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111 - WHY!

Hello there, Kevin here, with another episode of the Feel Good English podcast.

The only podcast that helps you become more fluent in English, and more fluent in life. That’s right, helping you kill two birds with one stone!

Today we’re going to talk about a Ted Talk. Well, and a book. We are going to discover the reason why some people, and some companies are so influential. We often think that if someone tells you exactly what they can do for you and how they do it then we’ll be convinced. But it’s actually not the case. If you want people to follow you, it’s important to know that they won’t care much about what you do, but why you do what you do. It’s all about the why.

Also in today’s episode, I’m going to talk about how to motivate people, how to motivate yourself when you’re feeling stuck and frustrated and also how to get inspired in life and work.

These ideas come from one of the most popular Ted Talks of all time by a guy named Simon Sinek. It’s all based on a very powerful idea. And I’m going to share his ideas with you, I’ll play some of his talk so you can hear someone else’s English, and I will also talk a little about the “Why” behind Feel Good English.

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Now let’s get into the lesson, and learn something powerful about life that you can apply to your life. Oh, and you’ll learn some new English too.

“About three and a half years ago, I made a discovery. And this discovery profoundly changed my view on how I thought the world worked, and it even profoundly changed the way in which I operate in it. As it turns out, there’s a pattern. As it turns out, all the great inspiring leaders and

organizations in the world, whether it’s Apple or Martin Luther King or the Wright brothers, they all think, act and communicate the exact same way. And it’s the complete opposite to everyone else. All I did was codify it, and it’s probably the world’s simplest idea. I call it the golden circle.” So here’s the intro to Simon’s idea. He found this idea after looking at some of the most influential people and companies of our time. He also says these inspirational leaders do things differently than others. What is it they do differently? And what’s the golden circle all about? Let’s find out.

“Why? How? What? This little idea explains why some organizations and some leaders are able to inspire where others aren’t. Let me define the terms really quickly. Every single person, every single organization on the planet knows what they do, 100 percent. Some know how they do it, whether you call it your differentiated value proposition or your proprietary process or your USP. But very, very few people or organizations know why they do what they do. And by “why” I don’t mean “to make a profit.” That’s a result. It’s always a result. By “why,” I mean: What’s your purpose? What’s your cause? What’s your belief? Why does your organization exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning? And WHY! Episode #111 4

why should anyone care? As a result, the way we think, the way we act, the way we communicate is from the outside in, it’s obvious. We go from the clearest thing to the fuzziest thing. But the inspired leaders and the inspired organizations, regardless of their size, regardless of their industry – all think, act and communicate from the inside out.” The golden circle is made up of 3 parts, 3 circles inside each other. These circles are “why, what, and how”

So imagine a small circle with the word “why” in it. On a board, you draw a circle and write the word “why”. Now, draw a bigger circle around the first circle, and write the word “how” in that circle. Are you following me? We’re drawing circles, visually, or on a piece of paper if you got one. And now the third circle, the biggest one, goes around the “how” circle. In this one you’re going to write “what”. So you have a small circle with “why”, a circle around that one with “how”, and the outside circle with “what” written in it. Three rings almost. This is the golden circle.

Now most organizations and most leaders look at the biggest circle, the outside circle first, the “what”. A company says “what” they do. For

example. “We make software, that’s what we do”. People need software, so a company makes software, that’s what they do.

And the second circle, the middle circle is the “how”. They make software by hiring developers, and having meetings, and testing, and so on. That’s how they get it done. Oh, and they probably drink a lot of coffee. I’ve taught in a lot of tech companies. A lot of coffee was drunk, that’s for sure.

And the why, the smallest circle, well often the “why” people have, is to make money. “We sell software to make money.” And that’s the normal position of most companies.

But this is fundamentally wrong according to Simon Sinek. Simon flips this golden circle around, and starts with the “why”. He gives the example of Apple. Let’s listen in…

“Here’s how Apple actually communicates. “Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?” Totally different, right? You’re ready to buy a computer from me. All I did was reverse the order of the information.

