When we start with why

 

It was a bright Monday morning when I opened my laptop, sipping my coffee and staring at a long to-do list. Deadlines, meetings, reports, all lined up neatly. I dove straight in, ticking tasks one after another. By evening, the list was shorter, but I wasn’t feeling accomplished. Instead, a quiet voice inside asked, “Why am I even doing all this?”

That question lingered — unsettling yet necessary. Because sometimes, amidst the what and the how, we lose sight of the why.

Simon Sinek calls it the Golden Circle — Why, How, and What. Most of us start from the outside: What we do (our tasks, roles, duties), then How we do it (our processes, tools, and strategies). But the truly inspired, and inspiring individuals and organizations start from the inside out. They begin with Why — their purpose, cause, or belief that drives everything else.

Yet, in daily life, we often get caught in the whirlwind of what: what’s next, what’s urgent, what needs to be done. We become efficient but not always fulfilled. Every once in a while, pausing to ask why reconnects us to meaning. It realigns the inner circle — giving the how direction and the what purpose.

I read the book of Simon Snek, Start with Why in which it's clear that time and again we need to re center our internal compass and focus on the why that brings us to a task everyday, That purpose, that alignment makes us realise who we are, and why we do what we do. The why is also an awareness of our calling, the one which you want to follow. 

Because when you know your why, the what becomes clearer, and the how becomes easier.