5 Questions For Figuring Out Your Why (for just about anything)

Photo by Mubariz Mehdizadeh on Unsplash

“What’s your why?” they say. It’s everywhere. I’m sure that you sometimes get tired of hearing it. The endless memes and motivational quotes.

“Find your why and you will find your path.”

“You have to know your why before you determine your how.”

But, what if you just kind of shrug your shoulders and don’t really know what your why is? It’s easier than you think to figure it out. If you’re not sure of your why in any given situation (and you should probably have one in most), ask yourself these five questions:

1. What’s in it for me? If there isn’t anything in it for you, then you probably shouldn’t be doing it. Does it bring you joy, financial gain, or benefit a cause that’s important to you? If not, ponder whether or not it’s worth the sacrifice in time.
2. What’s in it for others? Are your motives purely selfish (not always a bad thing) or can you help someone else in the process? What impact will your actions have on the world around you? These considerations should be part of your why.
3. What do I want to happen? You are taking action because you want some specific outcome. What is that outcome? That’s your driving factor and a central part of your why.
4. What’s my motivation? Are you doing…