How to find your “North Star,” aka your Why
Identifying your ‘why,’ or greater motivating purpose is essential to achieving your big-picture goals, whether it’s for yourself or a brand you work on. Everything you do, down to the nitty-gritty of your daily to-do list, should move you forward toward the big stuff. The same thought process applies to brands, they need a clear purpose too. By having a vision of where you’re going and what you’re building, the tactical step-by-step to make it happen will unfold in front of you.
The irony is that even though knowing your ‘why’ is crucial to achieving big things, it can sometimes be tricky to identify. For example, M.T. Deco clients often come to us with a numbers-driven goal like a million followers on Instagram, or to become an influencer, or to drive sales. And all of that is great, but when we follow up with “why do you want that?” the answer isn’t always clear. That’s because these aspirations are not your ‘why,’ they are simply stepping stones to reach for as part of the greater purpose.
But what exactly is your ‘why’ and how do you find it?
First off, your ‘why’ is rooted in service to others. It’s an alignment between the unique value you bring with the talents you have, and how you use those powers in the world. We like to think of your ‘why’ as your North Star because when things get tough, it’s incredibly helpful to return back to your ‘why’ as a checkpoint for decision-making.
For M.T. Deco, our ‘why’ is to help others do their best work and live their best life. For M.T. Deco, we use our ‘why’ to help decide which clients we work with, what content to create, and which brands to partner with, all while making sure we are relentlessly helping others. We often draw inspiration from our founder Melissa Blum, who intentionally created M.T. Deco to align with her truth in order to help her pursue her greater purpose, which she does by being the best mom, wife, family member, and friend she can be, and also by living her own best life as an example. Things like self-care, rest, reading, music, movement, all help add to optimizing her master plan.
With your personal and professional goals in mind, here are a few tips on how to find your own ‘why:’
For yourself. Think about what you do for others. Think about your natural skills, like listening or writing or public speaking, as well as learned skills like being a lawyer, speaking another language, or marketer. How do these things come together? For example, do you help make complicated concepts easier to digest? Do you provide comfort in some way? Do you motivate others? Do you help others get the information they need to know? Whatever the answer, this is your ‘why.’
For your brand. Think about what your business does for others and craft it down to the simplest terms. For example, does your work help others optimize their businesses in some way? Do you help businesses save money? Do you help empower others somehow? Do you help drive valuable conversations in the world? The answer is the ‘why’ for your brand.
Practice awareness. In order to understand where you can have the greatest impact with your ‘why,’ it’s important to have a sense of others who are working toward the same vision. Run a competitive analysis on market competitors to understand the missions, tactics, and white space opportunity to help you shape your own journey.
Put the work in every day. Once you know your ‘why,’ it becomes your “North Star” for your business strategy. Everything you do tactically, starting with your mission statement to building an audience on Instagram or investing in education, down to your daily to-do list, should somehow ladder back up to that greater purpose.
Also, no matter where you are in life, it’s always a good time to evaluate your ‘why.’ Perhaps you’re in college looking out at all the career options in front of you. Or maybe your company is 10 years old and you’re realizing -- hopefully while reading this -- that there needs to be a real reason for why you want more followers on Instagram.
Take a breath and pause. Go through our step-by-steps above and remember that your ‘why’ is a practice that should always be reexamined and is never too late to get in tune with.