I recently finished reading Start With Why by Simon Sinek and it has me thinking about my choices related to business and “passive income”. How can you find your Why and only pursue what matters most?
The whole concept of the book is that successful businesses start by sharing their Why. They express the reasons for existing and the What and How come after. For instance, Apple’s Why is to be innovative. To inspire creatives to change the world. Apple’s What is the products they sell and their How is all the ways they do so.
Throughout the book, I considered my own Why, not only for ETT but for me. I think my Why is to live a fulfilled life. A life full of happiness, pursuing passions and hobbies, limited wasted time, and learning. My Why is to live life outside of the mundane and I want other people to do the same. There’s a lot to pursue and a lot to experience, so why waste our time away?
By considering my Why, I believe all my pursuits make sense for me. The podcast, blog, art, and ETT Coffee. Each of these uniquely attempts to spread this message of doing more in order to live a fulfilled life. The podcast shares stories of people who are exploring hobbies, the blog shares my mistakes, successes, and thoughts along my own journey, ETT Coffee fuels the motivation of passionate people, and my art is my own hobby.
This explains why I choose not to explore many alternative endeavors, specifically business related ones. It makes sense why I don’t invest time in learning copywriting, become a social media manager, flip houses, create low content books, start dropshipping, etc.
I don’t pursue these things because they don’t adequately scratch the itch that is my Why. These pursuits focus more on money and less on my own personal passions. I don’t want to invest my time in something I don’t really care about. Sure it’d be nice to have passive income and worry less about bills, but the investment doesn’t justify the reward to me.
Simon Sinek said the Why is sometimes hard to explain because it’s more of a feeling. Sometimes we’re just drawn to certain things because they resonate with us. That’s how I feel with these pursuits I don’t pursue. They don’t feel right to me. But what I do choose to pursue feel right.
Find your Why, the driving force for your actions. From there, focus on the What and How. Do whatever it takes to spread your Why and live it as often as you can. Refrain from ivnvesting too much time into those things that fall outside of it.
February 9, 2023
