I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how important it is to know WHY you do what you do rather than just knowing what you do and how you do it. Many of us miss our own potential, settling for a life that merely tells us what to do and how to do it. We’re constantly being told what to be and how to be, what school to go to, who to date, where to work, where to live, how to live, even when to live. We’re so conditioned to the ‘what’ and the ‘how’, but we never really explore WHY. Simon Sinek, author of “Start With Why”, champions this idea as well. Here’s what he has to say about WHY:
“What is your purpose, cause or belief? Why does your company exist?Why do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care? Six years ago I found myself in a place I’d never been before. I lost my passion for what I was doing. Waking up was a chore and going to work required all the energy I had. It was the discovery of this thing called the Why that restored my passion. It proved to me that I had the right to feel fulfilled by my work and that I didn’t have to suffer through a job I had. It was so powerful that I decided I was going to devote all my energy from that point on to proving to others that fulfillment is a right we all share and I was going to do my part to show people a way that we could all come home at the end of the day and say, with a smile, ‘I love my job’.”
I’m guilty of starting with ‘what’. People ask me what I do and I tell them. Nothing more, nothing less. Every now and then, someone may ask how I do something. But it’s pretty darn rare that someone wants to know WHY. And that’s the deeper, more meaningful question. That’s the question that draws people and inspires people.
It’s one thing to tell people that I’m a designer or a creative entrepreneur. It’s another thing to tell people that the reason WHY I design and seek to launch creative projects is to awaken possibility in others. So I’m going to make use of this blog to tell my story and my journey to pursuing my master work, my art, my voice: The adventure of awakening possibility in myself and in others.
And what better place to start than today.
Today was a good day. I’ve been on the grind, working to take 4th Park Studios from a mere idea to a small company. This is one of my dreams: To start a small creative company. This is a season of building. Next is expansion. Then comes the team. It’s all part of a bigger vision to awaken possibility in others.
Today, I met with a good friend and soon-to-be client who’s in the middle of drafting a plan to develop a personal brand around speaking and life coaching. He’s another one of those young aspiring voices in the city of Atlanta, in need of a creative platform to launch from. And that’s where I and 4th Park Studios come into play. There are so many people in need of creative services to help make their ideas happen. And there’s so much possibility to be awakened!
The meeting last a few hours, but it was worth the time. I had a chance to get to know him on a deeper level as we discussed life and vision. He’s at the beginning of an amazing journey and I am eager to be a part of that story. It’s clients like these that get me excited the most. Seeing them start from scratch with just an idea and a lot of possibility. It’s the possibility of what could be and the idea that we’re all capable of making ideas happen that fires me up.
It’s the story – the reason WHY people do what they do – that makes us stop, pay attention, and connect. It’s these stories of people expressing their art, living their passions, sharing their ideas, promoting their music, selling their products, and raising awareness around causes they believe in that’s priceless. This is the beauty that makes us human.
I have joined the ranks of these amazing stories. In just 3.5 years, I’ve helped so many people tell their stories just a little faster and a little clearer with a creative edge. It’s not just about designing a website or a logo or a flyer. Designing for me is about helping communicate a bigger story. It’s more than just designing for the sake of design and pushing pixels on a computer.
Hopefully, you can getting a deeper understand of WHY I do what I do.
What about you? What is that you do and WHY do you do it? Or, what is that you want to do and WHY do you want to do it?
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