Why do you invest time in school, sports, clubs/organizations, pets, friends, or family? Do you make choices because your friends are involved in the same group and you don't want to feel left out? Or are you fearless enough to start a new organization that aligns with your personal interests knowing full well the possibility of no one showing up to support your new club?
These are the questions Simon Sinek asks in his TedTalk, "How Great Leaders Inspire Action."
Throughout his presentation, Sinek deconstructs what he calls the "Golden Circle," a metaphor for the various parts of the human brain that has evolved and developed over time. The part of our brain controlling the "why" aspect of everything we decide to dedicate our time to is at the core of our brain, the "limbic part of our brain in charge of controlling decision making and not language."
If you think about it, if the limbic part is in control of decision making but unable to process language and communication, then decision making is wholly controlled by emotions.
And how do emotions play into how we make decisions?
Through what we want and why we want it.
As the youngest in my family, I've struggled with identifying exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I constantly compete with my siblings; therefore, most of my actions are governed by my constant need to stay "relevant" and on par with my sibling's accomplishments.
The mindset has worked for the majority of my adolescent life. I didn't need to know exactly what I wanted to do when asked: "what do you want to be when you grow up." Instead, I focused on being the best in the same school events and sports my siblings took part in as we all went through grade school, middle school, and high school.
It's different in college. As university students, it's our job to explore and find out what makes us unique. It's our responsibility to take these four years as an opportunity to discover what inspires, drives and motivates us to achieve our dreams.
I, like many of you, have faced a struggle with identifying what I'm truly passionate about and evaluating reasons behind why I make my decisions. Most of the time I end up giving into pressure and diverging from my own interests to side with the safer and more dependable option because my trust in myself is utterly outweighed by my sense of security and others advertise other solid and dependable options.
At the core of discovering our passions and making our dreams become a reality, we have to evaluate why we're doing what we're doing and that takes vulnerability to state why you believe in your vision above all others in hopes to gain followers and supporters. You never know if people will support what you believe in, if your vision is aligned with their dreams and aspirations.
The factor you have to consider when you find yourself uncertain of your passions, while looking enviously at those who have turned their aspirations into reality is, how did they do it? Sinek answers that question by stating "great leaders inspire action through evaluating the real reason behind why they do what they do" in order to inspire and spread their visions and ideas to the community around them.
