Step back from what you’re doing for a moment and ask yourself, “Why?”

Why are you sitting at your computer? Why are you taking a break from something to read this? Why are you spending a good deal of your time working on whatever it is you’re taking a break from? And why is that thing important to you?

It’s a question we don’t ask often enough, and it’s amazing what a difference an honest answer can make in how you approach life.

Consider that asking “Why?” is tantamount to asking, “What?” As in, “What are you working toward, and what other ways might you achieve said goals?”

It’s also a bit like asking, “Who?” “Who are you now, and who would you like to be?”

But what’s important is not the words we use, but that we’re asking questions of ourselves in the first place. Without those questions we walk a straight line. There might be periodic zig-zags, usually as a response to something outside of our control, but very seldom do we choose to meander without provocation. Walking a curvy path is inefficient, and we’re in a hurry to get where we’re going.

Of course, taking a bit longer to arrive is a worthwhile expense, if in doing so you’re more certain that you’re moving in the right direction.

Update: April 6, 2017

The journey is the destination, in many ways.