Why is the question WHY? so important

In most cases, we tend to ask ourselves the HOW questions. How do I get fitter? How am I to earn more money? How do I get better at my work? But you will notice, that these HOW questions are more tactical in nature. If we need to be strategic in our approach, the WHY questions are more important. Why do I want to be fit? Why do I want to earn more money? Why do I want to be better at my work? The WHY questions will often help you delve deep into the exact motivator behind the activity, answering which - in all probability - will help remove the barriers to achieving these goals.

I once asked myself a WHY question that helped me go a long way in personal transformation.

WHY do I want to work on my inner world?

I had been doing a series of practices over the course of two decades to slowly and steadily develop a stronger inner world, but it was not until recently that I could articulate the answers for the WHY question. Here is a two-part answer.

Inner world for inner world

One big WHY of wanting to work on the inner world lies in developing a strong, rock solid inner world within oneself. The two key WHYs for wanting to strengthen the inner world are:

State of mind

This is often the most underestimated aspect of living a successful life. If anyone spends enough time with themselves, they will immediately understand that there is nothing more desirable than a balanced state of mind. ‘Peace’ – a state that often eludes most of us in this fast-paced world, is one of the biggest motivators for me. My desire to work on my inner world was to attain a near permanent state of peace if that was even possible. When I took this on as a challenge and as an experiment to perform on myself, opportunities for practices that would lead me there started to open up before me.

The inner voice

This so called ‘inner voice’ is referred to as the gut instinct, channelling the higher self, listening to the soul voice, and so on in publications that wish to address this subject. All those that have learnt to stop and take a breath will know that there have been times when that inner voice has guided your decision and direction in life. For me, one of the big WHYs of working on the inner world was to develop the ability to listen to this inner voice when it calls out. Each time I have allowed the voice to guide me, my decisions have been reliable and always led to the most desired outcome. My motto has been to strengthen this voice so it is loud enough and does not drown out in the noise.

Inner world for outer world

The second big WHY of wanting to work on the inner world is to gain success and progress in the outer world. Here are the reasons WHY:

Character building

There is so much to admire in some of the leading and successful personalities of our time. I believe that what is worthy of admiration is sometimes innate to the person but often times built with grit and determination. Someone had once said that it is a habit that builds a lifestyle, that builds one’s character, that builds destiny. One of my biggest WHYs was to study the inner world and work on its transformation so that I can become aware of and sharpen some of the qualities that are inherent to me, along with a focus on developing skills and qualities that have the potential to build a strong character. The key here was to look within, giving that inner voice its turn to speak, revealing the characteristics that I would like to mould, thereby shaping my personality into who I wanted to be.

Limitlessness

Channelling the inner world to achieve limitless success in the outer world is no secret phenomenon anymore. The last but definitely not the least big WHY to work on my inner world was to achieve phenomenal success in the outer world. I’d read multiple books and heard of the potential of how the inner world can be used to transform and help access success in various aspects of life, leading to a fulfilling and well lived one. The decision to work on my inner world has been motivated by the fact that it has the potential to enable me to create my own reality, manifest my life as I want it to be, live my most creative, successful and loving self.

This recently embarked upon journey towards self-discovery has helped me introspect and articulate some of my WHYs... as I continue to learn what I can do with the answers to these WHYs, I would love to know the WHYs you may have discovered on your journey.