If you’re in a meeting-heavy corporate culture, often you’re introducing and re-introducing yourself several times a day. We’ve all seen the variety in how this is done. 

From the under-sell approach:

I’m in marketing. 

I’m on Michael’s team. 

I sit near the women’s room. 

To the overshare: 

In the 90’s I got divorced and…

Oh no, make it stop—we’re here to talk about SEO!

To the memorable gems that are succinct, articulate and clever—often peppered with an on-brand joke or two. First impressions stick, so why not elevate yourself in those first moments with a thoughtful summary of who you are and what you do. Bonus points if you lighten the mood with a tone that reminds people to stop taking themselves so seriously. 

Here’s my framework for developing an Elevator Pitch that feels natural to deliver in a meeting, at a networking event, on an interview or even at a party. 

Sentence #1: The Overview
This is a one-sentence overview of who you are and what you do. Easy right? If you don’t have the opportunity to finish the rest of your pitch, this sentence should be able to stand on its own. An ounce of creative thinking can go a long way here. If you come up with a clever and unique way of describing yourself, you’re buying the time and audience attention to finish your pitch. 

Sentence #2: Time to shine
Use this space to practice the art of authentic self-promotion. Here’s where you can talk about a couple of strengths, passions or a career highlight. If you’re doing this in a meeting, you’ll want to do your best to make it relevant to the topic at hand, but if you’re networking or at a party—the world is ready and waiting to hear about your quirky talents. 

Sentence #3 (optional): For career changers and re-launchers
If you’re using this pitch for networking and interviewing as part of a career change or re-entering the work-force after a break, here’s where you explain that. You can put a neat and tidy bow around it and then MOVE ON. For career transitions, you can explain why transferable skills one, two and three make you qualified for job description requirements four, five and six. When you’re addressing your career break, you can explain that you chose to take three years to focus on raising young children or care for a sick family member, but now you’re excited to use your transferable skills one, two and three at a mission-driven company. 

Sentence #4: The ask
This will vary greatly based on where you are and with whom you’re talking. In a meeting, it can be as simple as expressing interest in the topic at hand, gratitude for the opportunity to share the capabilities of your team or even a request for everyone to ask questions throughout so the meeting is more of dialogue than a presentation. When you’re networking, think of something you can ask that might be easy for a person to accomplish and make them feel good to deliver. Perhaps it’s an intro to someone in their network or to think of you when speaking opportunities in your area of expertise arise. Obligatory coach note: remember to return the favor and be generous with what you have to offer. Your generosity feels good and also demonstrates that you’re someone with value and expertise, a leader. In an interview, the ask is fairly obvious, but it bears repeating—your ask should drive home why you’re a good fit for the job. 

Once you have a working draft of your pitch, give it the seriousness test. Is there a way to add something funny or at least light-hearted in the first two sentences? Now, practice on people (and pets) in your close-in circle. Make sure it sounds natural and feels like something you would say—and not like a thesis recited by the robot-version of you. When you’re ready to debut your pitch at a meeting or an event, know that it will not come out as perfect as it sounds in your head and that’s OK. It’s a place to start and you can build from there. Notice the difference in the response you get from this new declaration of who you are that goes WAY beyond your former, "I’m with him." Take in the smiles and focus of your audience and know that you did that, simply by owning the space to be the best version of you. 

If you’re looking for a little extra support in honing your Elevator Pitch, please consider the Nail Your Elevator Pitch Mini Course!

The Mini Course includes…

Five short videos that walk you through:

• A welcome and setting you up for success

• Identifying your strengths

• The strategy and approach to writing your pitch

• The formula for three different types of pitches based on your situation

• Getting into action with your pitch

Plus, a workbook where you can write the first drafts of your pitch.

All for $60!

Add a 45-minute 1:1 session to workshop your pitch with Rachel for $125.

