I don't mean existentially. Perhaps that's a topic for another day. Why are you where you are in your profession? Working for the company you are? In this current role? It's a simple question that for many, remains unasked.

Knowing your purpose, your why, is a big deal. It can be the light that pushes you through those tough projects or long hours. It can reframe a crappy day into, well, a slightly less crappy day. It can motivate you when you are at your weakest. Have you ever stopped to think about it?

My why today is make people better. To use my creativity, support, and skills to help the members of my team perform at their peak and derive joy from their work.

Note that I said today. Your why is not a fixed concept. It's something that changes over time as you grow in your role and evolve into a better human. Story time. I had a former developer in my team that had been a Dev for a number of years. She had worked in front end web teams, and then my iOS mobile team, but was beginning to loose her why. She was really interested in what those Product Managers were doing on the other side of the fence. So, as I think any leader should do, I helped her get her own project within the PM team so she could see what its all about to actually do their job. Turned out, she loved it so much, within a couple of months she left the company to pursue an MBA and a career change. Sure, the company might not have been too happy about loosing a talented dev, but she had the courage to follow her new why.

For me, before I was guided by a why, there was a why not. I was accepted by an Early Entry program into University before high school was finished for a double degree in Maths and CS, but not into a straight CS degree that I wanted. Perhaps this was because the interviewer for the CS department didn't like me - story for another time. I thought why not and accepted even though I wasn't sure I'd like it, or frankly, have smart enough maths skills to survive it. My first full time job as a coder at a research company came about through a mutual friend and I thought, why not give it a try even though it wasn't in an area I was interested in. In hindsight, these decisions ended up helping me find a why along the way. If I didn't try, I would have ended up somewhere totally different.

Over the years, I've tried different why's to find something that stuck - from "Proving to the world I'm smart", "Making me wealthy", through to "make my users feel happy and delighted when they use my app", or simply "make my products feel like their powered by magic". I learned that purposes that are selfish cannot drive me far enough, it needs to be about others. I'm not saying you're the same - if an self-centric purpose works for you, then own it.

Learn from me.

I can't tell you what your why is. Nor do I want to - its something you need to find. Here's some simple lessons I've leant along the way that might at least help you stay the course.

Your why changes over time. let it.

As a human, you probably don't like being stagnate. We're built to constantly adapt, learn, evolve, and re-invent. So your purpose for doing what you do will too. Let it. Even when you find a why that drives you, don't put the blinders on. You might miss the even greater reason just around the corner.

If no why, try the why not.

Don't be afraid to try the why not? route. It can lead to wonderful, magical things. Have faith in yourself to find your way through it.

Align with your core values.

Everyone has core values they hold true, if you're aware of yours or not. Align your why to those and you'll win. If you’re more ego-driven, perhaps a more self-serving why like "To be the best" or to be "Richer than a king" works for you. No judgement here. Just don't try to be someone you're not. You will do way more harm to yourself than you can possibly realize in the moment.

Follow your why

If you find a why, and it doesn't line up with the role you're in or the company you are at, then start building an exit strategy right now to get you to that right place. Don't scrap your authentic why to settle for the convenient truth. You're not doing the company any good, because you wont be putting in your 100%, and you wont be doing yourself any good - its a great path to anxiety and depression. What is more important? Loyalty to your company, or Loyalty to yourself?

So. If you're still here, and you've taken the time to read this, do me a favor and don't just hustle onto the next thing today. You deserve to live the truest, strongest version of your life you can. Book some time in your week to think about what your why is. When you have it articulated in words, I promise, the world and your work will look different the next day.