Remember your why: Uncover Your True Motivation in Life
The Significance of Your ‘Why’
“One who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
- The driving force behind your actions
There is a famous saying “remember your why.” Many of us have a why in our life. Our why is the reason behind what we do in life and how we do it. Our why isn’t just a career or financial goal it’s our whole lifestyle all summed up behind this one why. It’s our driving force, our motivation, and the key behind our consistency to achieve all our goals in life.
- Why your ‘why’ matters
Find your why, and your why will allow you to carve out realistic plans and set boundaries for yourself and for the people around you. It will help you to make decisions with precision and not regret them afterward.
In some cases, people have yet not figured out a why for themselves which puts them off track
and they might lose their purpose in life, and resort to wasting time on meaningless
activities.
Defining Your ‘Why’: What Is It and Why Do You Need It?
- Your ‘why’ is your life’s compass
What is your why? Why is your why important?
Your why simply is your reason to wake up every day, strive and struggle for a better tomorrow.
It’s your main aim in life. Each one of us has a different why and that’s why all of us are on
different paths of life. Success, healthy relationships, appreciation, health or financial stability
all of these can be your why and this why is the reason all of us work and have different
priorities.
- The link between your ‘why’ and fulfillment
Your why is immensely important for your own fulfillment. Having a sense of direction in life
will give you a clear path to move forward or else you will wander aimlessly and let your
potential wither away. To emphasize, your why is your purpose in life. This purpose can alter
your perceptions. It correlates with health, wealth, and even success.
The Impact of Having a Clear ‘Why’
- Making informed decisions
Studies show that purposeful people have better immune systems, recover quickly from
devastating events in life, and even live longer. Your why will improve your overall outlook on
life by changing the way you view adversities, good occurrences, sickness and death. Knowing
your why will ward off you stress because when you have a clear path and destination, you
won’t pay heed to what-ifs and the fear of failure.
- Setting boundaries and priorities
Your why will let you differentiate between your rights and wrongs, your boundaries, your
values, help you in making major decisions and also outline your priorities.
In short you identifying your why is extremely important for having a clear mentality.
The Consequences of Losing Your ‘Why’
- Wandering aimlessly
You might ask yourself the question what will happen if there is no why in my life? When you
haven’t discovered your why or if u forget you why, your life will be meaningless to quite an
extent. You get off track and spiral into never-ending anxiety, and procrastination.
- Falling into meaningless activities
Your why prevents you from having doubts about yourself. Self-criticism can be vicious and its
immensely important to be kind towards yourself and your circumstances. When you know the
purpose behind everything you are doing and the outcomes that lay ahead of you, you will be
more eager to face challenges without going into a self-pity party.
Identifying Your Why: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Setting meaningful life goals
Your why will help you with broader subjects as well as precise organization, you will build a
routine and hold yourself accountable for not sticking to the routine.
If you are just yet starting adulthood, or even if you are a troubled adult here are
uncomplicated steps to identify your why:
Identify your main goal
Before we can stand out, we must first get clear on what we stand for. – Simon Sinek
What is something you desire in life? What are your passions? How do you want your
life to unfold? All these questions are what your mind plays almost every once in a
while. When you don’t have a destination for the journey that is life, it becomes quite
difficult to navigate yourself through the obstacles that life throws your way.
Your goals are personal and effective to you only, they can range from health, financial
independence, academics, looking after a sick family member or just maintaining
relationships in general.
When you have a goal in life, your purpose will be much more distinct and you won’t let
negativity around you hinders your efforts.
Pinpoint your values
What is something from within yourself that makes you the unique individual you are
today? What are your internal priorities? What are things you will not compromise on
under normal circumstances? These factors are your values, they can be religious,
spiritual moral or just social.
These values are essential for determining your core why, your purpose because once
there is clarity about values there is an added factor of definition to your why. It’s much
easier to define your why once you know what are the factors that affect you
personally.
Recognizing Your Strengths and Weaknesses
- How do strengths empower your journey?
Your strengths and weaknesses will reveal your potential to be the best at what you
want to do. Your weaknesses will allow you to become the best version of yourself and your
strengths will give you the confidence to move forward.
