There’ an old saying that you can make money at anything if you try hard enough. Although this is certainly an over-simplification of reality, the essence of this leads to the question of whether the money that you are making is earned from tasks that are properly aligned with your values and beliefs. In other words, is the money following your “why” and is your “why” properly aligned with your actual actions.
In Simon Sinek’s TEDx talk “Start with Why”, he discusses the physiological reasons why having a well-defined why is crucial to success. Further, he explains how different parts of our brains are programmed to respond differently to “why” vs. “what”.
As a practical application, if you are an employee or an entrepreneur trying to get to the next level, your “why” will have a huge effect on determining your ultimate outcome. As an example, someone who goes to work just to get through the day is less likely to achieve the same level of future financial success as the person who goes to work to become a better person each day.
An entrepreneur can relate to this in a similar manner. If you are selling a product just to make money then this is completely different than selling a product in order to make a positive impact on society. Steve Jobs of Apple is known to have said that Apple does not do things better, they do things differently. Imagine a CEO proclaiming to the world that their product is not better than the competition! As counterintuitive as it may seem at first, his why is attracting customers who like to challenge the status quo and who are counter-cultural. By tapping into a market niche such as this, you can find your business developing a core group of followers and clients who will be your brand champions.
Another way to view this concept of your money following your why is to consider the similarities between people and computers. Yes, that’s right! Dr. Shad Helmstetter, in his book “What to Say When you Talk to Yourself” presents that humans and computers have three main parts which are strikingly similar to each other.
• Keyboard or Touch Screen vs. 5 Senses – Both of these features are where directions and information are received by the computer and human.
• Hard Drive vs. Subconscious Mind – Computers and humans need a way to store and process the programs that they receive. The hard drive and the subconscious mind are where this function is fulfilled.
• Computer Monitor vs. Appearance and Actions – Both computers and humans need a way to visually display the information that they have been programmed with. On a computer, the monitor displays the output of the program. In humans, our behavior is the outward reflection of what is inside.
OK, so what does all of this mean in relation to your money following your “why”? Well, if your belief system is misaligned with your actions, then your money will not get right. Dr. Helmstetter continues to say that there are five steps that control our success or failure. By having an awareness of these steps, you can work on realigning them in order to get a better result.
• Programming – People are constantly being inundated with outside stimulus which are programming our subconscious mind. Our programming is the bedrock foundation of what drives us. If we change our programming (or our “why”) then we will ultimately get a different outcome
• Beliefs – Our beliefs are molded by our programming. If you believe that you will achieve financial success in synergy with your “why”, they you are on the right path to being able to manifest this outcome.
• Attitudes – The perspective from which you view life is your attitude. This is a direct result of your belief system.
• Feelings – How humans feel about something is a direct result of our attitude. This affects what we do and how we do it. But why we do it is rooted in our programming.
• Behavior – Our behavior, or actions, are the result of what is filtered through our feelings. If we feel good about something, then our behavior will reflect this.
In order for your money to get right, your “why” has to be right. Taking an inventory of your belief system and comparing it with your actions and results is the first step to moving towards the personal or business success that is waiting for all who are bold enough to search for it.