My Why/My How

Your life is your story. Your story is your life. Jim Loehr

Many years ago I was floundering -  trying to figure out my path (aka what I would do).  I knew that I loved people, I knew that I loved performing and I knew that I loved solving problems.  How in the world could I combine all three to somehow make an impact in the world?

I found a book by Jim Loehr – the Power of Story which truly changed me.  In essence the book (or at least now the version in my head many years later) is all about how to write your own story and rewrite the narratives that hold you back from success. The book helps you use story to find your “ultimate mission.” 

I set out to figure it out. I used to be a lawyer after all – so I started by researching mission statements and purpose statements. And in my research, I found so many different points of view.   Have one, don’t have one, write it down, change it constantly.

I started spinning out of control just trying to figure out how to build my personal yellow brick road which would lead me to my own Emerald City.

I needed to craft my own definition to get me on my path. 

What Jim Loehr calls an ultimate mission – I call my WHY. This is an immutable statement that doesn’t change.  It’s what others might call a true north, a north star - a purpose.

My why comes from first articulating the word that defines me at the core – which in my case is ENERGY.

As I sat staring at that word I realized my why is simply this: to share my energy with the world. 

My why doesn’t have to be complicated. But to live up to my why, I have to take care of my energy, focus my energy, and unleash the energy of others who I hope to impact.  

Ok, now I had a why (AKA purpose). 

But how does that help me figure out what to do in the world – what I called my how (AKA mission). 

And then it hit me instead of focusing on what I could do, I needed to focus on who would benefit from my energy.  That’s when I realized, those who would benefit from my energy and skills, are those leaders who wanted to show up and impact others with their presence.

My how became – “to help people present themselves and their stories with passion.”   That has evolved to helping people believe in themselves and have others believe in them too. They could be members of a team trying to build trust with each other, or an individual leader who wants to show up as the best version of themselves and build their confidence, or an entire organization that is figuring out how to energize their people.

Over the years, I have always remained true to my why and my how. Sure, what I do changes based on the needs of my audience – but ultimately, my purpose and my mission remain constant, allowing me to make an impact and help others rewrite their own stories for their leadership.

Outlaw Leadership® is all about discovering, and living your why and your how and sharing that story with the world.