Revisiting Your Why

“Why am I doing this?” Might be the best question you could ask yourself all year.

Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

Coaching is a demanding profession. The long hours and often thankless efforts do not pay off in ways monetarily one might hope (unless you're a head football coach or a coach at a big university or the professional level). Instead, coaches have to manage criticism, doubt, and unfair accusations—and that's when the team is winning! So why keep coaching? Is it worth the time, effort, and criticism?

On a functionary level, coaching helps pay bills and provide for our families. But many jobs in the job market can do the same and for more money. So if you ask most coaches why they continue coaching amid the scrutiny and the physical toll it has on their health, the charitable—yet very truthful—answer is to make a difference. 

At our core, every person wants to be helpful. We want our life to be meaningful and purposeful. By nature, we are creators, and it's why every new year, we have this sense of resolve or intention to improve our lives and the lives of others. So it's important to revisit our "why." For coaches, our "why" is straightforward; we can see it every day in the athletes and students we teach. But for others, the "why" might not be so apparent, and it isn't always so clear for coaches, either. 

There are aspects of our jobs that we don't like, seem meaningless, and, quite frankly, are counterintuitive to the goals we are trying to reach. Sometimes these are signals that it's time to move away from your current mission and find another. Other times it just means we must reevaluate why we're doing what we're doing. The key is, to be honest with yourself and stand courageous if it means it's time to change your why. 

So as we get into the new year, take some time to revisit your why. A new year doesn't mean you're a new person—you're still the same person who desires to make a difference in the world. But a new year might mean that it's time to pour your purpose elsewhere or that the difference-making opportunity you're looking for is right in front of you.