Find out your why and express it to the world

Since February this year, I have changed my whole life for the reasons for finding out my why and expressing it to the world as soon as I’ve found it.

Why? Because I turned 50 years old in June, I decided to live my life with clarity and purpose.

In fact, this script of finding who I was had repetitively ran in my head since I was 28 years old.

Third Time Is A Charm

As mentioned in my bio, I had quitted my corporate job twice before to find the why…but the road to self-discovery was not easy. It involves a lot of trials and errors.

I was unsuccessful in my previous two attempts. Frustrated, I went back to my corporate world, telling myself that I would not waste my time and money again on this nonsense.

That said, turning 50 years old made me realize that I had more years behind me than before me. The sense of urgency heightened, I knew that I needed to give another try if I was serious about learning myself, before time was running out.

At the third attempt, here I am.

I left my corporate job the third time in January, stay at an ashram in India for two weeks in February.

To my disappointment, the clarity of who I was really did not show up on the flash screen of my mind in India.

It took me a couple more months until one afternoon, I heard my inner voice, and this website was born.

My burning DESIRE to find out my whys finally persevered.

Life At A Close-Up

Based on statista.com, North America’s average life span is 76 years for males and 81 years for females.

Let’s use 81 years as an example.

Now I am an accountant by trade, let’s use the following computation to illustrate my points:

Suppose that we all need 8 hours of sleep per day; that means that 1/3 of your life is spent on sleep, which leaves you with 2/3 of your lives to do what you want.

Time

How to spend your 81 years

1. 8 hours on sleep = 24.3 years
2. 8 hours at work from 24-65 years old = 13.7 years
3. 0-16 years old on studying and growing
4. 81-24.3-13.7-11=32 years (years remained for self-exploration)

Besides, if we subtract from the 32 years the time we spend on our family, TV watching, vacationing, etc.

And, if God forbid that we do not live until the age of 81…

This number would definitely become smaller.

I think I’ve made my point.

The realization of the limited time we all had forced me to start taking action to get my whys.

Why Is Your Why Important?

Like the fish know they belong to the water, and the birds know that they are meant to fly.

Your why gives you a reason to jump out of bed, excited to begin your day.

Your why would motivate you when life knocks you in different directions, and when you do not yet see the results you want.

Your why would give you clarity and a sense of purpose in life.

Like what my guru said, “Only when you do not know yourself, the opinion of other people becomes important.”

Your why is your authenticity, your uniqueness that no one else in the world has. As human beings, every one of us has that, WITHOUT EXCEPTION.

The question is, we were not born with owners’ manuals. Not unless we intentionally seek and pay attention to clues on our why, it might be buried within us and never get discovered in our lifetime

How Do You Find Your Why?

In my very first post “Know Yourself”, I’d mentioned my detachment from my body, and my mind sharpened my perspective of who I was.

This space between the mind and the body allows me to see myself more objectively. As they said, I become the witness of my own body and mind.

In addition to cultivating this space between the mind and body, I’d thought to include below some of the questions raised in my current coaching classes to help you discover your why if you are still seeking.

Key Questions On Getting To Know Your Why

But before that, I’d thought to give you a clue.

Your why generally have to do with your uniqueness, talents, or strengths.

And, to my surprise, your why often is something that you are already doing naturally; you do not even notice (I am the proof).

So here we go:

1. Ask three of your close friends what your gifts are? As mentioned, your skills are often something you have naturally; you do not notice them yourself. So, your friends might have better ideas than you do.

Examples: are you empathetic? Empathy can be a good strength.

2.What do you day-dream about?

3.What are you doing when you lose a sense of time? (e.g. cooking)

4.What are you doing that gives you more energy?

5.What do you do differently from everyone else?

6.What is your future identity doing right now?

As you identify your strengths, you can develop them further. As you grow them, you will become more authentic in yourself.

One thing to note is that you would want to ‘Listen to your thoughts’ when asking yourself the above questions. Your inner dialogues reveal a lot about your whys.r

Celebrate Your Why With The Rest Of The World

Now, here is the best part.

When you’ve found your why, you would feel a sense of alignment between your head and heart. This sense is really indescribable.

Your previous confusion in your life, all of a sudden, dissipate (that was my case).

And what you do at this point?

You celebrate it by taking action to develop it further.

You tell the world who you really are. You want to help everyone with your gifts. Based on my own experiences, I realized that we are all here to serve one another after all. You are the solution to someone’s problems.