What’s Your Why?

WHAT IS YOUR WHY?


I wrestled with this question for many years. If you ask most people what their why is they will tell you they live for their children, or they live for their work, or they simply don’t know... I was in the don’t know camp.


I love singing opera, I love being a scrum master and test analyst in tech, I love coaching individuals and teams. I am also a photographer, a blogger and embroidery artist / craftpolymath but I couldn’t honestly say I lived for any one of those things.


I don’t plan to have any children because I my partner and I made the decision years ago that that wasn’t something we felt we wanted and I don’t believe we really ever live for our jobs unless those jobs fulfil a higher purpose (as we are exploring here).


So what is my why? Why am I here...


I feel it’s important for us all to take the time to work out their higher level purpose because human beings need to have an aim. If you have no aim then it doesn’t matter what you do and that breeds apathy.


I’ve always believed It’s better to have an aim and miss than to have no aim at all.


So how did I find my why, and how can you find yours?



How did I find my why?


1. First of all I got a piece of paper and wrote down / listed all of my strengths, talents, skills, attributes.


2. I the identified and wrote down my highest held core values. I have an exercise I use with all my coaching clients which helps them identify what their top values are. This is a really powerful exercise. Get in contact if you’d like this worksheet.


3. I looked then patterns and connections between all of those things.


What did I find?


I found that what links my passions for music, performance, opera, photography, embroidery art, and psychology was story telling and communication.


I realised that my WHY was all about communicating the messages that are important.


- To tell my story about my journey with mental health, my fitness journey and to help others find themselves and to find joy after living with depression or anxiety.
- To communicate the beauty, power and emotion of music.
- To help others capture their stories in photos and in art.


I have since learnt that If I am doing these things then I know am living my life purposefully and with authenticity and that brings great peace of mind.