The road to my why…

When I graduated from college, I didn’t know my why/purpose, but I could for sure tell you my “what.” That was clear. What I wanted was to work in sports. I still remember my father looking at me perplexed when I told him I didn’t want to pursue a graduate degree in Psychology; he didn’t understand. I loved Psychology, I had the grades; but when I was done with my undergrad I knew that was it for me. My why for studying Psychology was because I liked it, which is why I excelled at it. I knew my purpose for being at University and didn’t look back. Then when I was done, I knew I wanted to be in women’s sports. It was simple. What wasn’t so simple was arriving at my why. That took years.

Ultimately though I was twenty-two and I got what I wanted; I started my journey working in sports. I couldn’t have been happier. I was grateful. I did whatever was asked of me. I learned and went through the motions.

However, several years into my career, I had a moment of frustration. I sat back in my chair and told myself, “how did I graduate from University with honors, to be sitting here doing visa applications for a bunch of twenty somethings.” I was angry and to be honest, I felt like the task was beneath me.

For context, assisting players with travel for their overseas commitments was a big part of my duties, it was also always stressful and lasted several months. This particular day though, sitting back in my chair, feeling myself get angry I paused. I paused and thought…I am not just filling visa applications, I am helping these young women off the court, so that they could perform on the court. My work gave them peace of mind. They knew it was being handled.

The why behind the what started to reveal itself for me. And with that my purpose became clear- my attitude shifted. After that moment I no longer had those frustrations and knew that my purpose was to help/guide the young women I was working with however I could. One day I was filling visa applications and another day I was helping a client purchase a home. Whatever the task, my purpose was clear, it didn’t matter what I was doing.

As my purpose with the players revealed itself what also started to happen is that I looked at how we were operating as a business. It was then that my purpose evolved to include how we were servicing beyond the task- beyond the contract.

Advancements in technology were transforming everyday life as well as business, which started to influence how I approached my why. My why was no longer just about helping the players, it was about how we were operating as a business, which in turn affected how we were servicing them as clients.

I didn’t realize it then, but I was on the path of business operations…How we were running as a business was just as important as why we were running. I learned a lot in that chapter of my life. It brought me to my present…

My present is about servicing leaders to help their business grow and prosper.

This all comes about as I’ve been reading Simon Sinek’s, Start With Why, where he says: “It all starts with clarity. You have to know WHY you do WHAT you do…To inspire starts with the clarity of WHY” (pg. 65-66).

I didn’t understand the importance of my why in my twenties, it didn’t even become clear until well into my thirties and has evolved entering into my forties. Now that I have this clarity in my professional life it has helped in other aspects of my life.

Simply put, when you know your why you move about the world with purpose. Your intentions are clear.

It’s because of this that after two years of instability I am finally at peace with where I am in my life. It was a journey to get here, but worth it!