Post a writing group session, I continued working on a book I’m aiming to get published this year.
“Knowing your ‘why’
J M Whyne
is very useful.”
‘Knowing your ‘why’ is very useful‘ is one of the ‘life lessons’ in it. While thinking about this section, I remembered a blog post I wrote, Knowing Your Why (15 Nov. 2017) and the YouTube clip that prompted it.
In this clip, the comedian Michael Jr. points out that many of us know or start with our ‘what’ (as in what we do, the occupations or roles we have, etc.). He suggests that it is our ‘why‘ that is key and makes the important difference. Watch the clip to see how he demonstrates this.
‘Why’ + ? =
This resonated deeply with me back in 2017 and is resonating deeply again now in 2024.
Back then, I was wrestling with identifying my main motivation, my passion, my raison d’etre. As evidenced by another post, Why?, which was posted shortly after the ‘Knowing Your Why‘ post referenced earlier.
Now, I’m wrestling with how to make living out my ‘why‘ a tangible, concrete reality—that can also pay the bills. While still (full transparency) sometimes questioning my main motivation… And whether I am actually up to the challenge.
A positive is that over the last few years, I have identified my ‘why‘. Something I was reminded of recently when I happened on this video, which was for a Poet Life submission, while trying to clear up my phone storage.
So do you know your ‘why‘ from your ‘what‘?