Both of these aspects of your personality will allow you to dig deeper in identifying your purpose and your why by letting you decide what to work for, how to work for it, and whether it is worth the
struggle or not.
- Leveraging weaknesses for personal growth
In whatever phase of life, you are present or whatever your abilities and weak spots are,
their identification will help you identify what you want to do in life by keeping
them in mind.
Take a deep breath and sit down to reflect on the things you are naturally good at and
things that need constant effort. You will have your answer.
Taking Action: Implementation of Your ‘Why’
Even if you are unsure about your why and think that you are in a confused phase of life,
don’t hurry things and make the wrong decisions, instead take your time, go over all the
details. You might want to take help from a close friend or family member who would
give you unbiased advice.
After you have all the details figured out do not sit with them. Start making small and
effective changes in your life that will affect a bigger part of your life.
- Building a routine for consistency
You’ve discovered your why, your main purpose in life, and what you need to do for it.
Your motivation is soaring at that time, but unfortunately, motivation is not constant. It
is not a part of your daily routine, you will wake up on days and would not want to get
out of bed.
In those moments when your motivation is “low” the thing that will keep
you going is consistency, willpower, and strength. Consistent habits make you reach your goals.
While we have carved out our why, sometimes it goes to the back of our minds or even
out of your subconscious when things go slightly wrong.
Tips to Remember Your Why
To remember is why is as important as having a why, a purpose in life.To make sure that you do not rely on fleeting motivation to face rough days here are few tips to make sure you remember your why at all points of life and it isn’t just something theoretical.
- Keep it in plain sight
The first thing to remember your why is to make sure that you constantly see your whys. Write them down on your planner, create your vision boards, make them your screen saver or even just stick a note on your bathroom mirror. If
your main goal is being kind or being thoughtful make sure you are reminded of it at
all times of the day. Do you want to get into medicine? Write all the anatomy jokes you
know and stick them to different surfaces in your home.
The idea behind this activity is to make sure that you are constantly seeing what you
are working for and it isn’t just a distant thought but a part of your day.
- Setting realistic goals along the way
Single out short-term and long-term goals. Your main goal is a very broad subject, to
achieve and be able to tackle it you have to set checkpoints. This way you won’t
have a very stressful opinion on it.
For example, you want to become an engineer or you want to get a stable job by making short checklists like passing the entrance test, figuring out interviews will lessen your workload and instead of dreading your goals you will be happy when short-term ones are fulfilled which will consequently add up
to form the larger picture.
- Prioritize mental stability over emotional highs
Do not chase blindly without taking in account your mental and physical well-being. When you have a purpose in life its natural to do everything you can to attain
it, we race with time, but its not healthy. Slow and steady wins the race. You should
be constantly paced rather than slow or fast. Do things in a manner that does not
affect you negatively.
Its important to keep your composure in difficult times. Try not to get caught in the
highs and lows of emotions rather than try to be constant, keep a calm demeanor and
take in everything with a positive mind.
Although panicking, stressing, and being anxious is natural and even normal for
people, with practice and different techniques you can overcome it all.
Your priority to attain self-purpose and your whys is directly related to prioritizing
emotional stability over emotional highs.
- Have faith in yourself
Last but not least, actually the most important is to never lose hope. You
should be your number 1 cheerleader. Life is very short to incorporate all the
different whys people can have. Pick out the most important ones and stick to them.
Take on constructive criticism with an encouraging attitude and try to ignore the
ones putting you down. You will get through all the sunny and rainy days that life
offers.
Conclusion
Nurturing Your ‘Why’ for a Fulfilling Life
To conclude, you can not diminish the importance of defining and remembering your why for yourself, furthermore you must not forget it once you’ve discovered it.
Life is full of distractions and negativity, the biggest favor you can do to yourself is to not
gravitate towards these two things. Have a clear mindset, set out an uncomplicated path for
yourself and make sure in the process of becoming what you want, you do not lose yourself.
All the things you have planned out will come towards you on their own pace and time, what
you can do is that you make sure your mind and heart agree on the same thing. Know your
values, never forget your passion, and start working for a better future, and healthy life.
Chase your dreams and never underestimate your strengths but always work on your
weaknesses. All of this will have a significant impact on your life all together and you will see
self improvement.
