How many conferences have you attended and been asked to name your Why? “My kid(s)” is the answer 90% of the time. It’s an easy and obvious answer, but your kid is not the answer.
Your family is not your Why.
The idea of Finding your Why stems from Nietzsche’s quote, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” If we’re in the realm of Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning the necessity of a strong why to bear the most difficult how is obvious. But it’s rather insulting to apply something meant for surviving a life or death situation to getting up in the morning to go do your job (Pro tip: If this is your situation, find a new job).
You should be looking for what will make you thrive, not merely survive.
Food on the table and a roof over the heads of yourself and your loved ones is legit reason to push for the paycheck, but there is something more that lives within each of us, no matter your familial status. There is a light in you that, when lit, brightens everyone and everything around you. You become beautifully backlit, infused with energy and excitement. The brilliance of it all is that though you may have allowed your light to dim, it can’t be extinguished.
Once you rediscover your Original Spark you can rekindle it and begin to see its sparkle in aspects of all you do. When you infuse your work with self-defined purpose, it brings clarity. You can effortlessly identify the aspects of your work that are enjoyable, either in their natural ease or in how you welcome challenges that will make you better. When you more readily see the bright spots of what you do, you are also more able to diagnose the drudergy that should be delegated. Don’t despair, because the aspects you dislike are the same that fan another's flame. Where you may detest paperwork and minutiae, someone else dives in and devours the most minor of details (Let’s hear it for the Transaction Coordinators!).
When you identify what lights your fire and you name it, you tap into the law of attraction and your energy becomes magnetic. Not only will you begin to organically attract more of your ideal clients and deals, you will also begin to seek them out more intentionally using the right language in your marketing and spending your dollars where they make the most sense.
Highlighting the parts of your business that infuse you with enthusiasm brings daily reminders of why you choose to do what you do -- why you love it! When you do more of what you love in your business and delegate what you don’t, you’ll find yourself running a more successful business while reclaiming the time and energy previously wasted doing the things you hated.
When you work from this place of authenticity, you won’t burn out. You’ll find that you’ll have more energy and enthusiasm for all areas of your life. You will have the time and energy to spend where it really matters: with the people you love doing things to be remembered.
Rekindle your Original Spark and bring energy, enthusiasm, and excitement to all you do.