Finding Your Why - Staying Committed to Your Job Against All Odds

During a live television show in the United States, a music director was asked to sing the popular song ‘Amazing Grace’ and he sang it in a rather pedestrian manner. The talk show host then told him to sing it again but this time around with the consciousness that he survived after being shot in the back when he was much younger. He then gave a very different rendition of the same song that was nothing short of a mind-blowing performance. What had changed, you might ask? The first time he did the song, he knew his ‘’what’’ but the second time around he knew his ‘’why’’ and that makes a world of difference.

Often, we focus on our ‘’what’’ without realising that the ‘’why’’ is far more important. Different individuals may be involved in interior design work but their passion for this work is unique to each for them. As a matter of fact, some of them may not even have any passion for the work and engage in it because they see others making a lot of money from it. When push comes to shove, such individuals are usually the first to quit and throw in the towel. An interior designer could have a passion for beautifying spaces while another person in the same profession just loves working with antique objects. Similar occupation but different passions; same ‘’what’’ but different ‘’whys.’’

It is a well-known fact that many employees, and entrepreneurs are not excluded, feel disengaged at work and an effective remedy for overcoming this feeling of disengagement or desperation is to refuel and refire on a periodic basis by keeping your ‘’why’’ in focus. For many, getting up from bed in the morning to get to work has become an unavoidable boredom. It would then appear as though they work solely for the economic benefits, but the truth is that job of yours may have much more to offer you than just the money. All it just takes sometimes is for you to sit down and have a rethink.

If you are thinking of quitting that job and starting a business, you should realise that businesspeople also face similar challenges. If not more. It has been said that if you are looking for someone to motivate you, then you should never think of becoming an entrepreneur. It is perfectly normal to sometimes feel down especially if you work on a job with extremely high demands. You should constantly pick yourself up and get going. There will be days when you experience downtime on a personal level but that should not stop you from forging ahead.

The same principle applies to whatever it is that we do in life, we all need our whys to keep us going when the challenges seem to overwhelm us. There are a couple of markers that can point us in the direction of our why.

• Your expected goal or outcome with regards to your job or project could be your ‘’why.’’ What you want to achieve can keep you going even when the road is rough. A chartered accountant who aspires to one day become the chief executive officer in his company would not easily be discouraged by criticisms from superiors unlike an individual without ambitions of that nature even though they are both in the same cadre within the organisation.
• Your passion for that job or assignment could also be your ‘’why.’’ When you love what you do, you will keep pushing no matter how tough the journey is. An educator without a passion for spending quality time with kids is just another teacher on the school’s payroll. The lack of passion would ultimately reflect on the impact that this educator would have on the kids; periodic assessments of both the teacher and the kids may clearly demonstrate this impact in a tangible manner.
• Your investment or contribution into what you do can represent your ‘’why.’’ Having come this far, you might realise that giving up is not an option so as not to lose all that you have invested over the years. Just like in an Olympic race, accolades are not given to those who take part in a sprint or marathon but those who get to the finish line. So even when the athlete gets injured on the track, he makes it a priority to finish the race.
• Your expected benefits in terms of what you stand to gain from that job could be the ‘’why’’ that keeps you going. Benefits may not necessarily be financial in nature even though money plays an important role. In this context, we refer to significant non-financial benefits that you stand to gain from the job. A young, qualified architect working for a reputable firm can acquire vital expertise and experience on the job while also building a formidable network of contacts and relationships that will serve him well when he eventually leaves to set up his own firm.

It can therefore be seen that the non-financial benefits can sometimes outweigh the salaries and emoluments we can get from a job. The widely acclaimed hierarchy of needs by Abraham Maslow also demonstrates that at some point in an individual’s career progression, money-related rewards like salaries and allowances may become secondary. The list above is not exhaustive by any means but can guide us in our own personal journey of unearthing our whys. You can add yours to the list if it helps you in this unique search for your ‘’why.’’

Most human resource professionals would agree that one of the most important questions that can be asked in an interview is - ‘why would you like to take this job.’ This vital question is often asked in almost every job interview regardless of the nature of the job or the wage expectations. This question aims to probe the very reason why this person wants to work for that organisation but more importantly enable the person to find the mental strength to overcome challenges on the job. If the applicant’s response to this question suggests that the individual is in it for the pecuniary benefits, then it could be a red flag that the interviewers would be unwilling to ignore.

So, my question to you today is - What is your why?