When it comes to paid work, I’ve heard that the average person spends about 21% of their waking life working. That’s a huge chunk of your life! When you also consider that, apparently, 80% of people are unhappy with their job, that’s a lot of time spent unhappily. But I believe it: just one scroll through Facebook on a Sunday night, and I see people lamenting about the fact that they have to return to work on Monday. (Affiliate links included).
This is also one of the reasons I started this blog.
So many of us want to make a change in our life, or we want to try something new, or we wish we had more time to travel, or focus on our hobbies, or be with our families, and the list goes on and on. We’re wishing and hoping for financial freedom to do what we’d like when we’d like to do it… but, if we’re being honest with ourselves, what are we doing to make that change?
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity… but habits are hard to break. And breaking out of the mindset of thinking you “have” to have a 9-to-5 job even more so. Trust me, I know. I’ve been there (watch my video about finding my own ‘why’).
So how do you break out of this cycle and reach for what you really want? By finding your mission and purpose in life. To put it another way: find, and focus on, your “why.”
Your why is what makes you get up in the morning. It drives and motivates you even on the toughest of days. Or as my mentor has said to me more than once: “If your why doesn’t make you cry, you’re not digging deep enough.”
Do you know what your “why” is? In my journey over the last few years, here are a few things I’ve learned.
Learn about yourself (and know you’re capable of anything you set your mind too).
It all starts with mindset. If you tell yourself you can’t ever possibly fulfill a dream of yours, guess what? You’re right. I’ve found personal development has helped me extremely, in particular “You are a Badass” by Jen Sincero. We all have stories we tell ourselves about what we can and can’t do, and once we figure out those limiting beliefs, we can work to break past them.
What energizes you? What makes you want to leap out of bed in the morning?
In other words, what are you passionate about? What motivates you? I’m talking about more than just money, because if your current job didn’t pay you, would you still want to do the work? I’m guessing the answer for many is ‘no.’ Recognition, rewards, the desire to succeed: these can all play a role in your ‘why.’ But dig deep, and get personal. For me, I look at my kids and I don’t want to miss a moment, and yep, that includes the tough ones. I want to be with them day in and day out, but I also don’t want them to miss out on things because I decided to stay home. They are my reason, not my excuse.
What scares you?
If you’re having trouble answering question number two, you’re not alone. Not everyone knows what they’re most passionate about yet, or they don’t have a clue about what they want to do with their lives.
So try flipping the question around: what scares you in life? Being stuck at the same job year after year? Never traveling to Europe? Never having enough money, or always worrying about paying the bills? By defining your fears, you can start figuring out what story you’re telling yourself about what you can and can’t do. Then you can start the work on overcoming them. (Again, the book “You are a Badass” can get you started on thinking about all this, as can this awesome TedTalk and the book “You are Awesome” by Neil Pasricha.).
Who do you want to help?
Often our fears are centered on ourselves. We worry we’ll look foolish, or weird, or we worry that people won’t understand what we’re trying to do. So flip it around and make it about others: who can you help if you overcame your fears? For me, making videos scared me right outta my pants, and I admit I still sometimes freeze before hitting that record button. But when I consider who I can help, whether it be with a makeup/skincare tutorial or a mindset video, I make it less about me and more about the person I’m trying to help. After all, I’m not in the business of selling makeup/skincare; I’m in the business of helping people find their confidence.
What do you love to do?
It sounds like a simple question, but it can be a loaded one. What are your hobbies? What do you find yourself doing and losing track of time because you enjoy it so much? (And nope, I’m not talking about the Facebook vortex; although if you want to play on Facebook and get paid to do so, we should talk).
Our hobbies can be a great indicator of what sort of job or business we should get into, whether we enjoying building things, or creating things, or helping others. Because if it’s something we enjoy doing day in and day out, and it’s tied to our ‘why’, then we’ve found a fabulous match for ourselves, and we can begin to not only live a life of purpose, but on purpose too.
Have you already found your ‘why’? How does knowing your why keep you motivated and driven? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
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I’ve been struggling with my why for years and had to put it on hold for a couple. But hopefully now is the right time to finally find out.
May I ask why you put it on hold? I’d love to chat more if you’d like!
Great blog post! I’ve tried many side businesses but gave up because ultimately they where something I was not passionate about. I’ve been blogging off and on for years now and always find my way back to it because it is something I’m passionate about. My why is to help others through my own life experiences and personal journey.
Passion can make such a difference! I took a look at your blog and it’s amazing! Thanks for stopping by and I hope my post helped <3