How to define your why or purpose
This blog is part of the Brand Foundation Series. Where the first post in the series talked about your vision and mission I am getting into how you can define your why.
It might seem logical to start with this one instead of your mission and vision. But I have found that business owners do have at least some idea of where they see themselves in the future. But when asked about your why there is a block. And I guess this is why a lot of businesses skip these steps. It’s such a ‘large’ thing too narrow down and can be so overwhelming and frustrating.
And I feel that because of this, it is good to start with something that is familiar and, at least, partly known before diving into something that requires a bit more work and thought.
I quickly mentioned this quote in the blog about mission and vision.
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
It was like a lightbulb moment the first time I read this. There are probably so many other people who do exactly what you do. So what makes you different from anybody else?
Why you do what you do!
And a very important distinction that Simon Sinek mentions in his book is; ‘As a business, you need to know what, how and why. Money is not a why, it is a result’.
Which to be honest, was another light bulb moment for me. I have seen so many struggle with this. Because, of course, we want to make money. We are a business after all, not a charity. But I have seen so many business owners struggle with their why as they felt selfish because they started their business to make money. The result of having their own business and the money that it would generate would give the results that they were looking for; time with family, be at home for the kids, travel more.
So their why, felt selfish.
The way I have been approaching this is by saying there is a personal why ( the time, freedom etc) and there is a business why (why you started this business). So this distinction from Simon Sinek made so much sense to me.
And when you see it this way, feeling selfish just disappears.
So, now we know money is just a result of what we do we still need to define why we do what we do.
Because this will drive how you do it, this will drive your motivation because you feel so emotionally connected to what you do and this will bring energy into what you do and how you present your business. Which in turn will build a connection with your audience.
On the flip side, when you don’t know why you do what you do how are you going to sell your services? How do you know what kind of services you are going to offer? How are you going to create content that is going to connect with the right clients? You will start doubting what you need to do, create, say. And possibilities seem endless because you have no compass to guide you.
How do you know what your why is?
This is the part that will take some work. So grab a coffee, a pen and your notebook because it is time to brainstorm. Ask yourself the following questions and keep asking yourself why you feel that way or think that:
What’s your business here for?
What is your purpose?
These ones can be quite difficult because it is quite general so I want to list a couple more questions that can help;
What excites you most about your business?
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
What makes you go on with your business even though there is so much ….(you don’t know/to learn/to overcome/people don’t believe in you)
Something that I have noticed is that even though I am still in the beginning phase of my business and I am not making as much money as I used to do in my corporate job, I feel so much more proud of the money that I have made with my business. Because I feel like I have actually contributed to other people being able to take the next step in their business. What brings a smile to my face is when a client tells me about the results they have been getting. And that is what, for me, makes all the hard work worth it.
And off course the money I earn helps me to live the kind of life I want to live. But what keeps me up at night is not that I don’t make as much as I used but. What keeps me up is how I can improve my process, if the call I had that day was ‘good’ enough, if I give enough value to my clients.
So think about this one, but take your time. Come back to it in a couple of days. And it does not have to be this perfect sentence right now, as long as you can start to see how this would be the red thread through everything that you do.
Up next
Next up in this Brand Foundation series is values and beliefs. These will guide you on how you are going to show up as a business to the outside world. And this will help you ‘prove’ your why. As everything that you do is an opportunity to prove that you really stand behind your why. But to be able to do this, and do this consistently, your values and believes need to become ingrained in your business so that it can drive your behaviour.
How do you feel about your current Why? Does it really drive your Brands Strategy?
Are you not sure about your answers and do you feel you are overwhelmed and need focus and direction? Then let's chat.
I help you to go from overwhelm to clarity and take action in my 3-month mentor program. The program includes weekly calls and email support in between the calls. There is also some 'homework' involved so that you can directly practice what you have learned and feel empowered.
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