Your WHY is so incredibly important for making anything real in your life and business.

Having a big why,  or a Big Carrot, to motivate and inspire you, is essential for maintaining the courage and consistency it takes to start or grow your own business.

Having a Big Stick is essential to “scare you” into doing the things you sometimes don’t feel like doing.

How does this work?

Holding your big why carrot and your big stick in front of you where you can see and feel them on a daily basis helps you cultivate courage and consistency. When you have them as daily reminders, you’re more likely to get out of your comfort zone and get over your fear.

Unfortunately, most people do not have a big enough why.

Your big why has to excite you.

Inspire you.

Propel you to do whatever it takes.

It makes you jump out of bed in the morning or in the middle of the night, when you have a breakthrough to go implement.

Your big why can’t just be a little carrot… it has to be a BIG, JUICY, GOLDEN, EXQUISITE Carrot that lights you up.

Those who have clearly defined and focused on their BIG “GOLDEN CARROT WHY” are those who achieve the most in their lives.

Part of your big why is also having a big WHY NOT, the opposite of your big why… which is your big stick.

This is the part you use to remind yourself often of what you do not want in your life and business. This your BIG huge pointy painful stick. When you get really clear on what that looks like, you can also use it to push you forward when you feel stuck or unmotivated.

Discovering my Golden Carrot Why and the Big Stick that motivated me was painful.

I began developing my horse business several decades ago. I created a Dancing Stallion Horse Show which consisted of my brother, me, and 2 other guys. All of us were absolutely obsessed with horses and riding. We got addicted to wowing crowds by making our horses dance,and of course, getting paid for it. We loved adding all kinds of choreography and fun things to wow the crowds even more.

The discovery of my big why came from a negative experience I had with my very first job. I’d decided I needed money for more riding gear and lessons, so I took the first job I could find at a laundry mat.

I hated it.

After spending all my free time with my horses, in the fields and honing my riding skills… being in an environment where I was told what to do, when to do it, it smelled like chemicals and I was stuck in a grey concrete box of a building… It was pure yuck.

Unemployable.

If that was what it meant to have a real job, I wanted NO part of it.

That experience because it became my big scary pointy stick.

It made me ask for fees for my show that I was scared to ask for.  I got them.

Now, that I think about, my big scary pointy stick and my golden carrot made me do some crazy things.

Like the performance we did in the middle of Daley plaza in front of the Picasso sculpture in Chicago at lunch hour in front of hundreds of cheering and yelling people while trying to keep the horses calm as they were sliding around on the pavement.

My Big Scary Pointy Stick made me come up with different acts for my show and try things that were totally out of my comfort zone. It made me find a singing coach so I could add singing to the show, after I’d been kicked out my high school choir for not being good enough.

I also focused on my big golden carrot why. My big golden carrot or reason why was I wanted to have the ability to spend all my time with my horse and have the money to take riding lessons from Riding Masters.

If you don’t get clear on your BIG GOLDEN CARROT why and Your BIG SCARY POINTY Stick, you probably will treat your business more like a hobby you’re dabbling in and your level of success will be much lower than it could be.

Here’s what I’ve been doing lately to focus on my BIG GOLDEN CARROT why and BIG SCARY POINTY Stick.

1. Keep inspirational reminders close by.

   On my Vision Board, I’ve got photos of people who inspire me and who I would like to emulate in some way. FDR, Einstein, Jack Johnson (the 1st black heavy weight boxer of the world from the early 1800’s), Oprah, Jessica Cox,  the 1st armless pilot and WD Mitchell. Who’s on there changes from time to time. I have them visible because it’s like my “no excuses” board. When I think something’s hard or I’m dragging my feet, all I have to do is look at it and remember all the things these people accomplished, with SO much more adversity.Then I feel “wow, I got it easy and let’s do this!”

2. Ritualize it.
   

   Make looking at your Big Golden Why and Your Big Scary Pointy Stick every single day part of your personal success ritual.For me, this works best in the morning.

   I get up, do a little meditation and usually sit outside watching the sunrise and writing in my journal of appreciation. I write about what I have to appreciate every day about my life AND about myself and then I write out why what I’ll be doing today is bringing me closer to my WHY becoming more and more real. I not only write it but I attempt to feel the feelings of already being and living my big why. Now, I don’t get there every single day, but most days I do.

3. Review and Prepare.
   

   Most nights, I pull out my journal and review what happened that day.

   Did I get everything done? How do I feel about it? did it get me closer towards my big golden Carrot why? What am I feeling happy and grateful about?

   Then I plan out my tomorrow to be as productive and focused as possible.

If you don’t keep your big carrot why and your big scary stick present, you run the risk of staying comfortable. Staying comfortable possibly means waking up one morning, 20 years down the road and realizing that you aren’t making the impact or the money you want to make.