One of my go-to thought leaders is Jonathan Fields. He’s sharp, he’s real and he’s inspiring so I’m subscribed to his newsletter. Earlier this week he made me aware that this past Sunday, January 19th is what’s sometimes called Quitter’s Day, the day most people give up on their New Year’s resolutions. It occurred to me that many of those resolutions were probably pretty straightforward and relatively simple to execute on: “exercise more”, “drink more water”, “stop swearing so much, dammit” and the like. How about you? Did you make resolutions? Have you quit yet? Why or why not? My theory on resolutions – like any goal we set – is that, if it falls away, maybe it wasn’t what really mattered. Maybe what really mattered was a few levels down. Maybe in order for goals to matter, we need to find the purpose behind the goal. I think that… When we set a goal, we need to take just ten more minutes to go deeper or further to get to the real meaning, motive and matter. (Click to Tweet!)
Many of us have used “The Five Why’s” problem solving technique developed originally by Sakichi Toyoda and I like to adapt the technique to delve into purpose and meaning. If you’re struggling to stay with your resolution, try running it through the “Why’s”. Here’s an example:
Resolution: Exercise for 20 minutes every day (Why is this important?)
- Because I want to be in better shape (Why is this important?)
- Because that will give me more energy and confidence (Why is this important?)
- Because then I can contribute my best to my family and work (Why is this important?)
- Because being able to contribute my best is gratifying (Why is this important?)
- When I feel more gratified, I’m able to bring more joy and comfort to those I care about.
So…exercise for 20 minutes OR feel gratified and contribute joy and comfort to those I care about. The side by side comparison here is clear: one is not like the other.
There are two benefits to this exercise. First, by uncovering the deeper meaning behind your goal it creates deeper connection and commitment. Second, notice what happens when you go deeper; you not only uncover what is truly meaningful to you, you also open up to innumerable other paths for achieving it. See, there’s only one way to exercise for 20 minutes a day. It’s to get up (grumbling) and (grumble) do it (grumble grumble). In contrast, there are many more ways to feel gratified and to bring more joy and comfort to others. So, instead of succumbing to quitter’s day, we could consider expanding our resolution to be: do one thing every day to feel more gratified and bring more joy and comfort to others. The shift toward purpose might make a difference.
If you are looking for ways to help find more purpose and meaning in your professional or personal life, check out UPschool‘s membership program, “What Drives You?”. The What Drives You? program helps you uncover your personal motivation factors and provides insights on ways to help you live your life with more purpose and meaning.