Need Motivation? Understand Your "Why"

In his book "8 Ways to Great", peak performance coach Dr. Doug Hirschhorn explains that understanding "why" you want to achieve a particular goal in life is more important than knowing "how" you are going to get there. If your reason "why" is compelling enough to you on a personal level then the "how" becomes almost irrelevant. Having a powerful reason "why" will motivate you to overcome obstacles that keep you from your goal. Even more importantly, a powerful "why" will help you bounce back when you experience a setback.

How Having a Compelling "Why" Works
This was illustrated to me in our town by a remarkable mom who was not happy with the local school system. She felt strongly that not enough attention was being paid to the interests of the children in the district and the changes that needed to be made to correct this. When she realized that the best way to accomplish her goal was to get involved, she decided to join the school board. Now this mom did not know anything about public office, or politics, she dreaded the thought of speaking in public. She had no experience with school administration or education. If you were to meet meet her you would say that she is generally shy and quiet.

None of this stopped her however because she was passionate about why she should run for the school board. She did not know many of the "hows" in this case but she had a strong enough reason "why". She had children in the school system and personally knew many more children also in the system. She wanted to assure that decisions made by the school board always accounted for the best interests of the students (vs. the many special interests that had representation at school board meetings). She worked tirelessly to communicate her message and once elected to the school board, worked relentlessly to assure the board looked out for the best interests of it's students.

Know Why You're Running Your Business
Running a business can be a chaotic mass of never ending tasks that demand personal attention. The smaller the business the more this is true - as you are most likely doing mostly everything, if not everything, yourself. It's important to take the time to ask yourself why you do what you do. Your reason why has got to be meaningful to you, energize you, and motivate you in good times and bad.

The Two Questions

1 - Why have I chosen to do what I do?

2 - Why am I still doing it?

Dr. Hirschhorn suggests that one's initial response may be: to make money. That however is a reason, not necessarily the reason. There are many ways to make money. Take your time and really think about your responses to these questions. How did you get started on your current path? Find the "why" that resonates within you and ignites your passion.

It is also possible that after all this introspection you may still not be able to find the right answer. This too is a wake up call. It may time to examine a third question:

What would I rather be doing in life?

Knowing your answer to these seemingly innocent and simple questions will help you as to strive to reach your next level of success, whatever that goal may be. Write the answers down! Refer to them periodically. Once you have good reasons "why" you're doing what you're doing then you can consider the "what's" and the "how's"

A Lesson from Big Business

Sometimes it's amazing how an opportunity presents itself so subtly and yet at the same time stare you in the face. It's truly a loss when we don't realize it until the moment has long passed.

An Opportunity Lost for a Large Business
I went to a large, nationally known department store recently with a printout from their web page. I wanted to buy a rototiller for $255 online. The online ad showed the product out of stock but I needed the tiller right away. So I went to the store with the ad in hand and explained my story to the sales associate. He said he couldn't help me, that the particular model was not in the store and available only online. I asked about all of the in store models and whether he could work with me on price to come closer to the ad price. There was even a model that was the same base price as the one in my ad ($319) but he said he couldn't work with me on that one either. Now the sales associate was polite and friendly but he also never really seemed eager to try and help me. No one else was in the lawn & garden area so it wasn't like he was overwhelmed with work. He was on the floor waiting for customers to approach. Yet when I approached he was happy to just tell me he couldn't help me. Apparently he felt he had done his job.

I asked if I there was a manager around that I could speak with. He said no and even asked why. I told him I wanted to speak to a manager who is interested in making a sale. He told me they are not interested in coming down that far in price on any of the tillers in store. I said OK and left. I went a half mile down Rt 22 to the Home Depot, showed them the same online ad from the other department store. They had the same rototiller and gave me the ad price. More importantly, the sales person didn't say no. He asked questions, got information.

The Lesson for a Small Business
I thought about my shopping experience that night and tried to come away with what the lesson is for a small business owner. Both of the stores I went to were large chains so the lesson in this case wasn't "small businesses sell cheaper rototillers". What I came up with was this: small business have the advantage in their flexibility. They are inherently better equipped to change quickly in response to their market conditions. It's kind of like the difference between driving a motorcycle through midtown traffic versus a stretch limo. The smaller vehicle can adjust to changing traffic patterns better the larger vehicle. It's important for the small business to recognize this and use it as a strength.

My guess is that the first sales person was probably adhering to some policy he was trained to adhere to. When a customer came with a different opportunity than what he was trained to handle he realized he couldn't help and told me so. He told me so politely as he was also probably trained to do. Apparently Home Depot has a different policy that makes it better equipped to handle the specific opportunity I presented them. The small business can and should have policies in place, but it should also have the ability to recognize opportunity and adjust accordingly to maximize upon it.