By Enio Sacilotto, www.coachenio.com
Do you want to have consistent focus, energy, persistence, and motivation to reach your goals and get what you want? If your answer is yes, then you need to ask yourself “why”. Why do I want to be an elite athlete, why do I want a University degree, why do I want to own my business…? You need to practise self-awareness to find your “why”! Why do you need to find your why?
When you take the time to think about and set your goals, you are primarily using the conscious part of your mind. Then when you think about your why, you incorporate the emotional part of your mind. Your emotions are your greatest guide, they are reliable and connected to your heart and spirit.
When you find your why, engage your emotions and heart spirit, you give your goal a higher meaning greater than yourself. A light will go off in your brain and kick-start you into acting! Your why will become your driving force, it will create the determination, motivation, and persistence to make your goal a reality. Once motivated, you will seek the knowledge and the skills necessary to reach your result.
The second key to getting what you want is a step above knowing your why, IT IS OWNING YOUR WHY WITH YOUR HEART! Tell other people about your why, share it with a parent, a spouse, a coach, a mentor, or someone you trust.
Reminding yourself about your why will keep your emotions and your heart engaged, thus keeping your internal motivation strong, keep you inspired through adversity and make the tough days a lot easier.
You will find more inspiration and more purpose in what you do. You will make the right yes or no decisions when you own your why!
Each person has a unique “why” for playing sports or anything they do. Maybe your why for playing sports is to be with friends, for physical fitness, to compete at the highest level possible or to one day be a professional athlete.
Here is an example of a T.E.D. talk by Jody McDonald. Jody is a specialized photographer who spent 10 years sailing in all kinds of wild conditions and sickness in the high seas, all over the world. Her why is that “adversity is always worth it; a comfort zone is what you want to avoid.” Sailing and a camera was her vehicle in the search for meaning.
The 5 Why’s exercise is a simple tool you can use to determine your why. Taiichi Ohno of the Toyota Motor Corporation developed the exercise in problem solving issues within the company. By repeating the question of why do I want to achieve this goal, 5 times, you dig deep inside your heart to find your core why.
Here is an example of my why for becoming a career coach:
You can click here to download a blank template. You can discover your why and find the passion in your heart that will drive your burning desire to do almost anything every day to reach your goals.
Coach Enio Sacilotto, President of International Hockey Camps and The Mental Edge Training seminar. Currently Enio coaches at the West Vancouver Hockey Academy, is Head Coach of the Croatian National team and has 36 years of coaching experience (including coaching professional hockey in Europe and coaching the Victoria Royals of the WHL). Please email him at [email protected] or call 604 255 4747 if you have any questions or are interested in any of his services, website: www.coachenio.com.