After thinking about it for a few minutes I said, “I need to know if I have what it takes to go that far.”

For me, it wasn’t knowing my big WHY that was driving me.

I hadn’t even thought about it. It was there, but in my subconscious.

But everyone is different. Knowing your WHY might be helpful.

Here are 3 problems to avoid when finding your big WHY.

Problem 1: You might now know yourself well enough to get to your big WHY.

Most of us aren’t good at seeing who we really are. And we usually are offended when a spouse or friend tries to tell us.

We hire coaches, counselors, and therapists to help us dig through our layers and be better people.

So when you go to find your WHY, you may not know what’s really going on inside yourself. 

Problem 2: You aren’t honest with yourself.

The first answer you’ll get when you try to find your WHY is what you can put on Facebook and Instagram.

We all do this. 

You have an image of yourself that you want others to see.

And then there’s who you are when no one is watching.

(This version of you is not evil . . . probably not . . . but it’s not as good as your Facebook and Instagram version.)

Your Facebook and Instagram WHY isn’t strong enough to help you when things get tough – mile 73.

Problem 3: You get your identity from what you do, what you accomplish.

So your WHY may be something you will use to pump up your identity instead of coming FROM your identity.

Our society – DO – HAVE – BE

You’re conditioned to think your identity is wrapped up in what you HAVE and what you DO (accomplishments).

This is a weak mindset.

First – it’s never enough.

Second – who are you if you fail or lose what you have?

You need a strong mindset – BE – DO – HAVE

Mindset: the story you tell yourself about yourself.

Your mindset forms your identity.

You decide who you are FIRST. Then what you do comes out of who you are and you have the rewards for what you’ve done.

When your mindset forms your identity, you can go do EPIC STUFF. You can take risks, because failure doesn’t affect your identity. You try again. 

When your mindset forms your identity, you are less likely to freak out when you face setbacks or when the world seems to be going to hell.

Do you need to know your big WHY? Maybe.

But it’s more important to know who you are (your identity), apart from what you do and what you have.

The good news is that you get to decide who you are. If the story you tell yourself about yourself isn’t working, you change the story.

That’s what I help people do as a mindset coach. 

I can help you get started to your EPIC life. Free mindset reset.

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