What it proves to us is that people don’t buy what you do; people buy why you do it. This explains why every single person in this room is perfectly comfortable buying a computer from Apple. But we’re also perfectly comfortable buying an MP3 player from Apple, or a phone from Apple, or a DVR from Apple. People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.

The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have.

The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.” So here’s the main point. People don’t buy What you do or How you do it.

They buy Why you do it. When people know the Why behind something, the driving purpose, values and beliefs, they connect on a deeper level.

It’s all about the Why, the deeper purpose, the life purpose behind a company, organization or even individual that counts the most.

And here are some reasons why the “Why” works so well in influencing people. And by Why here, I mean the reason you do something, and what you believe in.

The Why provides a point of human connection – We want to be around people and companies that share our beliefs and values. The Why communicates beliefs & values, providing a point of identification and connection.

The Why stimulates emotional decision-making – The part of the brain that deals with feelings is also the area that controls our decision-making – so we often ‘feel’ a decision is right. When we try to explain things, how things function, we revert to the rational brain which often draws false conclusions. The rational brain quickly and easily becomes overwhelmed, often leading to lower quality decision-making. So, the Why stimulates emotional decision-making, What or How stimulates rational decisionmaking.

The Why inspires engagement and loyalty. When employees share the organization’s Why it inspires at a deeper level than just ‘motivation’. They have a greater sense of belonging, are more engaged, more committed, have a greater sense of loyalty and are more productive. It was not Steve Jobs who came up with the iPod, iTunes or the iPhone but people who shared his Why.

Why helps you persevere against the misfortunes. The Why is often a future driven goal. It acts like a ‘North star’ in not only guiding the organization, but also in helping to keep the company dealing with adversity.

Why drives decision-making & direction. If you don’t know Why you can’t know How. The Why drives real focus in an organization and can be used to help influence every decision made inside the company. It’s this organizing force that propels the company forward in one cohesive and consistent direction. Knowing the Why helps people know the Whats and Hows.

Without a Why, manipulation drives the workforce . When you do not have a powerful Why that inspires and unites, then you have to manipulate, often by paying inflated salaries. Manipulating people will only hold them in place for so long, but a cause, a fundamental belief or value that they themselves own is much more enduring. Loyalty comes from purpose not incentives.

So to sum it all up, our beliefs are what connect us. They are what drive us.

Motivate us, and keep us around even during the difficult times. Deep stuff.

And here’s a human example instead of a company example. An example of how a person, one person changed a nation forever. Listen in…

“In the summer of 1963, 250,000 people showed up on the mall in Washington to hear Dr. King speak. They sent out no invitations, and there was no website to check the date. How do you do that? Well, Dr.

King wasn’t the only man in America who was a great orator. He wasn’t the only man in America who suffered in a pre-civil rights America. In fact, some of his ideas were bad. But he had a gift. He didn’t go around telling people what needed to change in America. He went around and told people what he believed. “I believe, I believe, I believe,” he told people.

And people who believed what he believed took his cause, and they made it their own, and they told people. And some of those people created structures to get the word out to even more people. And lo and behold, 250,000 people showed up on the right day at the right time to hear him speak. How many of them showed up for him? Zero. They showed up for themselves. It’s what they believed about America that got them to travel in a bus for eight hours to stand in the sun in Washington in the middle of August. It’s what they believed, and it wasn’t about black versus white: 25% of the audience was white.”

Leaders inspire, they lead movements, and great leaders do something very special, they inspire us to act. Leading means people want to follow, rather than have to follow.

So let me ask you, what or who in your life is very clear on their purpose?

Actually, let’s just stick to Who. Who do you believe in? Who inspires you?

Now what’s their “why”?

That why is the reason they inspire you, right?

Just a quick side note.