Let’s get you out there networking with a pitch that will give you the momentum you need to make that next big career move. Take the next step here: https://www.rachelbgarrett.com/pitch

In the past year I’ve coached several junior women leaders who were promoted while we were working together (yes!). Their new roles required them to lead larger teams, become more visible with clients and senior leaders and to step into the ever-elusive title of "thought leader." For most, they had the tools they needed to rise to these expectations. Confidence, know-how, grit—it was all there. 

But for a few, there was something holding them back. 

Loyalty. 

It showed up as: 

• An un-spoken contract that they should not disagree with the very boss or mentor who helped them get where they are

• A strong connection to the work they were doing and the people they were serving before their promotions

Together we uncovered how their understanding of loyalty was blocking them from fulfilling their potential in their careers using the following approach. 

1. Disrupt and redefine loyalty
What does loyalty currently mean and what could it possibly mean to you? Are you defining loyalty as a need to stand by your leader no matter how you feel about his or her approach or opinion? One could argue that loyalty is quite the opposite. Loyalty is when you’re clear about who you are and what you believe—especially in the face of disagreement. When you’re true to yourself, others know they can count on you for opinions and that you can provide safety for when they want to be themselves. Taking this one step further, loyalty need not mean staying in one place for eternity. If you’ve set up the premise that you must be true to yourself, then when it’s time for you to move on—supporting new teams and taking on new projects—others will get on board in time, recognizing these as opportunities for themselves as well. 

2. Communicate your new definition
If you’re working on differentiating yourself from your leader as part of your new take on loyalty AND you have a solid relationship with him or her, now’s the time to share your strategy for growth. Acknowledge your appreciation for all of their support, while sharing that you’re hoping to take ownership of certain projects, lead the meetings and most importantly—share a different point of view. Know that this conversation may be challenging, but in having the conversation you’re exercising the very muscles you’re aiming to stretch. Note how it feels in this moment and expect that feeling again as you begin to spread your wings. And if you’re moving on to new responsibilities, I urge you to avoid becoming the person who has two jobs. Be clear about the projects and tasks you’ll be handing off as soon as possible so you can clear your plate for your new role. Offer up the chance for someone new to take ownership of your former responsibilities, just as you are doing with the new. 

3. Practice and witness new possibilities
Oh how I wish simply saying you are going to do something could make you fully change. As we know, it doesn’t, and you will need to practice stepping out of your old loyalty habit of deferring to your boss when you’re set to take the lead. One way I like to do this is by coming up with a word or phrase that can nudge you out of the comfortable habit in the moment. It could be "soar" or "rise" or "carpe freakin’ diem." Whatever it is, saying something in that moment will give you that jolt you need to be the leader you envision. Each time you step into that role with more visibility and authority, your colleagues will begin to expect that’s how you will show up, and in turn they will call on you for your expertise, your POV and your support. 

When you begin to reframe loyalty in your career, you’ll begin to see other areas of your life where your loyalty definition can be tweaked. Are you giving endless airtime to negative family members who want to use your precious minutes for complaints? Over-parenting anyone? As we say in the coaching world, "How you do one thing is how you do everything." So, when you realize you’re stuck in a habit in one area of your life, it’s a wonderful opportunity to begin investigating other areas of your life where that same pattern may be ripe for a reboot! 

I overheard a conversation a few weeks ago that struck me to my core. I could not concentrate on anything else. I could not write. I could not answer emails. Spotify, where were you when I needed you most? 

An upper middle class white man telling his friend about how hard it is to be him. How much rejection there is in his life. How much pressure. How people don’t understand how hard it is to do the work that he does. And this is the unbreakable circumstance of his life. This is simply how it’s going to be. 

On the surface, you might think—wow with all this white male privilege, why can’t he simply seize the opportunities that are his for the taking? But, that would be a superficial view of the situation and one where we often get stuck. 

Instead, I viewed the situation with empathy. I realized I could not look away because I’ve been him. He clearly has a story about why he is where he is, why his life is hard and why it will always be that way. There is pain and fear and struggle in that story. I was there once too. 

As many of you know, my parents died in a car accident when I was 11. For 15 years after the accident, I survived, I did what I needed to do, but I also created a story about my life that I could use to protect myself from any hint of failure. 

