Know Your Why

So, you want to start a business, grow your business, or just start earning some additional income maybe through blogging or offering a course in your area of expertise.

You were probably brought to my blog for that very reason. Maybe because you were looking for tips on setting a website up, growing your list or starting to get found on social media.

Today however, I want you to take a step back and really think about WHY you want to do any of those things.

Your very first answer might be because you want to make more money. And that’s a totally fine answer btw 🙂

But underneath that answer will be a much bigger why. Why do you want the money, what do you want to do with it?

Is it to free you from the 9 to 5 of a job you are ambivalent about at best, or actually hate at worst?

Is it to make you location independent so you can travel the world while still earning an income?

Is it to give you the ability to work from home with your children, elderly parents or even pets who need your attention?

Is it so you can purchase a home where you will feel secure?

Is it just so you can afford those little extras without having to worry about your budget all the time or at the other end of the scale is it to make you rich enough that you can have a VIP experience every time, whether that’s eating out at the finest restaurants, buying designer clothes or flying first class.

Maybe your why is that you want to do work you are totally passionate about – that you have long dreamed of doing, even if it seems quirky to other people.

Maybe you have content that you want to spread to people, whether that’s encouraging them to live their dreams, get more healthy or any other message which you know can help people.

It may be that you know if you don’t do this thing  – whether that’s writing, creating, dancing, volunteering – you will have so many regrets in the future that you just can’t not do it.

We will all be very different in our answers and none of them are right or wrong.

What’s important though is to really understand what motivates us. Building a business or growing a side income will have its ups and downs along the way. You will struggle, doubt yourself, wonder if it’s all worth it – you wouldn’t be human if those thoughts didn’t cross your mind at times.

However, if you only know your surface ‘why’ in those times of doubt, you may be tempted to give up. But if you know your real why, it’s much easier to hold firm to your goal. It’s also much easier to beat procrastination, to put yourself out there and to take action when you are motivated by something that will have a big impact on your future life or on those around you.

My big why is a mixture of many of the items above. Partly it is because I want to write and teach, and I really feel that I just can’t not do that. Partly it is because I have some financial goals that I want to reach (living by the sea!). But probably above all it is that I know that time is short. I didn’t really truly wake up from the slumber of going through the motions of my life until I was in my forties and when I consider how fast the past 20 years has flown by I know that ‘if not now, then when‘. Therefore, every time I doubt myself (which happens every day btw) I just think to myself, but what are you going to go back to? That life of never feeling like you are steering your own ship, always at the call of others? And I shake my head and I dig a little deeper and I carry on.

What’s your why? What’s your bigger picture motivation? Know that and it becomes much easier to stay the course.