When trying to find your “why”, think about what you’re motivated to work on and then ask yourself “why?”. Why do I want to work on this? Once you have that answer, ask yourself “why” again. Generally, if you repeat the process of asking yourself “why” 3-5 times, you will likely have identified your “why”- the reason that you really want to accomplish something.
Let’s take a look at the following example of a patient, Cathy, who feels motivated to eat healthier, and is on a mission to find her “why”.
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Cathy first asks herself, “why do I want to eat healthier?” and identifies it’s because she wants to lose weight. This is a great start to finding her “why”, but she knows she should dig a little deeper.
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Next she asks herself “why do I want to lose weight?” and identifies it’s so she can fit into a special dress for her daughter’s wedding.
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Finally Cathy asks herself “Why do I want to fit into this dress for my daughter’s wedding?” and realizes it’s because the dress has sentimental meaning, as it’s the same dress her mother wore to her wedding.
Identifying your "why" is helpful, but what do you do with it afterward? Check out our article titled, "Creating a Why Statement", to learn how to utilize your "why" to make a powerful "why" statement that you can utilize to help keep you motivated.