Whether I was facing the consequences of too many absences in high school, not showing up for a final exam in college, or even a tendency to go for the easy job instead of the one that would force me to learn and stretch—when things got hard, I became that poor girl, that story. The girl who wasn’t parented enough, the one who was incomplete, the one who was broken too early. And she wasn’t meant to live a great life, she was meant to get by. I was prone to saying, "I could have been a drug addict or dropped out of life. So, I’m doing ok." 

And then I woke the fuck up. 

I realized that I created the story about that broken girl. And if I did that, then I can also create the story of a girl who had a rough beginning, but so much love and belief in herself that she learned to use that broken-ness as the very wholeness that fueled her to do incredible things with her life. Why couldn’t that story be true? 

With the right support, the momentum of small wins and the practice of moving through challenges as a powerful person—I’ve learned how to choose this story that helps me soar instead of the one that keeps me standing still in life. 

When my clients come to me, they’re also struggling with stories that are holding them back in their lives. 

I’m the mom who took 3 years off to care for my kids. My career wasn’t going that great before that, so I’ll never get back into the workforce. 

I’m the entrepreneur who has been working my ass off in my own business and wishing I had the routine of a day job. I could never make the switch because people will think I failed. 

I’ve never had a role with great leadership or direction, so I have zero accomplishments or results to put on my resume. 

When we work together to break down these stories, debunk their truth and create a new narrative, beautiful things are possible. What’s the story that you’ve constructed about your life and how is it serving you right now? How is it keeping you in everything, ranging from a life of complaints and pity, to just getting by, to living an OK life. Are you really here for something just OK? For me, giving myself permission to go beyond OK was the game-changer I needed to live a life of meaning. And when that broken girl shows up every so often, I show her compassion, acceptance and love, and remind her that there’s another choice that’s within her grasp. 

In the early days of my digital marketing career, I found myself in my mid-twenties leading a large multi-disciplinary team and responsible for a multi-million dollar website launch. It wasn’t a position I’d ever expected I would be in just a few years earlier while finishing up college and changing my major for the fifth time in my senior year (clearly a topic for another post!). I rose quickly and stepped into my role with boundless curiosity and a passion for the work. 

I took to managing all of my direct reports with a fervor and excitement that I now consider to be the early clues of my love for motivating, inspiring and all things leadership. But when it came time for me to report the work of the team and the challenges facing the project to senior leadership, I felt like a teeny tiny person. 

The symptoms of my inexperience were physical and visible. In my status meetings with our SVP, my face grew hot and red. I was holding back tears and I had no idea why. I was taken over by an image that I had done something wrong, I was unworthy of being in the room or that I would need to defend myself. And it didn’t get better when I began to talk. Eyes glazing over. Yawning. Checking watches. These reactions were not going to get me the support for the team or the project I needed. I knew I needed help to fully step into this role by managing up. 

Thankfully, I was able to enroll in leadership training that gave me the tools to build my confidence. I read every leadership book I could get my hands on. Then I practiced, believed I was worthy, made mistakes, learned from them and was honest about areas I wanted to grow. Interestingly, with all my focus and attention in this area, it’s become a great strength of mine, and is something I share with my clients as one piece of the puzzle that can clear the path for them to rise in their careers. Here are three areas of focus for you to practice when you’re managing up. 

1. Heal childhood wounds around authority
For many people, especially for those who are early in their careers, authority figures and hierarchy can bring up a lot of fear. Don’t judge yourself for this fear. We’ve all been yelled at by parents and teachers and athletic coaches and those memories live in our bodies as we sit down with bosses and leaders in our companies. Identify what memory may be a trigger for you, get quiet and be compassionate to the child who was embarrassed or belittled. Do some writing or reflecting on what came up in those moments and remind yourself you are not that child anymore. You are strong enough to deal with whatever anyone would say about you. Most importantly, you can now choose what to believe and not believe. If this seems like an area where you need additional support, it can be life and career-changing to work with a therapist around some of these early traumatic moments that may be holding you back.

