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Start With Why

Here at the Ottawa 4 You Real Estate Team – we’ve been challenging ourselves to dream bigger.

If you can’t visualize where you’re going – you’re never going to get there. But sometimes, the problem is you don’t even know where to begin because you’re not giving yourself access to those “big ideas” and keeping yourself in the micro.

One read that found itself on our books shelf this month is Simon Sinek’s Start with Why. With over one million copies sold, the captivating TED talk speaker reminds us that if we don’t keep our WHY in perspective, what we build sits upon a crumbling foundation.

The book follows the success of many great innovators, titans, and organizations who know their WHY and contrasts them to those who had all the tools for success (if not more than others) and failed due to lack of clarity of what they were really working towards.

A reoccurring theme of Sinek’s work is the mantra, “people don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it” … but the same can be applied to the individual.

The things you do: wake up, go to work, make money, raise a family, etc. etc. etc …. Those are the WHATs, but they’re not your WHY. You do those things for a purpose – and that purpose is unique to you. Most of us don’t give a second thought to this purpose though, and that’s a mistake.

Do you know what motivates you, what inspires you? Are you living your life to be the best example kindness? Athleticism? To offer hope to the hopeless? To challenge the status quo? To teach others? … whatever it is … do you know your WHY?

While the question is simple, it is not easy to answer. It takes honest, self-reflection, and requires asking yourself hard questions. Even now, I’m not convinced that I know my personal WHY … but it’s a work in process and I’m getting closer every day.

The book is filled with inspiration and hard questions, but it’s also laced with vivid examples that stay with you long after you’re done reading.

For your daily dose of inspiration, we wanted to share a favourite moment of ours from the book:

Ron Bruder is not a household name, but he is a great leader. In 1985, he stood at a crosswalk with his two daughters waiting for the light to change so they could cross the street. A perfect opportunity, he thought, to teach the young girls a valuable life lesson. He pointed across the street to the red glow of the “Do Not Walk” signal and asked them what they thought the sign meant. “It means we have to stand here,” they replied. “Are you sure?” he asked rhetorically. “How do you know it’s not telling us to run?”

 … Bruder is driven by a clear sense of WHY. He sees a world in which people accept the lives they live and the things they do not because they have to, but because no one ever showed them an alternative … there is always another perspective to be considered.

 We challenge you to pick up the cause. Do something this week to grow your dreams and challenge your thinking. Are you where you want to be? Personally? Physically? Financially? Spiritually? … if not – how will you get there?

Do you know your WHY? Are you searching?