always start with why

Imagine you are walking down a street at the local park, and you see two homeless people sitting on the bench, each with a piece of paper in hand and a cap for money on the ground.

One of them has an empty cap and a piece of paper, stating: “I am blind, please donate.”

You move on and see another man with a cap full of money. You notice him holding a piece of paper with the following message: “It’s spring and it’s beautiful, but I am blind.”

The message moves you and touches the deepest part of your soul. You stop to reflect and help this person who asks for nothing but touches the hearts of people passing by.

This short story not only teaches us to be kind and generous towards the needy but also exhibits the power of human emotions. Most importantly, it reveals a key business lesson that every entrepreneur, marketer, and self-employed person needs to keep in mind: Always start with why.

In his book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, Simon Sinek points out, “People do not buy WHAT you do; they buy WHY you do it.”

This is the primary reason why certain leaders or companies are successful, and others are not.  It’s a simple idea but if you believe in it and implement it, it can create some remarkable results for you and your organization.

Essentially, this means that why you do something is a lot more important than who you are, what you do, or even how you do it. And so, if you want to achieve significant progress in your business, you must first and foremost zero in on the WHY behind your work. Only your WHY can inspire people to follow you, support your cause, and/or buy your products.