WHY determines IF

​Dear Why Team member,

It’s good to reminisce, to remember the first steps you took on a certain path and to celebrate how far you’ve come. 

Audio: 🗣

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​Recently, I was reflecting on how years ago a shift in my approach to each new day had impacted my life as speaking requests grew more and more. It had gotten to a point where I had scheduled as many as six speeches in three days. I did not know, at the time, if I could physically do it, considering all the travel and knowing how much I put into each presentation. 

That’s when I stopped working out and started training.  Why? 
To have the strength and energy to be the best I could be in service to others, in service to my Why. 
I discovered that the more powerful my Why, the more powerful and consistent my results. 

My Why? 
To serve others: family, friends, colleagues, the world - to positively impact as many lives as I can before I physically die. 
Why did I stop working out with a primary focus on me, to lose weight, to look better and start training to be a stronger, better servant? 

It just happened that I felt called to train, to build my strength, my endurance. I then experienced the difference in my effort, when I shifted my why from me to others. 
The result? 
My WHY determined IF I would show up at all. It was a move from just a motivation for me to an inspiration for others. 

Motivation is a push. 
Inspiration is a pull. 

I found that inspiration, to be “in spirit”, a spirit of serving, was a pull that had much more power to it than any self serving action I could push myself to do.

About 5 years ago, while listening to Brian Johnson's PhilosphersNotes podcast sharing the big ideas from Tim Wraths book "Fully Charged" , I learned a study was done asking Why people exercised. 75% said they exercised to lose weight, to improve their health. 25% said they exercised daily to optimize each day, to be the best they could be in each new day. Then they followed their activity over the next 12 months. Who do you think was the most consistent and exercised the most? No doubt you know the answer; the 25%. And I’m willing to bet the ones around them felt their energy and positivity too; better for themselves and the ones around them.

"Why determines If"

Self-Centered or Other-Centered? 
Why do you get after it? 
Is it a push or a pull or are you blessed with both – pushed by motivation and pulled by inspiration?
We learn in physics that every force has an equal and opposite force, thus a push is limited by definition. Do you have to force yourself out of bed? Or do you feel pulled, called, to be your very best in service to others? 
What is the Why of your life? 
Is your Why a focus on You, that which will decay and die? Or is your life dedicated to that which is bigger than you, that which will live beyond you? The only thing you truly keep is what you give away. Consider asking how much can you give today to lift up another. Focus more on your Why of serving others and watch how life serves you more to fuel your efforts. As the Beatles said in their very last recording together, titled, "The End" "And in the End, the love you take, is equal to the love you make". 

If you haven't already, start working out less for you and start training more for others. And in the end, no doubt, you will look back, having lived more fully and more rewardingly, loving and experiencing the best you have to give in service to others. 

Make it a great week,

Steve Luckenbach