2. Less is more
This is a lesson that took a long time for this verbose woman to learn, but once I did, my managing up skills grew exponentially. Your senior leaders do not need to know every detail. In fact, they have no time for those details. You must break down your message to its simple core. What are the high level takeaways and where do you need their support? Wherever you can, make recommendations for solutions instead of dumping problems in their laps. When you come to them with your honed story and clear concise needs, you’re demonstrating that you respect their time and that you have the confidence to take on the details without them. 

3. Authentically promote yourself and your good work
Leverage your time with and your exposure to senior leadership as an opportunity to plant seeds about your pride for how your projects are moving forward, relationships you’ve build and ideas you have that might further the goals of the organization. This is a tough part of the job for many because they feel it’s fake or phony—but truly it’s not if you talk about the things that bring you actual pride and joy. Side note: if you’re having trouble finding those things you have other challenges that you should investigate. When you regularly build the case for the value you’re bringing to the organization, you will be primed to take on more responsibility and clear the path for promotion. Learn more about how to do this with my 5 Commandments Of Self-Promotion. 

The good news is that these are skills that can be developed over time. There are some people who seem to have come out of the womb confidently persuading and presenting cogent arguments to the C suite, but for the rest of us—there’s hope and time to hone our craft. And as with all professional development endeavors, it starts with a mix of self-awareness, compassion and enough curiosity to experiment with a new approach. 

I’ve wrapped up 2017 with a long list of accomplishments. I’ve created my Why that brings me to tears: get more women into positions of power. I’ve rallied my team, which now includes a new mastermind group of KICKASS women business owners who are going to support me in breaking my business wide open—and that’s a good thing! It’s all quite serious and powerful and inspiring. I’ve never been more prepared for a year to start than I am right now. A fellow coach commented, "You’ve been shot out of a cannon this new year." 

Yes, it is true, but immediately it became clear to me: I’m over-indexed on intensity and well, where’s the fun of 2018? I must create a release valve where all of this excess energy can go, as well as a way to celebrate my hard work.

I wish I didn’t need to impart a process for you to add fun back into your life, but if you sat in on as many client sessions as I have, where it is clearly at the bottom of the priority list—I promise, you would do the same. 

But, before I un-fun my fun blog post with homework, I want to remind you why fun is important and why it is not what you may think—frivolous and unproductive. 

Like clean eating and movement, fun is fuel—a renewable resource at your disposal if you so choose. It’s in that fun, that we let go of being stuck, we give up resistance and we experience the best moments of our lives. It’s the stuff that makes us want to keep going and to redouble efforts everywhere else. Who wouldn’t want all that? 

So, where do you start? Here’s a simple 3 step approach to bring back the fun (I feel a hashtag coming on…) and make 2018 the year you remove the stick from an obvious body part. 

1. Make a list of the things that bring you fun and joy
This is not what you think should be fun or what your sister thinks is fun. This is about you. What makes you pee your pants laughing? What brings a smile you can’t wipe from your face? What brings you the kind of joy that makes you feel like a kid? Make a list of things. Remove judgment from all that’s on the list. I don’t care that jumping on a trampoline is your north star! So why should you? 

2. Schedule fun into your calendar and make it a priority
Take a look at your list and choose a couple of things that you want to pepper into your calendar of choice. Treat these appointments like your most pressing, urgent, important meetings of your week. Protect your fun time. When that’s the only time someone else can meet with you, practice saying, "I’m not available." Silence. No need to say, "I can’t because I’ll be sword fighting at that time." They don’t need to know this. That’s between you and your sword. 

3. Notice your resistance to fun
As with everything in life, your resistance is an opportunity to learn. If you’re not able to keep your commitments to your fun practice, reflect on why that is and how a fun-free week is working for you. What does fun bring up for you? Experiment with only scheduling 15 minutes and actually doing it. What did you feel during that time? Were you desperate to be productive? Or did you feel like you needed to be perfect in your fun? Like you’re not doing fun right? Take some notes in a journal about what your resistance is bringing up for you and you may find some answers you weren’t expecting to come out of your scheduled 15 minutes of visiting the dog run sans dog. 

