Finding Your "Why"

In my last post, I told you I quit my 9 to 5 to be home with my family.

It's a story a lot of people are telling lately. So many are quitting the hustle and grind to be able to spend quality time with their loved ones and have time back to follow their passions. But why? This doesn't just spontaneously happen overnight.

More millennials are realizing just how much time they spend away from their families. They think back to their parents working long hours, and they notice the vicious cycle of the grind. So, they're taking a good long look at why they do what they do. They're waking up en masse.

If you've also been wondering if quitting your job, moving to a new city, or even starting a new side gig is right for you, you may need to get clear about your "why" to answer that for yourself.

What is your "why"?

Your why is whomever or whatever makes you feel like you want to make a change. For starters, you can ask yourself: why do I make money? Is it to pay for a lifestyle I love where I get to travel? Do I want to ensure my child has access to an amazing school? Most people don't make money just because they love working - but if you do love your job, why do you love it? Maybe you sell boats. You love the feeling of getting people excited about being outdoors. What is the main reason you do what you do?

For me, the answer was so easy. My family is the reason for every choice I make. I even took my 9 to 5 because I thought it would mean more fun and more opportunities for my kids. I thought it would mean more activities we could enjoy together. After a while I realized that the job itself was keeping me from spending time with my kids, and that they were too exhausted by daycare and extra-curriculars anyway to enjoy their evenings with us.

Does your "why" match your actions?

Let's say that your "why" is travel. You love being able to jet off and explore new places. That may require a good chunk of change, so we know you can't go without income for an extended period of time. Now ask yourself: does my current job allow me the time freedom to be able to travel?

Perhaps at your current job you only get two weeks of paid vacation each year. Otherwise you're expected to be in office Monday through Friday. This may be why you feel out of alignment: although your current job allows for some travel, you know there's a perfect scenario out there where you can still make money and travel more time out of the year.

This is where your dreams can really start to take shape!

Where in your life can you make a change to align with your "why"?

Following the love of travel as an example, cutting out a job that needs you in-office 50 weeks out of the year is probably where you'll look first. This can look like starting a travel blog so that you can one day monetize it and quit, or finding remote work that pays well enough to let you travel. Your "why" will guide that decision from here on out as long as you stay focused on it.

My "why" being my family, I had to weigh my options. My job paid very well and cutting an income would set our finances back temporarily while I found something that gave me the time to be with my kids. It's not easy, but my "why" helped me see that, despite the temporary setback, this would be better in the long run for all of us... My kids aren't getting any younger.

Everybody has their own "why".

This isn't a one-size-fits-all situation. I know that my audience consists mostly of millennial parents, but not all of us think the same. For some, the "why" may be resilience, or self-sufficiency. For others, it may be making sure their partner who is disabled due to a work accident is always cared for. There are so many "why"s, and that's what makes this beautiful! Start by refining your "why" - and then you can start thinking about your core values.

Your core values dive a bit deeper into what makes you you - what you believe makes a solid foundation for life. We'll discuss core values in a later post.

Finding your "why" is just the first step in the journey to build your dream life. I have a printable available in my shop that will help you set out building the foundation of the dream with intention and purpose. This is exactly the framework I used to start sketching what it looked like for me.