'If you have a strong purpose in life, you don't have to be pushed. Your passion will drive you there.' Roy T. Bennett
Knowing your life's purpose is the strongest motivator to create the life you want. It gives meaning to everything you do, to all your actions. In addition to your ‘life purpose statement’, a ‘learning purpose statement’ can give meaning to your learning efforts.
In one of my favourite TED Talks, Simon Sinek talks about the fundamental question: 'Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others?' He shows that the basis for success is the way how these people and organizations think, act and communicate. Instead of starting with the question 'What do we want to do?', they start by asking 'Why are we doing what we are doing?'. He calls this the Golden Circle, starting with the Why (the higher purpose) then moving to the How (the values and strategies that underlie all your actions) and ending with the What (the actual product or service).
When thinking about your own learning and development, using the Golden Circle logic will help you to follow through and to achieve your own goals by asking the following questions:
Why do I learn & develop? E.g. I want to inspire trainers and give them confidence and reduce fear when developing their own online earning formats.
How do I want to achieve it? E.g. I want to be authentic and true to myself, respect different opinions, make offers rather than giving advice, I want to coach in addition to consulting.
What do I want to do to achieve it? E.g. I want to offer professional and customized services to my future clients. To prepare for this, I will prepare modular consulting material, I will learn how to develop an online course on digital learning and I will launch this within 3 months’ time, I will connect to people on LinkedIn, I will visit conferences to network, I will interview potential customers to learn where they are struggling.
How will you apply the Golden Circle logic to your learning & development?
