If you don’t have a big enough why, no how is going to help.
What does success in what you are trying to do mean to you?
What would it mean or feel like to fail?
Why do you want to succeed?
Jeff Albert
2 months ago
Everyday I am glad to be a subscriber. Thank you for your efforts in making me a better me.
Erik Eustice
2 months ago
Success means living up to my purpose of expanding to my potential so that I can help others expand to theirs.
It means applying my unique ability of encouraging others to see, believe in, and pursue what’s possible. (Myself included)
Failure is holding back. Failure is giving in to doubt. It feels like hiding. It feels like lacking something that’s rightfully yours.
I want to succeed because I believe It will create more goodness for those we serve, for my family, for my community. I want to succeed because I am here to participate in something worthy. Therefore it is my responsibility.
Daniel Kniseley
2 months ago
Great post, Larry! I think I’ve shared this before, but I call it ‘the imperative why’ – it’s what determines the what, when, where, how, and with whom, and everything that goes with those decisions, in our lives and the choices we make.
‘Why’ is what drives everything we do as sentient beings. We may not recognize it as ‘why’, or be intentional about the understanding of our why – we may classify it as a want or a need – but it’s always ‘why’.
Think about small children… pretty much as soon as they’re able to reason, the first thing they ask about any request of them or direction to them is, “Why?” They likely don’t consciously think of it this way, but they inherently want to know what makes the thing they’re about to do the right thing to do, if they’re going to be ok after they do it, what’s the adult’s rationale for wanting them to do it, and if it’s worth the investment of their (limited) resources to follow through; and we never stop asking that question if we’re smart and purposeful with our lives. Asking ‘why’ seems to be programmed into our learning how to make good decisions.
As adults searching for meaning when life takes twists and turns, the thing that inspires, or haunts, us – the thing we MUST know to find the purpose of a thing or event – is, “Why?”.
Even when Moses asked God who He was at the burning bush, what he was really saying was, “This is a tall order; why would I do all this that your telling me to do?” We know the answer now, but he didn’t then…
‘Why’ drives everything we do; whether we recognize or acknowledge it or not, it’s the imperative question in our lives from which we answer all others.
Whether it’s me answering this post, or you getting more than twice the merit badges you needed to become an Eagle Scout, there’s a why behind everything we do.
Thanks as always for a great, thought-provoking post, Larry!
Have a Great Day!!
Alexis Litz
2 months ago
My “why” is serving my community through the work my colleagues and I do, as well as my colleagues and my family. The “why” doesn’t change, but the “how” evolves and gets better with time and experience. I don’t believe in complete failure because every experience is an opportunity to learn.
George Schmidt
2 months ago
The question for most people should be, Do you have a why that makes you cry ?
Paul McManus
2 months ago
Great post, thank you Larry!
For years, the first two emails I read in the morning are your two posts, I look forward to them and it’s the best way to start my day. In my Outlook inbox I have a Larry folder where I save my favorites, I just put this one in the folder.
My business is in a different field than yours, AI software. With this said, as owner and founder of my company, reading your thousand plus emails over the years has had an amazing positive compounded cumulative effect on me and growing my business, thank you for Think Daily! Virtually you’re part of my mastermind alliance and advisory board, for this again, I thank you!
Looking forward to tomorrow’s posts!
Paul
David
2 months ago
A key to long term employee engagement: Your WHY and Vision must grow as your business grows to ensure it’s big enough for your employees vision to be realized and expand within it.
Tanner Janesky
2 months ago
For the long-term viability of civilization and Earth’s ecosystems. Sustainability.
Willis Ponds
2 months ago
My “Why” is to help as many people as I can to better their life in every way. This starts at home with my wife and children and extends to immediate family. However, my business allows me to help countless others and I want to grow my business for that simple reason. I fully believe that we can change the world for the better by simply being good and doing good to everyone we come in contact with. A business that provides valuable and needed goods and/or services gives us the opportunity to be useful, productive and positively influence people at the same time.
