The Celery Test: Put your Why into action

Now it's time to put your why into action. Discovering your why is just the beginning. In order to enjoy all the benefits of having a clearly articulated why, you'll need to have the courage and discipline to use it. Like Thomas Edison said, vision without execution is hallucination. There is an ideal order for implementing your why, though sometimes reality does get in the way. And it all starts with Our natural tendency is to start with the tangible. We define our value by what we do. So it takes practice to start with why. Like riding a bicycle. At first we're unsure, unsteady. We're in our heads, thinking about all the things we need to do. Pedal fast, keep enough speed so we don't fall over. We have to really concentrate. We may even fall over, even scrape our knees. But we get back on the bike and try again. And eventually it becomes natural. Starting with why is no different. At first, it feels awkward. It may not even work. But with practice, it will become so natural that you won't even be able to imagine a time when you couldn't do it. Just like riding a bicycle in time, your why will act as a filter for many of the decisions and choices you make. It becomes a tool to help you find a job or seize an opportunity in which you're more likely to succeed. It removes a lot of the guessing. Here's a metaphor to show you what I mean. It's called the celery test. We're constantly asking people for their advice on what to do or how to do it. It's like going to a dinner party and somebody says, do you know what you need? You need M&MS. We've done so well with M&MS. You've got to use M&MS. Somebody else says to us, rice milk. In this economy, you have to use rice milk. Someone else says to us, kit Kats. You have to use Kit Kats. And somebody else says to you, it's all about celery. We go to the supermarket with all this good advice from all these smart people with brilliant case studies, and we buy everything. We buy Kit Kats and M and Ms, celery and rice milk. There's a lot of time we spend at the supermarket and a lot of money we spend at the supermarket. And when we get to the checkout lane, we're standing there with all these products in our hands, and no one can see what we believe because we bought everything. But let's imagine we know our why. Let's imagine our why is to always be healthy and only do things that protect the health of our bodies. Now, which products do we buy? Given all the same advice from all the same smart people. This time we only buy celery and we only buy rice milk. They're the only two that make sense. We spend less time and less money at the supermarket. And when we're standing there in line with only celery and only rice milk, now people can see what we believe. Somebody walking past can say, hey, I can see that you're healthy. So am I. You just attracted an opportunity or a referral or a friend simply by saying and doing the things that you believe. And the best part is, it's scalable. As soon as I said the why, you knew exactly which products we were going to buy. This means the more you can articulate your why, the more others will know what you stand for and will be able to help you make the right decisions. From now on, you will work to ensure everything you do is a good fit. If you do too many things that aren't a good fit, you'll feel uncomfortable and people will feel that you're being inauthentic. On the other hand, when you start with why, your ability to stand out, find support, and work to all your natural strengths will flourish. With practice, you will learn to trust your why. You will eventually start to see your job and the things you do as ways to breathe life into your cause. And the better you get at it, the more you will feel that your life and everything you do has purpose. The best way to implement your why is to work at it slowly. You don't have to do all the tips we suggest. What is important is that you pick up to three and commit to practicing and using them now.