Helping Small Business Owners Produce Freedom So They Can Enjoy an Abundant Life and Live Their Passion & Purpose!
The What, The How, and The Why…
Written by Steve | Published: |
Just over a year ago I was working with a lovely couple out of state and as we were talking about their financial concerns over zoom they expressed many of the challenges that come to those looking to retire.
The interesting thing was that when they asked what they wanted their money to do for them they got confused. They thought of it more as something they had to watch and babysit like a toddler with a sharp object.
Instead we talked about their money being more like employees or soldiers going and completing tasks for you.
These folks had a nice nest egg saved but no real vision of what they wanted to create.
As we chatted I gave them some ‘homework’ before our next meeting.
Their job was to figure out WHAT they wanted and WHY they wanted it.
Then I could easily show them HOW to obtain their goals.
I also challenged them to dig deep. Surface level answers here don’t serve you very well.
So here was the exercise and it might help you as well.
Discovering the WHAT:
Step 1: “If money were no object…”
I love this question and it actually reminds me of my dad. He would ask me, “If money were no object…”
What would you want to do with your life?
How would you like to be remembered?
Who would you like to bless/serve/impact?
What would you do for fun, travel, health, etc.?
What would you like to do for your family, kids, grandkids, friends?
Step 2: “If you knew that you couldn’t fail…”
Then the same questions:
What would you want to do with your life?
How would you like to be remembered?
Who would you like to bless/serve/impact?
What would you do for fun, travel, health, etc.?
What would you like to do for your family, kids, grandkids, friends?
This is such a fun exercise because it gets the dream machine going again. You almost get a child-like excitement and curiosity coming up with fun things you could accomplish.
Once you have your brainstorming sheet of ideas there are going to be a few that really jump out to you and will feel drawn to get momentum going on some of those.
That WHAT now becomes what Napoleon Hill calls your “definite chief aim”.
Discovering the WHY is what helps your goal really come to life.
Step 3: 7 Levels Deep
The basic premise here is asking yourself WHY you want the WHAT you just wrote down. But then asking kind of like a preschooler would ask ‘but WHY’ 7 times.
This part of the exercise you have to allow yourself to be very honest with yourself. Do NOT filter yourself or be concerned about being selfish, ego driven or anything else you perceive might be slightly ‘negative’ motivation. Nobody else is going to read these thoughts; they are just for you.
So let’s use an example here:
I want $30,000 a month to be passively flowing into my life…
Why…
I want to be able to travel and enjoy golfing at my club and drive whatever car I want.
Why…
I want to tell my friends at the golf club the cool places that we are traveling to.
Why…
I want them to respect me and know that I have been financially successful.
Why…
I want to feel important.
Why…
I grew up in a big family and although I felt loved, I always wanted to stand out and feel significant.
And so on…
We only got five WHY’s deep but you can see how the outside surface goal is transforming into a deeper rooted emotional source.
When you get to the true emotional source it helps you really get clear about WHAT you want and WHY you want it.
