Why Do You Do What You Do?

Why do you do what you do?

It’s a serious question and one you’re likely not asked all that often.

Take a look at what you do each day and ask yourself “why am I doing this?”

On a typical day I’m up with my kids, playing with them, tending to them, teaching them. Why do I do it? Because I love them, I want them to have our values, I want to teach them and I want to experience what it’s like to be a mom. I could choose to go back to a job outside of the home and earn a fairly good income, but I choose to stay home because it just feels like the right thing to do … for me. I realize that this isn’t a luxury a lot of people have despite wanting it and believe me when I say I am grateful for being able to stay home with my kids.

I write. Why? Because it allows me to get in touch with my creative side, something I didn’t get to do too often when I was heavily embedded in the sciences. Writing helps me gather and focus my thoughts. It allows me to

I coach/consult people. Why? Because it allows me to work in a way that I’m passionate about, I am able to contribute financially to my family, and it’s helping me get closer to my goal of personally funding 2 children’s wishes for the Children’s Wish Foundation. Since one of my son’s is a wish kid this is near and dear to me and at $20K a wish I have a VERY long way to go. But I don’t doubt I’ll get there in my lifetime.

These are just a few examples of what I do and why I do them.  They may not sit well with everyone but I do what I do in these respects with purpose and reason.

I could also mention that I watch TV from time to time. If you asked me why I do it, I wouldn’t have a very good answer – to curb boredom, to relax and just sit at the end of the day.  There are a lot of better things I could be doing with my time but occasionally TV is okay.

I think doing things without purpose, a plan or the bigger picture in mind can be fun but it may be wasting your time, effort, energy, talents and skills.

So what are you doing and why are you doing it?

Take inventory of what you’re doing in major life areas and try to understand why you’re doing them.

Does what you do play to your strengths? Do you get great joy out of doing it? Is it helping you get closer to a goal or a dream you have?

If you spend too much of your time focusing on things that don’t really matter, that don’t really excite you and you don’t have a reason for doing what you’re doing you could be missing out on a lot of great things.

Think of all the opportunities you could be missing out on if you’re tied up in activities that don’t matter to you. Wouldn’t you hate to realize one day that what you wanted all along passed you by because you were too busy doing other things. Menial things.

So my question remains: What are you doing and why do you do it?

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I Love My Family

How To Live The Life You Want: Follow Your Dreams

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Photo courtesy of: * Zara