Lesson 9 of 10 Life Lessons on How to Find Your Why NOW & Achieve Ultimate Success

Lesson 9

More Magic Behind the Why

I want to share a real-life example with you. One of my students catapulted his life to new levels, because he discovered and applied the true power behind the Why. Now, I am going to breakdown his Why so you can feel and find the power behind it.

First, he wrote “MY WHY IS . . . I am a radically successful entrepreneur that is building a massive business to leave a legacy for my family.”

This is great stuff! He is announcing who he is, what he’s passionate about and what he will no longer tolerate. He doesn’t want to deal with certain influences and limitations anymore. You can tell that he despises those things and knows that they are stopping him from achieving his Why.

He goes on to say, “Every day, I will make the decision to immerse myself in at least one hour of positive, inspirational personal development teachings. I create my own atmosphere of expectation!”

This man is so focused! He is making a deliberate choice to only eat and digest the right mental foods. He’s saying that what he listens to is important. If he listens to junk, he’ll become junk. If he listens to successful coaches, then he will become successful.

Then he writes, “My vision for 2013 is to be healthy, free and happy! I only invest my time with my loving family and my mastermind team that supports me unconditionally. My daily results will change my life and the lives of everyone around me.”

Very powerful and focused. Once again, he’s speaking his Why forward. It’s more than feelings or vague desires. He is speaking activity. He is speaking Why words. His Why is bigger than who he is! Remember, your Why must be bigger than who you are. It must change the person who you are. If your Why is not so big that it changes who you are, it’s not big enough. I’ll repeat that again. If your Why is not so big that it changes who you are, then it’s not big enough!

Now, I want you to break down your Why like I did with the Why above. You must know and understand your Why inside and out. Your Why is the foundation of your success in life and must be rock solid.

Break down your Why. Use a separate sheet of paper if you need it.
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There are three major obstacles that will hinder the achievement of your Why if you don’t take action. As we progress through these obstacles, I’m going to bring you back to times that life threw these same three major obstacles at me to distract me from achieving my Why life.
What are the Obstacles?
These obstacles and problems will actually serve a purpose in achieving your Why. What are they? The first obstacle that will hinder the achievement of your Why is the group of toxic people around you. These people will tell you things like, “Are you crazy?” “Who do you think you are?” “You’re not going to build a business!” “You’re not going to earn that kind of money!” “You’re not going become financially free!”
That’s why I call them toxic people. They will poison your success journey. Do not let negativity just ooze onto your doorstep! Here’s what I’ve learned. Love your friends that do not support you moving to the next level in life, but make a decision today to move on from them. Of course you love them, but you have to love yourself enough to leave them and stop them from stealing your dreams.

Remember this: leaving them is also an act of love. Go find your Why, achieve your dreams and then come back later to share your success with them. In other words, when you have built a strong foundation and developed strength by believing in yourself, you can reach out to them. This is a simple technique called love them, leave them and show them.

Have you ever noticed that when flight attendants prepare the passengers for the flight that they talk specifically about the oxygen mask? They say, “In the event of a sudden cabin depressurization, oxygen masks will drop down. Please secure your own mask before helping others.” That’s not selfish! If you don’t guarantee your own oxygen flow, then you won’t have the strength or consciousness to help anyone else. In the same sense, go work on your own dream. When you’ve discovered your Why in life, you can go back and sow seeds of greatness in the lives of those same people that tried to hold you back.

The 2nd obstacle that will hinder the achievement of your Why is your past. Visualize your past as chains shackled to your ankles. Let’s talk about those chains. Everyone has experienced failure. Everyone has made mistakes. Everyone has done stupid things. The past can only hold power over your future if you let it! That’s right. Your past will haunt you for the rest of your life if you let it.

It will drag you back to the place that you were before you found your Why. It will also prevent you from moving forward towards the achievement of your Why. You have to ask yourself an honest question and more importantly answer it. Are you letting the chains of your past hold you down? If so, I suggest that you look down, take the chains, throw them away and never look down again.

Harriet Tubman is known for abolishing slavery in the United States and was once quoted as saying, “I freed thousands of slaves and could have freed thousands more if they only knew that they were slaves.” This great quote applies to life in general. Many times, we simply don’t know what is holding us back; therefore, we are unable to take the action needed to create massive success in our lives. You must be aware of what is preventing you from gaining freedom in all areas of your life before you can ultimately achieve your Why.

The 3rd obstacle that will hinder the achievement of your Why is giving up. It is easy to give up and say to yourself, “This is not going to work! I can’t do it! I quit!” Many years ago, I remember opening the door to the Rye Town Hilton. I walked up the stairs to the meeting room and saw a sign-in table.

Immediately, the little inner voice said, “Ha ha! You have to say your name! Go back to the art gallery loser! What are you doing out here? Just go home, eat, watch TV, go to bed, wake up and do it all over again the next day just like you’ve done for the last twenty-four years.”

But I stepped out in faith! I didn’t know back then what faith was or how to take a risk. I simply had no clue, but I didn’t give up on my dream. As I progressed towards the table, I saw a sign-in sheet. I looked down and the man at the table said “What is your name?” I grabbed a blue tag and I wrote my name down. I flipped it around, and he read it. He said, “Oh, hi John!” I said “Hi!” Why? I was too afraid to say my own name, because I knew that I would stutter.

I am now an international motivational speaker, accomplished author, mentor to millionaires and a strategic business coach. How is this possible for a stuttering fool? I knew my Why and I did not quit! I say that with full conviction and confidence, because I know that you can do it too. Right now, I want you to say the following words out loud and internalize them - Failure and quitting are NOT options! Go ahead…say it again at the top of your lungs! Failure and quitting are NOT options! If you are embarrassed to say those powerful words out loud, then you aren’t truly committed to your Why in life.

In order to achieve your Why, you must have those words instilled in your spirit and believe that you will succeed no matter what.