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Find your why (the Simon Sinek way)

Meet Samantha Gash: Originally set on a career path as a lawyer, Samantha changed her entire outlook on life to focus on her why. This resulted in Samantha running 35,000 kilometres across every continent on earth, while raising approximately $1.3 million for charity and advocating for women's empowerment, social change and access to education. As a Survivor contestant, a current ambassador for both World Vision and the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and a passionate supporter of the APodA, Samantha is more recently the co-founder of Her Trails which empowers women to move in nature and experience our wild places.

Endurance athlete Samantha Gash speaks to the APodA team about how to find your ‘why’ and in doing so, she offers timely advice for members as 2022 unfolds.

It’s one thing to understand the value of knowing our personal ‘why’ at work, but it is entirely another challenge to articulate it.

The story behind the value of ‘why’ falls squarely at the feet of author and speaker Simon Sinek, who in 2009 began a movement that connected people to their purpose by helping them to discover their personal ‘why’. 

 

Grounded in a practical approach, Simon’s vision took on a force of its own (largely thanks to his now-famous TED talk which you can watch here). Fast forward several years and it is widely accepted that if we are to feel more inspired in work and in life, then we all need to understand our own ‘why’. 

 

But how do we do this? It’s one thing to understand the value of knowing our personal ‘why’ at work, but it is entirely another challenge to articulate it. Yet since we are at the start (ish) of 2022, perhaps now is a good time to tap into your own ‘why’ and revisit this question: What drives you as a podiatrist? 

 

Speaker and endurance athlete Samantha Gash sums up how to do this, along with some help from Simon Sinek’s novel approach. And if you want more information and tips on this larger than life issue, download the full APodA podcast here

 

 

“You should start by asking yourself what drives you,” begins Samantha. “Ask yourself, ‘What would you be happy to be left as your legacy?’"

Start at the start

 

“You should start by asking yourself what drives you,” begins Samantha. “Ask yourself, ‘What would you be happy to be left as your legacy?’” Yet rather than feel overwhelmed by this question, Samantha suggests following Simon Sinek’s step-by-step approach to arrive at the answer. 

 

Step One: Start Big

“Once you have asked yourself what drives you as a podiatrist, work backwards from there,” says Samantha. “Let’s say you simply start with: ‘My job is being a podiatrist’.”

 

Step 2: Begin to break it down

“Now, ask yourself why this is. Why are you a podiatrist? Perhaps your answer is: ‘I like to make people feel better when it comes to their foot health.’ 

 

Step 3: Go into more detail

“Now go even deeper than this,” continues Samantha. “Ask yourself why foot health is important to you. Keep asking why until you can no longer answer. You might say, ‘Because I want people to be able to be more active’.” 

 

Step 4: Unpack what is hidden

“Now go even more granular. Ask yourself why that is, why do you want people to be more active? Perhaps your answer is, ‘Because I want people to feel more fulfilled in life.’  Now you’re getting closer to your why,” explains Samantha.

 

Step 5: Keep going until you can’t go further

“But keep going at this point,” says Samantha. “Why do you want people to be more fulfilled? Just keep asking yourself the question ‘why’ until your answer is so granular and yet so bold that you know you have articulated your purpose.” This is Simon Sinek’s approach, and it is surprisingly effective.

 

Watch Simon Sinek’s TED talk here, or listen to Samantha’s full podcast on this topic, hosted by APodA board member Joe Brooks, here

 

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