When I was a kid I never wanted to do stuff that I was not good at or that I thought was hard to do. I only liked to do stuff that I was good at. Matter of fact I am still like that, but what I have realized now is that even the stuff I was good at was hard too. It took work, hard work, to continue to be good at it and took even more hard work to get even better at it.
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. – Thomas Edison
When setting goals and making plans I used to think, “Okay, what do I need to do?”. I don’t think I am alone in thinking like that as it seems quite natural that if you are going to plan something then you need to know what you are going to do, but…There is one missing thing here and that is “The Why”.
Why are you going to do this thing you “need” to do? Sometimes this is just something that is known, for example, “I need to find a frying pan and heat it up because I am going to cook this steak”. The “Why” in this case is “I am hungry and need food” or “Eating raw steak will make me sick”, in any case it is pretty straight forward “why” you are going to find that frying pan. Sometimes, though, the “Why” needs to be explored and stated more clearly. For example, “I need to wake up at 530 am every morning to go out and run 5 miles”. In this case the “Why” might be “I want to improve my health and stamina” and that might be the reason and nothing more, but maybe it is something more like “I want to improve my health and stamina because I want to be a better basketball player” and from here we could maybe even go deeper into reasons.
No matter what, in both cases above, you need to be clear about the “Why” of your goals and plans if you are going to insure that you will be able to succeed (at least to a certain level of success).
That is why now I always try to remind myself of the “Why” of stuff I want to do. I want to make sure that I know that when this thing gets tough (and in most cases anything worth doing is probably going to get tougher before it gets easier, and then after that it is probably going to get tough again) I am sure about “why” I am doing it and hopefully it is enough for me to keep at it even through the tough times.
Now I want to tell you about a great way to dig into your “Why” and remind yourself of the reason for putting in that extra time, that hard work, that dedication to the things you do and the stuff you want to get done. The technique is something that was used at the Toyota Motor Corporation to figure out the root causes of problems and it is called “The 5 Why’s” technique. The basic jist is that you ask yourself “Why?” five times.
“Why do I have to get up at 530 am to run?” I want to improve my health and stamina. “Why do I want to improve my health and stamina?” I want to be a better basketball player. “Why do I want to be a better basketball player?” I like basketball. “Why do I like basketball?” It is fun to play. “Why is basketball fun to play?” I like to spend time with my friends doing something we all enjoy.
Now we could actually probably go on and on and on and the technique is like being a little (perhaps annoying) kid that keeps asking “Why?” about everything, but the beauty of the technique is that it really makes you take the time to consider your reasons for your goals and plans. It helps to put your reasons in perspective for you and it will help you to understand how important your goals and plans are to you.
On Pinduin we want to help you achieve your dreams and goals so we always start with the “Why”.
When you are writing your goals then ask yourself why you want to reach for this goal. If it is NOT important enough for you then you will probably give up. We don’t want you to give up. We want to help you keep reaching for your dreams and so we want you to start with your “Why”. We always say, “Let’s get started! What stuff do you want to get done?…Okay, now tell us Why?”
Well, now it is up to you to ask yourself 3, 5, 6, or even 1000 more times “Why” until you get to the answer. We know that by doing this you will be absolutely sure that you are doing stuff that you “want” to do and it is the stuff that you “will” get done!
Join us at Pinduin to get organized and start getting more stuff done now!