I now sound like my daughters where every conversation is simply a vehicle to bring up our upcoming adoption of the dog that will join our family sometime in 2018. Our dog is part of my 2018 fun plan, along with a week in the woods, more time with friends and dancing. 2018: less sitting, more dancing! And fun. More fun, please! 

When my older daughter started Kindergarten in a new school and my younger was in her terrible two’s, I had taken on a larger role at work and in short—life was complicated. Mornings were a shit show of epic proportion. I came to expect all three of us to be crying as I locked the apartment door to start each new day. At the time I thought, "Wow. I’m simply sucking at this." And then to top it off, the subway would take its sweet time on my commute. I arrived late and was already behind for each meeting. All day I fought against the sad nagging feeling that I wasn’t winning any awards at the office, either! 

I knew I had to do something to break me out of that daily cycle of failure and despair. So, I took the natural next step for any overwhelmed working mom. 

I signed up for the New York City Marathon. 

Wait. What the what???

At the time, I couldn’t articulate to anyone why I was doing it. I had run a few races, but slowwwly…and never anything as intense as the magical, daunting 26.2. It was unreasonable. Unthinkable. And that’s exactly why I knew I had to do it! 

It was something powerful; proof that I could conquer my deepest fears and trust my intuition. It was the gift that forced me to lean on and be lifted by my people. And they were all in too. After five months of training, my six-year-old sat us down the night before the race and said, "I want us all to close our eyes and picture mommy crossing the finish line of the marathon." Love and tears. Enough said. 

The marathon made me realize—I’m not that great a runner and I ran a freakin’ marathon!! What can I do with the things I’m REALLY great at??? And then, my coaching practice was born. 

Sometimes it’s that simple. We need something to shake us out of reacting to our lives so that we can create the life we want.

And if running a marathon isn’t your thing…that’s ok! I have something else that can shake you out of a life of:

Autopilot

Overwhelm

Guilt 

Perfectionism

It’s called WORKING MOTHER MASTERCLASS—and I’m so over the top excited to be sharing it with you! It’s the culmination of three years of helping women to end their self-sabotage so they can build lives they love. And it will be a major focus of mine this year in my mission to get more women into positions of power. 

In the 8-week group coaching program we’ll:

1. Build out your life vision and learn what you want in your core.

2. Figure out what’s getting in your way (ie. guilt, perfectionism, difficulty saying no).

3. Master the work-life juggle by giving clear strategies to get out of overwhelm.

4. Up-level your leadership by defining your leadership style and personal brand, while improving your communication and learning to promote yourself in an authentic way.

5. Create a plan for self-care, fuel and fun!

6. Incorporate concrete ways to help other women.

7. Provide the accountability of a badass group of motivated and committed women.

8. Work through the challenges of what it’s like to be a woman in today’s workplace in a safe and supportive environment.

There’s only room for TEN women in this group and it starts January 30th! Sign up now to reserve your spot. They’re going FAST! 

If it sounds like it’s for you, you can learn more about signing up here or schedule a Clarity Call with me to talk through the details. 

Or, if you know someone who sounds like a good fit for the program, forward this email or feel free to reach out to me. 

This is going to be BIG—so join me. Real talk, real change for the real life you’re meant to live. 
 

In the aftermath of #metoo, the smart companies among us are beginning to seek ways to shift their cultures, to dive into how we came to this place of reckoning and to find methods to help employees begin to advocate for and protect themselves. In addition to new reporting processes, policies and re-vamped trainings, there’s a clear necessity to break the dialogue about diversity in the senior ranks wide open; to get focused on the tactic we know will move the needle: get more women into positions of power. Now. 

Given where we are, it can seem a daunting task—and one reserved for a select few in the top rung of our organizations. Also, knowing how strapped we all are for time, you may fear furthering this cause will become your new unpaid side-hustle. 

