So many of the problems in life come from a lack of understanding, nourishment, and purpose (your why). We see the “symptoms” pop up everywhere: in our health, our relationships, our finances, and our happiness. In an effort make these problems go away, we treat the symptoms and go for the quick fix. In medicine, it’s the new drug. With exercise, it’s the new diet. With relationships, it’s the new partner. For finances, it’s the new stock. Rarely, do we search deeper for the root cause. Rarely, do we take a moment to ask ourselves, “why?”. Why does this issue keep appearing, why are we still stuck, and why are we still suffering?
It’s one simple little question that has the power to transform your life.
“Why?”.
Oh… You’ll have to read to find out.
The Tack Theory
In Functional Medicine, there’s a theory that helps patients visualize exactly why making changes to their diet and lifestyle is important. It’s called the tack theory.
Let’s say you are sitting on a tack – it’s super sharp, pointy, and is really starting to hurt.
You have two options.
The first option is to take a pill that will make the pain go away. You won’t feel a thing, but you’ll have to keep taking this pill every single day.
The second option, on the other hand, is to remove the tack.
Of course you’d just remove the tack! You wouldn’t take a drug when the root cause is so plain and clear.
That’s the idea with functional medicine – discovering the root cause of health issues and removing them from the picture.
How does this relate to figuring out your why?
Your why is your root cause
Your why is at the root of everything you do.
You can try every hack, every short-cut, every path that leads towards your goals, but without a why they will all fall short.
You cannot be the best at what you do, learn something new, improve your health, lose weight, or attack any goal if you do not know your why.
It’s the foundation of everything.
It keeps you centered, purposeful, and emotionally grounded to what you want to pursue.
Whenever you run into obstacles in your life, your why reminds you the reason you’re there in the first place. It helps you push past barriers, excuses, and dips in motivation.
If you want long-term results, you need a why that keeps you in it for the long-term.
If you want to lose weight, you need a why that’s strong enough to push past the pain of exercising.
And if you want to improve your financial situation, you need a big enough why that’s going to make you jump out of bed in the morning.
The bigger your why, the more powerful you are.
Discover your why
Jim Kwik, author of “Limitless: Upgrade your brain, learn anything faster, and unlock your exceptional life” says that before he does anything, he makes sure to get clear on his why.
That’s his engine. It’s what fuels him to achieve at monumental levels. Now he’s teaching people to do the same and I’d highly recommend you check out that book.
No matter what your goals are right now, or 1 year from now, or 10 years into the future, you need to come up with your why (for every single one).
By taking just a little bit of time to think about your reasons now, you’ll be light years ahead of the competition and incredibly more likely to accomplish all that you set out to do.
Have you ever come across someone who just seems to get everything that they want? Chances are, they have a why so strong that it puts them in a situation where it’s nearly impossible not to achieve their goals.
Take some time right now to think about your current goals and why achieving them matters to you. Keep asking yourself why until you find something that has meaning and depth.
Because you want to lose a few pounds is not a strong enough why to get yourself to exercise.
Use your why
Once you have a really big reason for doing something, nothing can get in your way.
It’s simply not possible.
Think of anyone that you look up too that is changing the world or shifting the status quo. The biggest whys in the world turn the impossible into the possible.
Recently, I’ve joined the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I want to live in abundance and be financially free, location independent, and always doing what I love. I think that IIN is one of those vehicles that will help me get there. That’s my why.
5 years ago, I was 45 pounds overweight, anxious, depressed, and suffering from chronic allergies. I wanted to feel what it would be like to have all of that weight lifted off of my shoulders, to be able to speak up and share my opinions instead of hiding in the shadows, to never have to miss out on social or professional activities because my allergies got the best of me, and to finally feel confident in my body and love myself. That was my why. 5 years later and I lost 45 pounds, eliminated my severe allergies, gained incredible confidence (have even given a TEDx talk in front of 200+ people), and feel light, vital, and energized.
My why helped me get there even when I wanted to quit or cheat or relapse.
That’s the power of a why.
I implore you, before anything, figure out your why.
It will make world’s of difference.
