First, check this video out. Now, what is your why? What are you here to serve? What is that meeting place of need and service that moves you most? What is your WHY?
I have some thoughts out of my own experience and I thought to offer them here. They were spurred by my last post Charting Course Part I and I had to write them out, here and now. These are the results of 30+ years in education, training and leadership… in marketing, human resources and management… in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.
Your WHY is your EMPIRE
To use the words of Jane Atkinson, I might suggest that your WHY is your EMPIRE. It is the big picture purpose of what you deliver on with whatever talents you have. Your WHY might be LEADERSHIP or CARE or IMPACT or JOY or INNOVATION or… you get the picture. Your WHY is ultimately what you deliver on, at core.
FINDING your WHY in your TALENTS
To use the language of Richard Bolles, you might find your WHY in your MEMBERS. He suggests that we find our purpose through those activities in which we lose ourselves physically and mentally; our members. These talents, I suggest, are vehicles. They are your delivery systems; of your WHY. But, they do offer clues to your WHY as well.
In our work with The Virtues Project™ globally, I might suggest that you can also find your WHY in your VIRTUES. Identifying what core strengths of character you breathe without thinking can also give you clues to your WHY.
As a vocalist, and a lover of music, I will also suggest that you can find your WHY in a SONG… your song. Music speaks to us and through us; it moves us. Finding those songs that we lose ourselves in might be a clue as to our WHY. My off-the-top-of-my-head-and-heart 10 include… Unity, It’s Not My Time, I’ve Got the Music in Me, Simple Man, Silent Lucidity, Sound of Silence, The Power to Dream, Alive, Battle Cry and May It Be. These songs speak to my passion for the virtues of nobility, humility, service, courage, zeal, idealism, love, honor, unity and wholeheartedness. The songs and the virtues are in alignment; a powerful clue indeed.
If I then take these songs and virtues… and ponder and discern their connection to my love for teaching, speaking, training, facilitating, coaching, consulting, writing, cartooning, singing, dancing, entertaining and creating; well where once there stood possible confusion about path… now there is thought that my talents are delivery vehicles for my passion and purpose. If I dig deeper… and I will… I start to see talents that can now advance my core service.
My EXPERIMENT
I champion classrooms, companies and communities of Humble Swagger™. I do so through teaching, speaking, training, facilitating, coach, consulting, writing, cartooning, singing, dancing, entertaining and creating.
This is an evolution.
and SO…
So, as we approach 2016, ponder your songs, virtues and talents to see what clues they provide as to your WHY.
- What is your WHY?
- Who do you best serve and how?
- What talents will you you use to deliver on it?
These questions are the straws to mix the drink. They are intended to get you pondering what moves you, what impact you most desire and how you might achieve it. A mission is no simple sentence but something that exists within you, moving you. It is your Lombardi Trophy, World Cup or Stanley Cup. 
It is what you seek. It is your WHY. This week, we will continue the exploration. Hope you join us.
Peace, passion and prosperity.
Barry Lewis Green, aka The Unity Guy™