Maybe because my degree is in journalism but my formula from success is easy. It’s based on the six questions that make up any good story: who, what, why, where, when and how.Who?
Knowing who you are, your strengths and weaknesses, your passions, your purpose is critical to success. Who you are determines what you want and how you will develop your plan and approach challenges and setbacks. When you know who you are and what you have to offer, it creates an authentic confidence that will propel you towards success.
What?
What is just as critical as Who. Actually, they work together. Once you know who you are, what you want should flow naturally from that. What you want is born out of who you are. What do you want to manifest? What parts of you – talents, desires, dreams – do you want to bring out or focus on? Spend some time making your what very specific and targeted. The universe does not respond to ‘vague’.
Where?
Look around and take stock of your current circumstance. Maybe you know where you want to go. You can see your vision. Yet, to get there you have to start from here, using the resources available to you right now. Where you are might not be ideal but it is where you are. The good part is that if you start working towards your goal, you won’t stay where you started for long!
When?
While it is true that there might never a perfect time to begin, it is also true that some times are better than others. You wouldn’t want to start training for a marathon while you are eight months pregnant. Look realistically and courageously at the timing. Be realistic about what you can do and courageous so you won’t use timing as a reason to procrastinate.
Why?
This question is often overlooked, and if you ask me, it’s the main reason why projects get derailed and dreams get deferred. You have to find a why … not someone else’s why but your own why. Why is this important to you? Why do you want it so badly? Why does what you want matter to you? You need a reason so intimate and so compelling that it can carry you through over the hurdles and help you find a way through the challenges.
How?
People gloss over some of the earlier questions and try to start here. They put a lot of thought into how they will do something before they even know what they truly want or why it really matters. The how is the last part of the equation. If what you want is based on who you are and why you want to achieve your goal is truly compelling then you can work out how you’ll do it.
1 comment:
Yup, this is a good post. The personalized note about your background being in journalism works well in the blogging platform.
True about the "how" - I think most start-up business conversations do focus on the how, without the "why," a critical question for differentiation of products and services. I'm scared for some business owners who are sinking their life dreams in start ups without asking the why question.
Post a Comment