What is Your Why? Examples to Help You Find It
Updated November 10, 2023
What inspires you? Do you know?
Understanding what moves you and stirs your passion can be a key, a component, to leading a more fulfilling and meaningful life. Often we refer to this concept as your WHY. (In recent years the term or concept of finding your why has been made popular by the Authors and Consultants Simon Sinek and Seth Godin).
In other words, WHY do you do what you do? What is your core motivation and objective in life and business? That can be a difficult question to answer, and while some people seem more easily attuned to the answers than others, we can all find our WHY with a little work.
Here, we'll discuss how to find out your WHY by examples of others who have done just that.
Person standing with their arms extended asking - what is my why?
Why WHY Matters?
So, what's the big deal about knowing your WHY? Of course, you can go through life in a 'hit or miss' fashion where sometimes you're moving with clear direction and purpose and other times you aren't. But if you do that, you'll only be producing your best some of the time.
Everyone has motivations that fuel their joy and sense of fulfillment. And you owe it to yourself to find out what fuels you. While your passion may be more innate, your WHY might need to be shaped and formalized.
If you're a business owner, why did you go into business, and why this business? What drew you to what you're doing, and what will make you happy within it. You'll have to dissect your most fulfilling times to figure out what precisely brings you joy. But when you figure it out, you can develop a formula for repeating the process.
Benefits of Knowing Your WHY
Here are some of the rich benefits of knowing your WHY:
Can lead to increased sense of purpose and happiness
Can clarify the direction of your life
You can develop more explicit goals
You can focus on your goals - less wasted time
You'll live longer and healthier
You'll become more resilient - rebound from set-backs easier
You'll live with more integrity
Questions to Ask Yourself
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
Why do I value this over that?
Why am I not happy when 'this' happens?
Why do I do this?
Why does 'this' stress me out so much?
What makes me smile?
The answers to these questions may all be different and seem not connected at first. But consider asking why of each of those answers. To every new answer, ask yourself why again. Eventually, your responses may start to take a common shape, and your WHY will become visible.
You aren't necessarily born with your WHY; it may develop through life circumstances.
Are you working on your WHY? We can help. Visit Get Impactful today to learn about how we can help you better align your purpose with work.
Make a Statement
One way to clarify your WHY is to write it as a statement. You can do this for your life's WHY or your career or business. Here are a few examples:
Personal Example 1
One business owner lost her husband suddenly to a massive heart attack. She says that she would have been lost if the people in her life and business had not formed a community for her. She was helped and supported by her connections.
Her WHY statement is:
My WHY is to help people be more connected in their life, career, and business. … I want to make sure that everyone has the tools and knowledge to build their own community so that they can survive whatever life throws at them.
Personal Example 2
Another woman realized that so many people were dying, never having done all they aspired to do. She didn't want to have the same experience, so she created a personal and business statement that reflected her mindset.
Her WHY statement is:
To leave the world better than I found it and be remembered by the people whose lives I touched as a force for good in their lives.
Other Personal Examples
To inspire children to be more than they thought they could be.
To use my writing skills to inspire and educate others around the world to make change.
To be kind to others and myself.
To help men, women, and children find hope after loss.
To positively impact the life of every person I encounter.
To encourage and equip others to live the lives they want to live.
Person looking at a bulletin board with many ideas, trying to find their WHY.
Business Example 1
You know the incredible reach of Spotify, one of the biggest online streaming services for music, podcasts, and audiobooks. The company has experienced steady growth since it first launched in 2006 and, by April 2021, boasted 133 million premium users.
Their WHY statement:
To unlock the potential of human creativity by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by these creators.
Business Example 2
The mammoth success of Google LLC escapes no one. Probably the most well-known company globally, they first launched in 1998 in Canada. Google has been rated as the most influential brand of all time! The company has undergone rebranding but maintains its prominence and cutting-edge innovation.
For such a great company, their WHY statement is simple:
To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Business Example 3
Have you stayed in an Airbnb lately? They are an online marketplace that has made lodging available almost anywhere in the world - a home away from home. Airbnb boasts 7 million accommodations and 50,000 handcrafted activities hosted by locals since its launch. Their idea of creating accommodation is both simple and innovative.
Their WHY statement:
To connect millions of people in real life all over the world, through a community marketplace - so that you can belong anywhere.
Other Business Examples
Asana - teamwork communication manager: To help humanity thrive by enabling all teams to work together effortlessly.
Uber: Transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone.
PK Clean - converts plastic waste into reusable oil: To end landfilling and create a clean & secure new energy source, for a more sustainable world.
Do you want to make a contribution to the world? Visit Get Impactful to find out how.
