What's Your Why?
A small exercise to help you check in on yourself
In your work and day to day, you probably have an understanding of what you do and how you do it. You are in X role, that role has the responsibilities of a, b, c…etct and you do 1, 2, 3, 4 things really well. In doing those things, you may or may not be successful and you may or may not be fulfilled in doing them, the way you are or where you are.
One way to help you get there is a concept that Simon Sinek has identified called the Golden Circle he came up with in a Tedx talk and then a book, Start With Why - how great leaders inspire everyone to action.
The Why
Here’s an example of starting with why.
We love technology and are immersed every day in learning and building new things, it’s given us the opportunity to build this amazing personal organizer platform that will help users optimize their day in an intuitive way to let them get to the core work they need to do.
Versus
We have built this amazing personal organizer platform that allows users to optimize their day through answering common email questions, surfacing calendar invites via push notifications, automatically sending calendar invite requests when times don’t work, it summarizes notes for you, etc.
Can you spot the difference?
In the first example, we start with the why behind the builders and their passion for learning which led them to working on ways to optimize their day and then create a platform to help others solve that problem. In the second we focused on what the tool is and features it could do.
Which do you find more meaningful?
Which platform are you more interested in using?
The Golden Circle
The Golden Circle consists of three concentric circles: Why, How, and What. The Why represents the core belief or purpose of an organization, answering the question of why it exists beyond making a profit. The How represents the organization's unique approach or value proposition, explaining how it fulfills its purpose. Lastly, the What represents the tangible products or services offered by the organization.
This frame can easily be adapted to you! What is your why? Why do you do what you do in life? Why are you a software engineer and not a painter? Why are you a kick-butt Sales Executive and not a doctor?
Starting with why means identifying and understanding your core beliefs, values, and passions. It involves reflecting on the deeper purpose and meaning behind your actions and decisions. By clarifying your why, you can gain a sense of personal identity and direction, making it easier to set meaningful goals and make choices that align with your values.
The Golden Circle framework can guide personal decision-making. Begin with your why—your core purpose or belief. Then consider the how—your unique strengths, talents, and approaches that can help you achieve your why. Finally, determine the what—the tangible actions, goals, and outcomes you want to pursue.
To help you get to your why, it might be helpful to identify your core values:
What I learned today #2: Surfacing Your Core Values
A lot of us go by in life wandering, not knowing how to make our next career choice, and/or unsatisfied by work or what we are doing. Life is hard, our work and day to day are demanding. Our relationships in our lives are challenging. There are a lot of times where we just can’t seem to catch a break.
And for how you’re doing overall, here is a small exercise that I do with myself every couple months or so and my direct reports to see how fulfilled or not I am currently:
The Exercise
Timing: 15 - 20 minutes
Goal: See how you are doing in your work life against your why and your fears.
What’s your why?
Why do you do what you do and why are you in the profession you're in?
Write down a couple sentences or a few bullets
(Strongly recommend surfacing your core values before answering)
Why are you at X company and what do they do that aligns with your personal why?
Write down a couple sentences or a few bullets
What do you run away from?
What are the things that you really don't like that provide you a lot of discomfort so much so that facing them is like torture.
What do you fear losing?
What are the things in work and/or life that are the types of things that keep you up at night or are that little bug in your head that's in the background
Now take 5-10 minutes and evaluate how you are doing against all three right now and write it down.
The last part of this exercise is the fun part. If you’re totally aligned with your why, you are far away from your “runaways”, and your fears are not being actualized - Congratulations you are rocking it!
If you are finding that your current job is not aligned with some of why and/or you are hitting some of your “runaways” or fears - Also, congratulations! You’ve now identified areas that you need fulfillment in and created some binary questions to help build yourself up and address to get yourself back in a good place. Because at the end of the day, if you are not fulfilled in your why, you are hitting your runaways and your fears, guess what you will be miserable and you will move on from the things causing you these pains.
This knowledge now gives you the power to dig in and change your situation, and guess what? If you are a manager, your direct reports have the same things going on too. I would recommend doing this exercise with them and putting on your multiplier hat for helping them reach their fulfillment too.
Until next time, keep learning!