One of my favorite words is “why”. It’s better than “how”. How is easy. Look it up. Ask someone how they do it. Hire someone to do it for you.
“What” is a great word. It’s vital to know what you want, what the client wants, what the world wants. Without knowing what we want, our life is dictated by randomness.
“When” is an important word, but one of my least favorite. Deadlines, due dates, promises, statutes of limitations, all necessary, but a major source of anxiety.
“Who” can be good or bad. Who we marry, who hires us, who we associate with, can bring us great joy or great despair. Often, it’s neither because most of our relationships aren’t especially deep or overly time consuming.
Which brings us back to why.
Why connects us with our deepest desires and purpose. You may know what you want, and that’s essential, but why you want it is the emotional lubricant that gets you moving towards it. And when you are having a hard time and feel like quitting, remembering why pulls you back from the abyss and back on track.
Why bypasses logic and transcends limitations. Why is your inner child speaking. Why is raw emotion and gut feeling.
Think about something important you want to accomplish this year. Perhaps you want to earn a certain amount of money. That’s “what”. But it’s never the money, it’s what you could do with that money. That’s your why.
Think about your why. It should feel good. Put a smile on your face. If you are tense right now, thinking about your why should relax you. Give you hope. And inspire you to act.
Yes, why is one of my favorite words. But sometimes, why can also be one of my least favorite words.
Why didn’t you finish? Why did you say that? Why isn’t this important to you? Why is this taking so long?
Questions like these speak to our deepest emotions because they make us aware of our frailties and faults and remind us that we don’t have what we want.
You must not dwell on these thoughts. Answering them is useless and harmful. Let them go.
Think about what you want, and why. Everything else will take care of itself.
