Why your WHY is crucial – more than your WHAT…

I recently watched Simon Sinek’s TEDx Talk ‘Start with WHY’. I also have been reading his book by the same title.

In it he asserts why your WHY is far more crucial than your WHAT.

WHY do you get out of bed every morning? (Do you have a good reason? If not, time to dig deep inside and find one.)

This is mine : I exist to help people fulfil their purpose in life and in their work. I want YOU to fulfil your dreams.

It’s the BIG WHY of what gets me up in the mornings.

What about YOU? Do you know?

In Simon’s talk, I learnt something really interesting about how our brains are naturally wiredand which is connected to being successful in business and in life.

What is it?

Start with WHY.

What do I mean by that? Or rather, what does SIMON mean by that….

He explains how we buy because of our limbic brain, NOT because of our neo-cortex. If this is all Greek to you, don’t worry….I will explain a little.

Basically, the part of our brain that is associated with emotions – feelings, trust, loyalty and decision making – is the limbic brain;

The part of our brain that deals with facts & figures – is the neocortex.

Less successful businesses talk first about WHAT they do – and about the features & benefits of doing business with them – before anything else; this ignites our neocortex.

Very successful businesses –(Apple being an example) tap into the limbic brain by talking FIRST about WHY they do what they do – their CAUSE, what they BELIEVE IN.

THEN they go on to talk about the what & how.

So, if you run a business (or want to run one), start with WHY.

Fire up your customers (and potential customers) with WHY you do what you do. They buy because of your WHY.

And what happens naturally also is that you attract the kind of customers who value the same things that you do – because you’ve clearly communicated your values – and they are then happy to align themselves up with you because of those values.

This week, if you haven’t before, think about your WHY.

And for your business, think about how you can communicate it more clearly in your conversations with people, your website, your emails, and any marketing materials.