The Power of WHY
Knowing your “WHY” when it comes to undertaking a task is a superpower. Unfortunately not enough of us ask ourselves the WHY behind why we do things. Knowing your “WHY’s” before you do anything allows you to reflect on how important the task is for you. If the why behind your actions is weak, you are more likely to get demotivated along the way and possibly fail in achieving what you set out for initially. On the other hand, a strong WHY behind your task is likely to inspire you, motivate you and others around you to help you achieve what you set out for.
Let me tell you a small story on how knowing your WHY can make a difference between failure and success.
In the 1900s, the entire human race was fascinated with the idea of flying. The goal was ambitious. People, governments, experts were all highly motivated and eager to find out a way to fly humans a reality.
Armed with the recipe for success, Samuel Pierpont Langley set out to be the first man to fly an airplane. He was a mathematician and a highly regarded senior officer at the Smithsonian Institution. His peer group consisted of people like Andrew Carnegie and Alexander Graham Bell. Langley was given a $50,000 grant from the war department to fund his project, a great deal of money at that point in time. Langley was able to attract the best minds in the country to work alongside him in order to achieve this unimaginable task. With the team and resources, Langely had its perusal the success was practically guaranteed.
Or was it?
Just a few hundred miles away, Wilbur and Oliver Wright happened to be working on their flying machine. The brothers were so passionate about flying that their enthusiasm had inspired a bunch of other people in their town Dayton, Ohio. They had no money and no govt. grants. Neither a single individual in their team possessed any advanced degree, not even the wright brother. But together, the Wright brothers and the bunch of highly motivated folks made their dream come true. On December 17, 1903, the group witnessed a man take the flight for the first time in human history.
So how did a bunch of individuals with no advanced degrees or high connections were able to beat a dream team whose task was to make human flight possible?
I do not think it was luck. It was to do with the fact that the WHY behind the invention mattered more to the Wright brothers and the team than it mattered to Langley.
Think about how often do you ask yourself Why are you doing, what you are doing?
When it comes to investing, the first question an investor usually asks is “Where to Invest”? or the worst “Kitna returns Degi” (How much returns will I get). When the investments start with “Where and How”, the driving force behind the investment itself is weak. But as an investor, if you develop a strong WHY behind your investment you are more likely to achieve your goal.
The next time you take any important decision including your investment decisions, understand the Why behind it. Is your why behind your investment your child’s education, your retirement? Whatever it may be, It will be the driving force and the factor that may determine success or failure.
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Until next time…