What motivates you in life? Do you have anything you’re striving towards? It could be early retirement, financial wealth, or as simple as providing for your family. With this kind of question, it’s easy to say something off the top of your head…I want a higher paying job, I want to start a business, I want a new car, etc, etc….but why?
The 5 Whys
Around the early 1900s, Sakichi Toyoda of Toyota Motor Corporation came up with the, “5 whys”. The 5 whys is a technique used to explore the cause and effect relationship of an underlying problem. It’s a simple exercise in which you ask yourself why, 5 times to dig down to the root of the problem. For example, lets take the scenario of someone wanting to become wealthy.
Problem: “I want to be wealthy”
- Why? “So I don’t have to spend time working”
- Why? “So I can have plenty of free time“
- Why? “So I can spend more time with my family and work on what I enjoy”
- Why? “So I can be there for my family and provide value to others”
- Why? “So I can live a fulfilling life”
This really gets you down to the core of what motivates you. In the example above, this person is seeking happiness in life by spending time with family/friends and providing value to others. Discovering your why is important because there will be times where you may doubt yourself, want to give up, or lose interest, but by knowing your why, you’ll find the motivation to push forward.
Taking Action
Discovering your why is a great exercise, but is pointless unless you take action. What are you doing to get there? When finding your goals, it’s important not to give excuses as to why you “can’t”. Doing this immediately shuts off your brain and allows your excuse to become reality. Instead, ask how can I achieve this goal. By asking how, your brain goes to work trying to solve the problem. This could take time, but is surely better than giving an excuse and not trying. It may seem overwhelming to imagine your end goal in the immediate future, so it’s best to take action on a smaller scale over time. For example, let’s say you have a goal in mind to retire early. You’ve found your why and and have decided that real estate is the vehicle to get you there. Some actionable first steps may be to join your local real estate investors association, start looking at properties, start building your support team of real estate agents, bankers, mentors, and more. Building a plan and taking action on a consistent basis is what will move you towards your goal.
Finding My Why
I’d say until recently, my goals have been rather short sited. I’ve been caught right in the middle of progressing through the typical American Dream. My previous goals were to graduate from college with a bachelors degree, which I accomplished. I then did my best to find a job during a huge recession and was not very successful. I then decided on graduate school, which I believed would help me find better paying work. This was accomplished and it did allow me to find work at a great company. I racked up a bunch of student debt and was on my way to buying a home…which sounded like a life full of debt to me. It was at this point I found there to be a problem and I needed a solution.
After running through my 5 whys, my why basically boils down to wanting financial independence to spend time with family/friends and to provide value for others. This exercise made me realize a goal for myself that was much larger than anything I’d ever done before. Ever since, I have been learning/studying and taking action on a consistent basis towards that goal. I’ve decided I want to gain financial independence through online semi-passive income streams and rental properties. Now, this is a goal that could take many years, if not decades to accomplish. I have much to learn between now and then, including buying and managing rental properties, online marketing, product creation, how to provide richer content across different mediums, and much much more.
It’s not easy starting a new venture, so finding your why is essential. I’ve found my why and even though I’m uncertain about the outcome, it has me highly motivated to make my dream a reality. I’ve found that what I dislike most is regret. I don’t want to wake up one day to find myself broke at 65 years old wondering what would have life been like had I strived for something different. I would much rather try and fail than have not tried at all. Failure is almost inevitable as you take on risk, but throw in a growing number of successes and you may find yourself exactly where you want to be. So, what’s your why?
