You Don’t Need A Why

20, Mar 2024

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You Don’t Need A Why

The Amplified Impact Podcast
March 18th, 2023

For years, finding my personal “why” has been a struggle. We often hear about having this grand purpose driving us. But what if you don’t have that crystal-clear why? Recently, a tweet by Naval brought me peace. He said, “The great ones create for its own sake, free of the burden of ambition.” This hit home. It’s okay to do something just because you enjoy it. For me, it’s about the joy of creation. So, if you’re still searching for your big why, relax, you’re not alone.

 

TWEETABLE QUOTE:

“Because I enjoy it, because I find joy in the process of creating and sharing and thinking. And if it brings people value, that’s amazing, too.”

– Anthony Vicino

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Episode Transcript:

So a number of years ago, when I started working at escape climbing with my budy Ryan, he had me read this book that you might have heard of called with start with why. It’s by the great Simon Sinek. And shortly thereafter, I watched the Ted speech that he had given. And it was remarkable. It was so empowering, this idea that people don’t buy what you do or how you do it. They buy why you do it, and how often when we start our businesses, we start with the what we do and how we do it, like the product or the service, and then whatever is a unique differentiator in how we deliver that product and what makes it special. Right? And it’s only in hindsight, by the time that we’ve already defined what we do, how we do it, that we stop to wonder, why are we doing this? And Simon makes a very compelling argument, which is that the most powerful companies in the world are the ones that have these big whys behind them, that get people to rally and say, I see myself as part of that vision. So with Apple, that is actually what was theirs.

Was it think different or the world belongs to the crazy people? I can’t actually remember what it is now. IBM’s was think. I think Apple was think different. Anyways, I can’t recall. Tesla’s is all know, helping save civilization and the global warming by getting our automotive industry no longer reliant on combustion engines or SpaceX. The big why is to try and make humanity multi planetary, right? So these companies have this why that then the customer can connect with and say, I see myself in that. I resonate with that message. I want to do business with that thing.

And it’s very helpful, I think, to sit down when you are crafting your business’s vision for what it is that you do, to say, what is my unique place in the marketplace? By defining your why, very, very powerful. But if we take this further to the personal life, we also should, in theory, have this why that guides us and defines what it is that we’re doing in life and why are we showing up in the way that we do? At least this has been the popular theory for a number of years now. And personally, I’ve always really struggled with this. I’ve had a much easier time defining a why for my businesses. But when it comes to a personal why, that all encompassing, driving, passionate force, that thing that I’m here in the world trying to accomplish, the reason that I get out of bed in the morning, the reason why I burn the midnight oil like that why that fuels you. As Frederick Nietzsche says, a man with a powerful enough why can endure anyhow. But the problem is, no matter how I’ve looked over the years, I’ve never been able to identify that singular, personal why I can’t find it. And some people will say, oh, it should be like this big vision about servicing the world and making a big impact.
And those are all great things. But when it comes to sitting down, making this podcast, writing blog posts, when it comes to sharing the things that I’ve learned, I don’t know what the big why is. I don’t really know what it is that I’m trying to accomplish with it in the grand scheme of things. And for many, many years, this has caused me a lot of existential angst, actually, because I keep thinking maybe that means I’m on the wrong path. I’m not actually doing the right thing. Maybe there is that thing that once I find it’s going to light this spark inside of me, it’s going to be so clear. And it’s like that is the why. That is the motivating force for me.
And so everything that I do in the meantime, until I find that feels like it’s maybe the wrong thing. Or at least this has been the struggle. This is like the internal battle that I’ve had over the years, because it seems like so many people have this strong why that they’ve been able to identify for themselves. And I feel like I’m broken in some way because I don’t have that or that I’m doing it wrong in some way. Well, recently I read something, a tweet by Naval, who is my number one favorite thinker of all time. Maybe right up there, like right above, I think Marcus Aurelius and maybe Nicholas Nassim taled, they’re like top three. But he said something that really resonated with me and gave me a lot of peace. I want to share it with you here.
He said, the great ones don’t do it for the money, or the fame or the power, or to build an institution, or to help others or to save the world. Like a child tinkering. They create it for its own sake, free of the burden of ambition, deaf to the demands of the world. And I read this and I was like, man, that resonates a lot because I don’t have this desire to save the world or help millions of people do a particular thing. The reason that I show up and I do this is simply because I enjoy it, because I find joy in the process of creating and sharing and thinking. And if it brings people value, that’s amazing, too. And this tweet just gave me this helpful mental reframe that it’s okay to do something just because you enjoy doing it. That can be a sufficient why it truly can.

It might not seem like it, but for me, I would consider myself a pure creator. This has given me a lot of comfort as I think about maybe I don’t need to have that big overarching why. Or maybe as I wait for whatever that thing is to manifest and make itself known, in the meantime, it’s okay just to do stuff because you enjoy doing it. Because it has value inherently in itself. I think the act of creation, often it is just inherently valuable. The act, whether or not anybody ever consumes it or values it, doesn’t matter. I think there’s value in the act of creation, and for me, that is, I guess, just the driving force at this point in my journey. So I wanted to share that with you in case you’re personally struggling with that as well.

If you’re like, I don’t know what my big why is, it’s okay, especially if you’re young. I’m turning 40 in a couple of months. I still don’t have it figured out. So if you’re in your 20s, you got time, don’t worry. So that’s going to do it for me, guys and gals, if you do have your big why figured out, let me know. Shoot me a comment. Shoot me a DM. Slide into those DMs and let me know what the big why is that’s driving you.

If you don’t have a big why, let me know that too, and that’ll do it for me, guys. We’ll catch you in the next episode. Until then, stay hyper focused, my friends.

 

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