I’m thrilled to report, neither of these statements are true and there’s much we can be doing within our work day to take giant leaps forward to our goal of gender parity in the senior ranks. 

Here’s a list of 5 ways you can begin right now:

1. Take your own leadership seriously
Women, whether you have direct reports or not—you can be a leader. You can define the kind of leader you want to be by identifying your values and strengths and creating a leadership or personal mission statement. You can hone your clear communication skills and your executive presence. Read the top leadership books and continue to hone your craft. Dare to laugh while on the job and be yourself. Be the model. Be the example, the boss you wish you had or can have. Ask for what you want. Promote your good work. Believe you are worthy. 

2. Stop complaining and generalizing about bad female bosses
All too often, my clients lean in to me and whisper (in my private office), "I prefer to work for a male boss. I’ve had bad experiences with women." Beyond clients, I’ve heard it from colleagues, friends—and hell—I think I’ve said it once or twice in my career, but not anymore. Of course our experiences are valid and it’s fine to talk about your experiences, but just know—you’re NOT helping more women advance with this negative re-telling of history or sweeping assumptions that all female bosses will be as bad as those you’ve encountered. My guess is that you’ve had some bad male bosses as well—so check your own bias when you say these things. Are you holding women to a higher standard? Absolutely give feedback, recommend training and recognize how you want to lead differently, but by furthering these stories and statements, you could be maximizing a false assumption that women don’t lead as well as men. Or you could be adding a level of pressure to the already long list of fears held by women stepping into leadership roles. This pressure could prompt women to avoid choosing "the big job" when it’s well within their capabilities. 

3. Give constructive feedback to women colleagues often
The only way employees at all levels will continue to improve and up-level their game is with feedback. I offer tips on how to effectively give feedback for those who may shy away in my post, Give Feedback Like A Pro. Most importantly, you can let the employee know you’re giving the feedback BECAUSE you care and you think they’re good at what they do—not the opposite. 

4. Take time to mentor
Build time in your schedule to meet with women who are seeking your wisdom—and believe you have wisdom to share! It could be as little as one mentoring lunch a month and as much as some master mentors—two afternoons a week. If getting more women into positions of power is a top priority for you, make the time. Show other women it’s possible to get where you are, to juggle logistics, to have a position where you’re supported and have some autonomy and flexibility. Show other women that it doesn’t need to look perfect and you need not live in a state of exhaustion. When you can see it, it’s easier to believe it’s possible. 

5. Advocate for training and yes, coaching
If you lead a team, advocate for new levels of training and coaching for your emerging women leaders. With my corporate clients, I help them learn to delegate more junior tasks to their capable employees so they can take on more of the strategic work that will get them promoted. We work through the tactical logistics of the work-life juggle so they come out of overwhelm and use their creative muscles for innovative thinking. They learn to communicate with confidence and power, how to own a room—and lead with the best parts of themselves—instead of playing a part. Most importantly, they learn to believe they can demonstrate their value and expertise, while also leading on their terms. More about this in my post, Flexibility and Advancement Are Not Opposites.

Inherent in all of these ways we can further our collective mission, is that we must continually question our own inevitable biases. We must become aware of when we’re bringing our bias to our decision-making, our communication and our leadership. We must create a safe space for the only other woman in the meeting to speak. We must give the woman candidate a chance based on her credentials, not only on her ability to sell herself. The latter can be taught. One wonderful tool, I use with clients and with my own biases is Kristen Pressner’s simple, Flip It To Test It model. The more we open up the dialogue and become aware of how we are contributing on both ends of the spectrum, the better we’ll become at shifting focus and our trajectory in closing the gap. 

As a Career and Leadership Coach supporting working mothers in up-leveling leadership skills and managing career transitions, the week the Weinstein news hit was traumatic. Then the punches kept coming. Every day there were more sexual harassment, assault and rape cases revealing themselves—and the stories of cover-up infrastructure decades old were as crushing as the incidents themselves.  

