Start with “Why” - Why do we do the work we do?
The question of “Why” is always a big question. Plus, it always makes you look smart in a meeting!
Kidding. Seriously though, I’ve been contemplating this question for a while. Started my career as a Data Analyst and then moving further towards the direction of data science and programming, I feel sometimes a bit doubtful about whether I’m following the crowd for a trendy career rather than doing what I really care about.
Meanwhile,
“Over the long run, the crowd is always wrong.”
— Seth Klarman, American billionaire investor and author.
You may also have heard of the book “Start With Why” of Simon Sinek. You may even have read it (and never finished the exercises). Yeah, I got you.
Finding your “Why”
As a Data Scientist (or other data related role) these days, we are lucky to be part of a very fast-developing field. Our work is in (very) high demand. The pay is decent to very good. Be good at what you do, and the world is your oyster.
But did you ever stop and ask yourself, are you in this *just* for the money? Or maybe you are in this for the fame and respect of others? Or other reasons?
It’s not to say these why’s are not valid or worth pursuing. In addition, some of us choose this career simply we find it more intellectually satisfying than any others. However, in the long run, if your work doesn’t connect with any deeper purposes, chances are you will feel empty and hollow.
On the contrary, if you can connect what you do with your important values or deeper purposes and meaning, you will be more likely to achieve greater happiness, fulfillment and resilience in your career. It is sort of to achieve the maximum self-alignment in your work and your personal values.
Purpose/ Meaning = The values you are willing to struggle for.
There are many ways to find your “Why”. I will explore a few methods below.
1. Find Your Themes
In his book, Find Your Why, Simon Sinek recommended to begin with stories. Stories could be from your childhood, all the way up to your adolescent, and the formative years of choosing your field of study and starting your career. They are stories that connect with you emotionally.
He suggests to do this exercise with your family and close friends to understand more about yourself and your personal “theme”. After that, you craft your own “why” with the format:
To [contribution] so that [impact on others].
What Simon Sinek came up with for himself is:
To inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that, together, we can change our world. — Simon Sinek
2. Explore Goals Hierarchy
In the book Grit by Angela Duckworth, she suggests to make goals hierarchy. Essentially, it is to keep asking “why” like an annoying 3 year old to yourself, until your goals converge into a handful of categories.
This is my own version of goals hierarchy:
Q: Why do I want to work as a Data Scientist?
A: Because I want to use data to solve problems.
Q: Why do I want to use data to solve problems?
A: Because there are many important problems nowadays that can be solved with data. I think it would be cool to be able to help good businesses and the people around me this way.
Q: Why do I want to help good businesses and the people around me?
A: Because many people still struggle to have better and a happier lives. Similarly, businesses (and also nations) want to succeed and develop in a more sustainable way.
It’s nowhere near exhaustive, but you get the idea. I notice that all my goals in the end tend to converge into a rather altruism type of goals. This may stem from fact that I have a background in Development Economics, and the concept of Donut Economics is highly inspiring to me. I also feel responsible to see many sufferings and injustice in the world that could have been potentially avoided by better technology, efficiency and insights from data. Indeed, it is believed that data science can help solve many of the world’s most pressing challenges.
This simple exercise is powerful. It forces you to be honest with yourself and get through the shallow level of “having a great career” and “making good money” to uncover your deeper values and purposes.
3. Asking questions
Asking hypothetical and seemingly childish questions to yourself can be a fun method to brainstorm your why’s. Some of my favourite questions are:
- What’s something you haven’t had that you would like others to have? (explores what you valued but didn’t have in the past, and what you can do to help others being in that situation)
- Gun to your head, if you had to leave the house all day, everyday, where would you go and what would you do? (I took this from one of the articles by Mark Manson, this question explores what you would rather do the most and for what causes)
- How are you going to save the world? (= what you want to contribute the most to the world?)
- If you were going to die 1 year from today, what would you do and how would you want to be remembered? What would be your legacy? What stories when you’re gone? What would you like your obituary to say?
Conclusion
Finding meaning in our work is vital to a healthy and successful career. It helps us overcome the ups and downs in our career, as well as the uncertain times like what we are experiencing today.
It is crucial for us to maintain the grit and perseverance we need to struggle for what we call “success”, winning the competition and grind on the career ladder. I think it only happens if we find these struggles really worth it.
