The why behind everything: How a simple question can help all areas of life
Have you ever thought about the reasons behind what you do or how you do it? Why is such an important question that you will need to ask yourself throughout your lifetime. Why do you exercise? Why do you wake up so early in the morning? Why do you believe what you do? Why don’t you believe it? Why do you eat what you do? Why, is such a simple three-letter question that has the impact to influence your and my daily lives. I listened to the Prompt Us Podcast. A lot of what they discuss is understanding the why behind your actions and choices. It made me take the time to slow down to ask why in various areas of my life, making me realize that I need to change something if I want different results.
Why is it important to ask “Why?”
Why is this a great question to ask? It's one we need to ask ourselves occasionally. Because it has the potential of helping us align with our purpose. Now you need to question every decision you make but why is good to ask when you have some big decisions to make or are struggling with an outcome. It helps you search deep into the motives for something you might consider doing. Why did you start the blog? Is it to bring value to people or is it because you see many people doing it? Why are you on social media? To learn from creatives in your industry or to aimlessly scroll because you're bored? Asking why helps to see your values, choices, habits, and your past decisions.
What are your motives?
We have talked about it so far but your motives can be seen when you ask why. Ask why helps me be honest with myself and it can help you too. It could be the very thing that helps you from no longer being stuck in what you might be in. Why can motivate you to make changes that you would have not made had you not ask this simple question. Understanding the intentions that you might have for something either helps correct your character or make sure it is aligned to your beliefs and even identity. Now I am not trying to make why to seem like this big heavy thing. I just think bringing awareness to your life can help you make simple and small changes that compound over time.
Areas that can improve when you ask why
Why can sometimes be one of the hardest questions to ask. It can go unnoticed too. At times asking why may not ever cross someone's mind. But it has the potential to break and disrupt your mundane routine. It allows the automatic to now be analyzed to go deeper. Going deeper may mean revisiting your past that influences the why. That’s not easy to deal with but so needed. Here some areas that asking why can improve:
Change your habits into good ones.
Meaningful and deeper relationships.
Intentional use of social media.
Healthy choices that help your future self.
Walking out your God-given purpose with a focus.
I enjoy what James Clear mentioned in his newsletter about doing things differently to see change. "In many cases, the outcome you want will continue to elude you—even if you try harder. But it may be possible if you try differently. Can your current choices carry you to your desired future? If not, something has to change. You can’t get there from here. You have to get on a different trajectory." Asking the why helps break that cycle of the same to see different results for your life.
I have a list of some great books that focuses on improving the various areas of your life and some that have helped me to keep improving:
What’s the why you need to ask?