What does success look like? Success is when I have only positive impacts on everyone that I come in contact with. I want to leave everyone in a better state than when I first met them.
Failure would be doing something that directly affects someone in a way that negatively impacts their life and then not making it right with them.
I want to succeed so that the world is a better place for all future generations.
Everyday I am glad to be a subscriber. Thank you for your efforts in making me a better me.
Success means living up to my purpose of expanding to my potential so that I can help others expand to theirs.
It means applying my unique ability of encouraging others to see, believe in, and pursue what’s possible. (Myself included)
Failure is holding back. Failure is giving in to doubt. It feels like hiding. It feels like lacking something that’s rightfully yours.
I want to succeed because I believe It will create more goodness for those we serve, for my family, for my community. I want to succeed because I am here to participate in something worthy. Therefore it is my responsibility.
Great post, Larry! I think I’ve shared this before, but I call it ‘the imperative why’ – it’s what determines the what, when, where, how, and with whom, and everything that goes with those decisions, in our lives and the choices we make.
‘Why’ is what drives everything we do as sentient beings. We may not recognize it as ‘why’, or be intentional about the understanding of our why – we may classify it as a want or a need – but it’s always ‘why’.
Think about small children… pretty much as soon as they’re able to reason, the first thing they ask about any request of them or direction to them is, “Why?” They likely don’t consciously think of it this way, but they inherently want to know what makes the thing they’re about to do the right thing to do, if they’re going to be ok after they do it, what’s the adult’s rationale for wanting them to do it, and if it’s worth the investment of their (limited) resources to follow through; and we never stop asking that question if we’re smart and purposeful with our lives. Asking ‘why’ seems to be programmed into our learning how to make good decisions.
As adults searching for meaning when life takes twists and turns, the thing that inspires, or haunts, us – the thing we MUST know to find the purpose of a thing or event – is, “Why?”.
Even when Moses asked God who He was at the burning bush, what he was really saying was, “This is a tall order; why would I do all this that your telling me to do?” We know the answer now, but he didn’t then…
‘Why’ drives everything we do; whether we recognize or acknowledge it or not, it’s the imperative question in our lives from which we answer all others.
Whether it’s me answering this post, or you getting more than twice the merit badges you needed to become an Eagle Scout, there’s a why behind everything we do.
Thanks as always for a great, thought-provoking post, Larry!
Have a Great Day!!
My “why” is serving my community through the work my colleagues and I do, as well as my colleagues and my family. The “why” doesn’t change, but the “how” evolves and gets better with time and experience. I don’t believe in complete failure because every experience is an opportunity to learn.
The question for most people should be, Do you have a why that makes you cry ?
Great post, thank you Larry!
For years, the first two emails I read in the morning are your two posts, I look forward to them and it’s the best way to start my day. In my Outlook inbox I have a Larry folder where I save my favorites, I just put this one in the folder.
My business is in a different field than yours, AI software. With this said, as owner and founder of my company, reading your thousand plus emails over the years has had an amazing positive compounded cumulative effect on me and growing my business, thank you for Think Daily! Virtually you’re part of my mastermind alliance and advisory board, for this again, I thank you!
Looking forward to tomorrow’s posts!
Paul
A key to long term employee engagement: Your WHY and Vision must grow as your business grows to ensure it’s big enough for your employees vision to be realized and expand within it.
For the long-term viability of civilization and Earth’s ecosystems. Sustainability.
My “Why” is to help as many people as I can to better their life in every way. This starts at home with my wife and children and extends to immediate family. However, my business allows me to help countless others and I want to grow my business for that simple reason. I fully believe that we can change the world for the better by simply being good and doing good to everyone we come in contact with. A business that provides valuable and needed goods and/or services gives us the opportunity to be useful, productive and positively influence people at the same time.
What does success look like? Success is when I have only positive impacts on everyone that I come in contact with. I want to leave everyone in a better state than when I first met them.
Failure would be doing something that directly affects someone in a way that negatively impacts their life and then not making it right with them.
I want to succeed so that the world is a better place for all future generations.