Like Uma Thurman, I was angry. Every day I coach incredible women. 

Women who know well what it’s like to be the only woman in the room. 

Women attorneys who have created new areas of the law to protect underserved communities. 

Women who are self-taught technology experts. 

Women who are facing bias, discrimination and worse—that flies in the face of their ambition. 

Women who have all the skills, all the tools, all the expertise—but still don’t see themselves as leaders. 

After weeks of moving through empathy for the victims, reflection on the more than awkward moments in my own career, holding my clients’ challenges in my heart and reading every word on the subject, one Harvard Business Review article was tattooed on my brain—Training Programs and Reporting Systems Won’t End Sexual Harassment. Promoting More Women Will. The article revealed that while training programs and reporting systems are band aid measures, the research does not support their success in solving the problem. 

The only proven approach is in promoting women into the senior ranks. "Male-dominated management teams have been found to tolerate, sanction, or even expect sexualized treatment of workers, which can lead to a culture of complicity…Harassment flourishes in organizations where few women hold the "core" jobs. Fixing this is about finding power in numbers, not just in authority and hierarchy."

There it was. Through tears, I saw my imminent pivot before me. There was only one path forward. One mission. One 2018 Why.

GET MORE WOMEN INTO POSITIONS OF POWER. 

As I move into 2018 business planning and goal setting, all priority projects will fall under this umbrella.

I will begin to phase out programs and projects that no longer speak to this mission, this Why. My focus will be coaching and online programs that ignite women’s leadership skills, strengthening their belief that it IS possible for them to lead and have family lives they love—while drop kicking the idea or myth that women can’t and won’t help women. 

Helping other women will be part of my mission and all of my programs. 

The ONLY way we’re going to make this happen is by helping each other. 

So, in the spirit of helping each other—let’s get to work helping you Create Your 2018 Why. 

First off, what is it? 
Often called a "Why Statement" and popularized by Simon Sinek’s must-read bestseller, It Starts With Why. As Simon so eloquently puts it, "It is one of life’s greatest joys to wake up in the morning…every morning, with a clear sense of why that day matters, why every day matters. This is what it means to find your WHY." 

Your Why should bring you to tears. Now, I’m not saying I want you crying the whole damn day, but—I do want you to be moved by what you’re doing and your reasons for doing it. This emotion will propel you forward, keep you motivated and fill you with pride and gratitude for your contribution to the world. 

Why is it important?
Your Why drives your hunger to succeed and accomplish your goals. It also gets you through the tough parts of the work! When I’m dealing with technology issues or scheduling snafu’s with clients, I think, "Get more women into positions of power." And I redouble my efforts to work through it. 

It also lets people know how to help and partner with you! When you tell people your Why as part of your elevator pitch or simply standing in line at Starbucks (ok, maybe that’s just me!) people will be attracted to the emotion behind your Why and think about ways to be a part of your mission. 

How do I create it?
This will take some ever-illusive quiet time. Yes, it is possible to find this time and you must. I already feel the pressure you’re putting on yourself to find the answers in one sitting, you efficient type-A’s. Let me set expectations by saying, this could take awhile and that’s okay. The reflection is worth your time, no matter what you uncover. 

Ask yourself, the following questions:

1. What do I want?

2. What do I want for the people I love?

3. What do I want for the world?

4. Why do I want these things?

5. What is most important to me?

6. What do I believe with all that I am?

Read through what you have and let it percolate. Now, actively walk through your life with an openness, looking for clues to finding more of these answers. Talk about your evolving answers with people you trust and people who will be open to exploring what this means for you. 

When you come up with it—and it brings you to tears, let your Why be your mantra and experiment with it being your life’s organizing principle. The first year of my business, my Why was simply one word—growth. I had spent 16 years in one career and I felt like I was standing still for a long time. The idea of both personal and business growth lit me up. It helped me figure out what projects to say no to and how I wanted to organize my life. Whatever you come up with, let it be something that draws you to it, something that fires you up. Because you’re here to make shit happen, so let’s do this thing, 2018.