Why? It’s a powerful question. And the superpower of knowing your why is that it gives you a very strong sense of purpose.
I’ve been asking ‘why?’ since I discovered books existed.
My thirst for understanding the why of things was endless (to my mother’s annoyance). I remember being particularly perplexed about why an elephant was named ‘elephant’ and why there are different ways to say the same thing.
Innate curiosity has at times been a curse. I was often reminded as a child to remember my place and mind my own business because not everyone wants to be questioned or challenged, especially not adults by a curious child who thought she was being helpful.
Thankfully, being curious and asking why became one of my superpowers, my primary superpower in fact. It fuels so much of what I do and why I do it. It drives me to learn, have a growth mindset and help other people do the same through my work as a coach.
Many powerful coaching questions start with what –
What’s on your mind today? What are you looking to achieve? What are the barriers to you achieving that? What do you want instead? What else?
But some of my favourites start with why –
Why is that important to you? Why do you think that is? Why are you focusing on this? Why not?
Why? Because I find they evoke deeper thinking.
Why questions create space to look with open curiosity at motivation, assumption, reason and purpose. And they challenge the reactive or automatic things we think and do constantly without stopping to understand why we do them or how they serve us.
Curiosity isn’t just powerful in coaching as Amanda Lang’s book, The Power of Why shows.
It’s something that can help us ‘overcome long-standing barriers’ so we can be happier and more fulfilled.
Simon Sinek has made a career out of starting with Why. Good for him, he is amazing. His Why is powerful but kind. Deceptively simple, but highly persuasive. He has this knack of lasering in and voicing what people are thinking and doing so in a way that makes you think, ‘why wouldn’t I?’
So, why are you doing what you are doing? Is it through habit or purpose? Is it because you haven’t thought about it or because you think it will be too hard to change? Why is a good question to be asking ourselves on a frequent basis. It keeps us focused on the important things, acting with intention and doing the things we want to do because we know why we are doing them.
If you’d like someone to help you work out why you are where you are and what might be next, or if you’d like to be challenged to step out of your comfort zone (in a gentle but robust way), why not get in touch and see where a session of Career Therapy could take you?
Click on Book a call on the website for a free intro call or email me louise@careertherapy.co.uk
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You might also be interested in my article on trusting your gut instinct.
Header image Arek Socha on Pixabay
Embedded image Planet Volumes
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