The Most Important Thing about Anything Is Knowing Why

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It’s all about knowing why.

If you ever worked in big corporate America, you’ll remember “The 5 Whys.” And for some, five wasn’t enough—their versions bumped it up to “The 7 Whys.” I worked for a couple of them. 

The 5 Whys” method is ridiculously simple—when a problem occurs, you drill down to its root cause by asking “Why?” five times. You can geek out some more on it here.

But knowing why something is the way it is isn’t where I’m going.

It’s simply this: Why are you doing what you are doing?

I first came across this idea while reading a post from Derek Sivers, the creator and founder of CD Baby. At the 2015 World Domination Summit, he declared…

The number one MOST IMPORTANT thing is knowing WHY you are doing what you are doing.”— Derek Sivers 

So, who’s Derek anyway? And why should I care? (Did you catch that one.) I hope so because it’s kinda the point I’m talking about.

This is from his About the Author quip on Google Books: “Derek Sivers is an author of philosophy and entrepreneurship, known for his surprising quotable insights and pithy succinct writing style. Formerly a musician, programmer, TED speaker, and circus clown, he sold his first company for $22 million and gave all the money to charity.”

Interesting guy to say the least.

Asking “Why?” needs to be your go-to question to nearly everything… Why am I doing this? Why do I keep doing this? Why does it matter? Why is it important? Why do I need this?

That last one might even save you a few bucks along the way.

We’ve both probably seen the quote below a million times in one meme or another. It’s the existential version of knowing Why?

The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.”— Mark Twain

If you’re buying into what I’m saying, you can start by thinking like a three-year-old until you’re satisfied you can’t ask “Why?” one more time.

Don’t be obnoxious about it though… I’m not suggesting you constantly go “Why? Why? Why?” Well, maybe … just a little.

Most of the time you’ll be querying yourself anyway.

Why it matters…

People will naturally assume that if you’re in this game (whatever “this game” happens to be), you already know everything you need to know.

They also believe they’ve answered every question imaginable. Even if they haven’t actually answered a single one. I know, but it’s how we’re wired.

Here’s the thing… they would be wrong.

The problem is we’re human.

So, what does it mean to you?

Wouldn’t it be useful to know why?

It’s on you to ask. It’s up to you to find out what you need to know. For you.

Ask questions. Ask why? And ask it a lot. 

Be untucked.

p.s. Oh! If you found this post helpful, be sure to share it with a friend who needs to know why. Thanks, I owe you one.

Copyright © 2024 Jeff Meister – All Rights Reserved