While researching content for last week’s webinar for my new eSeller Profit Academy students I came across a really interesting article. This article was on the topic of ‘understanding your sense of purpose’.

I know that sounds quite deep, but the first paragraph kind of drew me in, and it turned out to be a very interesting piece of writing.

It took me a while to get my head around but, in basic terms, this article said life is full of distractions and we all get distracted at points, rather than working out and prioritizing what may be most important for us.

Yes, this is absolutely true. But often those distractions actually ensure we never live our lives to our full potential and we don’t do what we really want to do – simply because we have been distracted by those other things, even if they are completely unimportant.

The simple solution to this would of course be to ignore those distractions, focus on the task you wish to accomplish and thereby achieve something. But we all know it’s not that easy!

What’s interesting, though – and what I want to share with you – are the reasons behind us being unable to ignore distractions and focus on some occasions and, at other times, seemingly being more driven. It all comes down to your sense of ‘purpose’.

Think of it like this:

Most of us will have unfortunately experienced some sort of crisis – big or small – in our lives. During that time you will most likely have experienced a huge sense of purpose, finding strength and energy you didn’t know you had and drawing on courage to get you through it to push forward to a clear goal – the solution.

You were probably concentrating on a mission with such focus that it was all you could think about at the time. Everything else took second place. There were no such things as distractions.

The reason? At that time it was what mattered most to you, so you were compelled to keep moving forward and maybe even take risks that you wouldn’t normally take to ensure a positive outcome.

The fact that this really mattered to you was your ‘why’.

Your ‘why’ was the reason you were able to completely focus on the task, making you even more determined.

So, on this basis, knowing your ‘why’ is of massive importance when you are working out how to achieve your goals in life.

Your ‘why’ is your reason for wanting to do something. Your purpose.

Whether that is in business or your personal life, it doesn’t matter. The point is that when you know your ‘why’ then you’ll find the courage to be positive, proactive, take risks, stay motivated and move forwards.

But there’s more!

You also need to think about whether your ‘why’ is big enough.

For example, you may wish to start your own online business – but what’s your reason, your ‘why’? It may be that it’s to be financially stable, or that you want independence, or that it will give you satisfaction or simply that it will give you freedom.

Or perhaps you have a weight loss goal so you join a gym. Your ‘why’ is to look better, get fit, feel healthier and so on.

But in both of these examples, are any of these reasons big enough to drive YOU to success? Your ‘why’ has to be the right reason, the right purpose, be unique and mean something to you.

If your ‘why’ isn’t big enough, you might give up trying to become an entrepreneur at the first challenge you face or you might spend a week at the gym, and then…never go back. It’s hard work, it’s something else to fit into a busy day, distractions happen – your ‘why’ simply isn’t big enough and your sense of purpose not enough to make it through.

If your ‘why’ is not big enough or if it’s not your true purpose, then your ‘why’ won’t motivate you to take action. If you aren’t fully committed to reaching your goal, you won’t be passionate enough to work through the challenging times. That’s why businesses fail or weight loss targets aren’t reached.

So what’s important here is that you 100% need to know your ‘why’ – your purpose – and it should mean a great deal to you.

If you’re thinking about starting or expanding a business, losing weight, giving up smoking – whatever your goal – remember that success can stems from that which you may not have (be it health, wealth or happiness) but that you really, really want.