Why Am I Here? Know Your Answer
I recently started reading the book "You Can't Hurt Me", the story of Navy Seal David Goggins. It is an insane story of overcoming the toughest of odds and tapping into the true potential that lies with all of our minds. While talking about his Navy Seal training, specifically "Hell Week", he says that that he knew that if he didn't have the answer to the question, "Why am I here?" he would fail. In the most trying of times, not knowing the answer to that question is the difference between success and failure. He is not talking about the age old philosophical question regarding our purpose on earth. He is referring to those specific moments when we want to give up. Whether it's standing in the ocean for hours on the brink of hypothermia with little to no sleep for seal training or just pushing outside of your comfort zone to reach a personal goal, inevitably there will come a point where you need to ask that question "Why am I here?" and if you don't definitively have an answer, chances are you will throw in the towel.
This got me to thinking about so many different times in my life that I had given up on something just because I wasn't clear on why I wanted it. In this instant gratification world we live in, it's easy to buy into the idea of doing the least amount of work we can to get the result we want, while also getting frustrated that we aren't seeing results fast enough. Stop for a moment and think of the absolute best things in your life. Now think about whether or not achieving those things or building those relationships or earning the money to buy those things was easy or hard. My guess is that the best things in your life, the things you love the most and are most proud of, required the most from you.
No one forces any of those soldiers to go through Navy Seal training and they can leave at any time. In the same way, if you want to achieve something and are going through the discomfort and pain to get it, you can quit at any time. No one is forcing you, but if you can answer the question of "Why am I here? Why will I push through this hardship?" you may find that those hardships will motivate you instead of discourage you. You will understand exactly why you are there and welcome anything it takes to achieve that goal. You will start to see pain as part of the process instead of a signal to give up. Knowing why you are there in that moment of hardship is your most valuable tool in reaching that goal. Every hardship you push through is putting you one step closer to your goal.
So I challenge you to think about your answer. Whatever goal you have set your mind to recently ask yourself what your why is. Write it down. Read it every day so that when those trying times come, because they WILL come, you will have the answer ready and no amount of pain or hardship will break you because you will know exactly why you are there.
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