People set off on magnificent journeys, to be something, to go somewhere they’ve never gone, and to achieve something that they’ve longed for. It’s an exhilarating experience when you’re fueled with the intense desire to move outside your comfort zone to achieve a goal. But before you set off on that adventure you need to first establish your “Why” statement:
Why do you want what you want?
Why did you set that benchmark?
Why are you willing to take the risk to achieve this goal?
There is nothing more powerful than the “why”, not even the what. If you want to travel the world, it’s not the trip as much as the lifelong memories you will gain.
My “why” statement was to become successful enough in my career that I could build a financial wall around my family that no one could penetrate. I didn’t want to put our lives at risk because of lack of effort. The “why” was the desire to protect my family, no matter what threats arose. The means to that end was aggressively pursuing a career that would allow me to profitably accumulate wealth.
A compelling reason is your motivation. And it must be strong enough to sustain you during challenging times. I didn’t want to be on an airplane 250 days a year, and there were many times when I questioned my decision to leave home again. In the end, however, I remained committed to my “why” statement, confident that it would lead me to my goal. When the wall was strong enough, I could cut back on the travel, but not until then.
When you can produce a strong enough “why” statement, you can achieve anything you want.
