How Do You Find Your Why?
When you get goosebumps, listen, because God is talking to you.
I recall the moments from my younger years when I would watch a great movie like Rocky or listen to a coach give a pep talk before a big game, and goosebumps would suddenly cover my arms. A feeling of pure happiness and excitement would rush through my body.
I have always loved that feeling!
For me, goosebumps are an involuntary response that is synonymous with following your own path in life and living an authentic life.
When was the last time you got goosebumps? Do you remember what caused them? What connects with you on such an emotional level that your body secretes enough adrenaline to produce them?
Think hard because this is where your Purpose lies. Lasting success in life comes from following a path that leads you closer and closer to your Purpose. You're headed in the right direction whenever you get goosebumps!
Over the last couple of weeks, you've spent some time gathering your thoughts on what Freedom means to you. You've developed a rough Vision of what would be required for you to live a more autonomous life. You understand it's not going to be easy to get there. If you want to find your Freedom, you should understand now; it's going to be a struggle. Getting there will require taking a much more difficult path than the one you are currently on.
The combination of finding Freedom by following your Purpose gives you the intrinsic motivation to go Against the Grain and stay on the path. One without the other is like having Waze on your smartphone but no tower in the area to provide a signal to use. Don't make the mistake of pursuing Freedom without first determining where your Purpose lies. Let me explain why.
Going Against the Grain with a focus on just Freedom – not Purpose.
The battle cry for these people is, "Screw the 9 to 5! I hate my job and my boss. I don't want to answer to anyone but myself!"
People taking this approach understand that Freedom grows in their lives by owning a business, rental property, or another type of asset that provides a consistent stream of positive cash flow and doesn't require hours and hours of their time.
Their thought process is: I can purchase a car wash or laundromat, hire a good manager, and then do what I want during the week for the rest of my life. The overriding goal is to be your own boss and to call your own shots.
I've seen it too many times. An employee drowning in the embalming fluid of corporate America realizes that she hates her job and wants to own her own business. While researching companies to own, she listens to entrepreneurial guru after entrepreneurial guru explaining the benefits of owning a car wash or laundromat.
The employee quits her Corporate job and purchases a laundromat with her hard-earned savings.
However, the new business owner never genuinely had any interest in running a laundromat. She purchased the business solely to generate the monthly cash flow necessary to support a new life without a boss.
Two years later, obstacles have arisen, as they always do, and the owner has no emotional connection with the business. Margins continue to deteriorate from a lack of new direction. Before you know it, the new business owner is scrambling to sell at a yard sale price or simply closing the business down and declaring bankruptcy. What felt like Freedom turns into a reality worse than having a '9 to 5'.
How do you find this marriage of Freedom with Purpose? It's not easy, but you can do it.
It took me a couple of years after quitting my job as Plant Manager to start figuring it out. Here's how I regained my sense of purpose after realizing what had given me goosebumps, despite following Society's rules and struggling to navigate the corporate world for the first nine years of my working life.
Think back through your life. What experiences gave you goosebumps as a kid? How about as a teenager? A young adult? Keep moving forward. Look for the strands that tie the experiences together. What are you doing when you get goosebumps?
What is the little muse sitting on your shoulder trying to tell you? If you hope to succeed on the path called Against the Grain, your destination needs to be the realization of your Purpose.
Listen closely to that little voice in your head, your authentic self, whenever you get goosebumps. Building the second leg of your stool depends on finding your WHY.
An expert in finding Purpose is Simon Sinek. I highly recommend his excellent book, Find Your Why. Purchase the book and follow his step-by-step process. After much personal reflection, where you gather important personal stories about yourself and identify the themes that are always present in your life, you'll draft your Why Statement.
The Why Statement is;
TO _______________ SO THAT ____________________.
As Simon so expertly explains, the first blank represents the contribution you make to the lives of others. The second blank represents the impact of your contribution. Simon expresses his WHY as follows: To inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that, together, we can change our world.
My 'why' Statement for writing my book is: To give readers the inspiration and the plan to break free from Society's chains, so that they can live the life they want to live.
Take a quick look at this short video from Simon Sinek explaining how to find your WHY:
Next week, we’ll explore another methodology for discovering your Purpose. Take your time with this step, as it forms the very foundation of the new life you are looking to live!
Do you know someone who dreads Sunday nights? If so, please forward this message to them. Let's help more people rewrite their weeks.
If you enjoy this newsletter, the best compliment I could receive would be for you to share it with a friend or restack it.
Until next week, remember the function of Freedom is to free someone else!
I wrote Against the Grain: Ditch the American Dream and Build Your Own! to show you how to plot an alternate route to Society's Path and provide instructions for breaking out of Society's Box.
You can purchase my book by clicking on the link below: