When I first learnt about the concept of Core Purpose, I did not truly understand its meaning. I thought to run a successful accounting business, we need to service my clients well, please them and put them in priority before my own interest. For this reason, I have “Clients come first” as my business’s core purpose. But over the years, I found that I was not happy with the way my business was travelling. Don’t get me wrong, my business is doing well, we have more clients and hence more workload and revenue, our people number has increased, and our office is bigger than before. This is not the business that I wanted it to be – I want my business to be highly profitable, working with type A Clients only, I can work when I want to work and how I want to work. I don’t want to be like my previous manager who once said to me in the morning when we were in a lift going up to the office, ‘another day; another dollar’. I questioned myself ‘why do I do what I do every day?’; ‘why do I get up in the morning and go to work?’
Recently I have done some soul searching through book reading and attending seminars. As bestselling author and TED star, Simon Sinek, would say “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Sinek called it Golden Circle.
To run my business by design rather than by default, I went back to the basic of WHY am in business and I discovered this:
I get up every morning so I can enhance better lives of people through educating, coaching, nurturing and guiding them to the journey of wealth creation and balance life, so that they can in turn share their experience and resources to their networks to create a better world
This is what I am all about. I like to influence people’s thoughts, in a good and positive way. I like to make a difference and stand out from the crowd. I like to get feedback on how people have used my advice, ideas, and concepts. I love case studies and success stories. My purpose of running an advisory practice is to influence people so they make a better life. I work so my clients who use my advice and ideas to create a better world. I work so I can mentor my team and colleagues to enhance their knowledge and career. I work so my family can live in a wonderful life without worries or fears. And this is why I get up every day and work long hours.
Once you found your “WHY”, the next step becomes so much more meaningful and easy to plan. This wonderful concept applies not only to running a business but many other things as well.
Have you found your purpose in life?
