Sunday, September 22, 2013

The 'why' is not nearly as important as the 'how'

This blog is both professional and personal for me. By reading what I write you get a sense of what is going on in my professional life, as well as things that are happening in my personal life that then in turn affect my thinking.

Over the last few weeks I've spent a lot of time focusing on the 'why.'

I've been using my time to figure out why certain things have happened. I've questioned myself and tried to figure out what I could have done differently that may have impacted or affected what ultimately ended up happening. I've exhausted both my physical and mental energy trying to find the root cause...

What I've determined is that the 'why' can be quite mysterious and quite difficult to find and narrow down.

I've also come to the conclusion that the 'why' can't always be found.

http://goo.gl/CmNAoy
Not being able to find the the real root cause was troubling at first because I previously believed there would always be a 'why.' Now, I feel pretty firm in my thinking that the 'why' will sometimes be eternally elusive.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are definitely times when knowing the 'why' is extremely valuable and extremely important to ensuring the same mistakes are not made in the future.

But, I'm becoming more and more interested in 'how' I respond to what happens than I am the 'why' something happened. Similarly, I'm much more interested in helping others to see the value in focusing on 'how' they respond and 'how' they react to what has happened rather than constantly focusing on 'why' it happened.

I feel too much time is spent on finding the 'why' when it would be better utilized focusing on the 'how.'

I also feel this mindset is applicable to both personal and professional environments. Our time is limited, and busy is the default, so how are you using your time...?