This is my favorite question, just like an annoying four-year-old. And since the popularity of Simon Sinek's book “Start with Why” it seems to be the thing on everybody's mind.
When you have to do something you don’t want to, your why will make it fun.
When we have a written and shared goal that is tied to an intrinsic motivation, the science of cognitive dissonance tells us that we will voluntarily engage in;
“(ethical) unpleasant activities in effort to achieve a desired goal.”
Researchers concluded that those;
“who can attribute their work to an external reward stop working in the absence of that reward, but those who are forced to attribute their work to intrinsic motivation came to find the task genuinely enjoyable."
This is why I continue to tell clients, “If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.”
But I am starting to think the popularity of Simon’s book has totally screwed us.
It seems that the trend to start with why has left many in a frozen state, afraid to take any steps to do anything without the magical realization of the why. Now the search for purpose has become an excuse for inaction.
Yet research by William Damon, Ph.D, Professor of Education at Stanford University suggests that a sense of purpose is driven by action and passion.
You don’t think your way into your why, you work your way into it.
Your why is an evolution, not a revelation.
To find your purpose, you must do something.
Here are some of the things I have done and coached clients on: