This is an excerpt from the book I am writing called, “Living Your Purposeful Life”.

Nike has a slogan, “Just Do It”. Which is simple and motivating to get you going, but after you have been doing it for a while, you tend to ask yourself, why am I doing it? And the answer to your “why” is what keeps you going and the stronger the “why”, the more reason you have to do it. I also believe the more positive your “why” the more happier you are in just doing it.

For example, why do you go to work? If your only answer is, “because I need the money to pay my bills”. That does not sound or feel too motivating! But what if you answer was, “I go to work, so I can afford my cottage and spend long weekends by the lake.” How does that feel? I am sure it would feel much better if your reason is, “I love the work that I do,” but I know that not everybody “loves” their job, and your “why” may not require that you “love” your job. Your job could just provide some groundwork for you to do something greater in this life.

What if you are a parent, and you took a job that was only during school hours, so that you could spend time with your children and take interest in their activities. Do you really need to “love” that job, you could “love” it, but if your real “love” is spending time with your kids, is it worth it doing your current job?

It really comes down to what is important to you and what are you willing to accept for what is important to you. I do not think that you should take a job you hate, just because of the hours. You do not need to settle.

I was watching one of my favorite movies recently, “Independence Day”, and one of the lead characters was talking to the First Lady of the United States and the conversation goes something like this.

The First Lady asks, “What do you do?”

She responds, “I am a dancer.”

“Oh, Ballet? Theater?”

“No, Exotic.”

“Oh, I am sorry.”

“Don’t be. The money is good and my son is worth it.”

This is a woman who knows what she is doing and why. Do you have this type of conviction?

Sometimes your “why” will change, especially once you achieve a goal. I remember I had a goal of becoming a state champion in wrestling when I was in high school and I achieved it, but when I went to university, I tried to wrestle, but it was just not the same. I felt that I had achieved my “why” and I was done wrestling. I could not find a “why” to keep me motivated to keep wrestling.

Sometimes, your “why” will have to wait. I knew that I wanted to be married someday and throughout university, I had several relationships, but they all ended before they go to serious. It changed to be even fewer relationships after graduating and I was working on my masters. I believe this was because the “why” for finishing school was more important than the “why” to get married. After completing my masters, I was married within 2 years, and not to the girl that I was dating when I finished my masters.

We all have good “why’s” for what we are doing and we need to make sure we keep re-evaluating the “why”, because after you achieve the “why”, why are you still going? If you got good grades in high school so you could attend a fancy law school to work at a fancy law firm and you are there today, why are you there? I hope that you did not just get stuck in a rut and feel there is no way to get out of the rut.

If you are uncertain why you are currently doing what you are doing, take a look back at how you got there and look at some of the decisions you made along the way and ask yourself why you made that decision. May be you took your job because you thought it would lead you to something else, or it was the something else you were looking for. Is it still today? Should you be dusting off your original “why”, or may be it is time to find a new “why” and see where it will lead you.

Why am I writing? I enjoy writing and this writing is flowing from me and I am enjoying what is flowing from me and the comments that I am getting from my readers. I have a deep knowing that this book will allow me to open another chapter to my life. This writing is also a way for me to examine myself and my experiences and from this writing, I am exploring deeper into myself. Through the exploration, I am becoming more aware and a better me. From the comments I am getting, it is getting you to start to question and for that I am grateful.