Now, every Why person needs a How person to make the Why happen. The “why” person is the dreamer. The visionary. But they might not be good at the day-to-day. The details. Without someone to handle the tactical side of things, and making things happen, there would be a lot of unexecuted dreams.

Maybe you’re more of a “how” person. To be honest, I’m often not good at the how. I like to figure things out, but it often takes me a while to do so.

Some people can figure out the how much faster than me. I need “how” people in my life, and my business, or else I get overwhelmed.

The reason I am teaching this today is because I have used this “start with why principle in my life” , and it has instantly changed my mood, calmed my frustrations, kept me moving forward.

If I’m doing something that I’m not into, not enjoying it, maybe I’m tired or frustrated with something and I really want to stop. If I ask myself why I’m doing it, and I get clear on the benefits of me sticking it out, finishing what I’m doing, then I feel better.

If you’re at the gym, sweating and totally exhausted and annoyed, ask yourself why you are there. What’s the reason you chose to be there? You did choose to be there, right? Just because you aren’t feeling great right now doesn’t mean you made the wrong decision when choosing to go to the gym.

This would probably be a good time to go into the “why” of Feel Good English. Let’s do that. And sometimes it feels like a lot work. It is a lot of work. But I believe that what I’m putting on the internet is necessary.

Necessary for some of the billion English learners on this planet. And sometimes I have to remind myself of why I am doing it. And here’s why.

So I know very well how many people around this world are trying to learn English. A billion. Yeah, really. And there are many different reasons for learning English, but deep down I know that most learners want to become a confident English speaker to improve their lives. To improve their family’s lives. They want to create more opportunities. Get a better job. A better salary. Meet and connect with people from around the world. Travel for work, and for pleasure. They want to make life easier for them and the people they love. They believe that they have what it takes to contribute value to the world, and English is a necessary piece of them being able to do that.

Now learning a foreign language is not that easy. And I also believe that it’s pretty damn hard for most people to get inspired about English learning.

Inspired enough to study all the time, in order to really see progress with it.

Some people love English, have plenty of time to learn it, and enjoy the process of learning. But most learners, and this is what I believe, would rather spend their time doing other things than learning English. They’d rather focus on work, building their skill-set, making big changes in the company. Becoming a better leader, or a better employee. They’d also like to spend their time speaking English, without problems, and connecting with others in English. But for them, the process of learning sucks.

And I believe that there’s a better way. When you figure out how to connect with English without feeling like you’re studying it, when you can integrate it into your life, and match it with your interests, you’ll reach new levels much faster, and much more gracefully.

I believe that once you get past the beginning stages of learning a language, which does require some studying, once you get past that stage you can really make the process of becoming fluent much easier by simply connecting to your interests through English.

And here, I provide people with lessons based on personal development.

Lessons on how to do business better. How to connect with people on a deeper level. Lessons on psychology. On how to inspire others. It’s all pretty deep stuff, but I believe that lessons like this one, “Start with Why”, can really impact your life in a positive way.

And if you believe in this stuff too then you’ll follow me. You’ll put these lessons in your ears, they’ll give you something to think about, talk about, experiment with, and your English will naturally improve.

I believe that those English learners that struggle with seeing progress, that don’t like where their level English is, can use my lessons to become a better speaker. And maybe even learn some things to help them become a better person. Well, even better than they already are, of course.

Maybe you don’t believe what I believe. Maybe you believe that without studying grammar you won’t become fluent. Maybe you believe that you need to focus heavily on reducing your accent. You believe that without sounding like a native English speaker you’ll never be confident. And that’s fine if you believe that. But I don’t. I think what people want is your ideas.

Your connection. Your attention. But if you don’t believe what I believe that’s fine. There are a lot of people that would agree with your beliefs.

There are plenty of grammar lessons out there for you. Good ones too. I can help you find them if you need help. Just send me an email.

But that’s why I do what I do. To provide lessons that can help the English learners who want to improve their lives through English and aren’t interested in all of the “boring” English lessons that are online these days.

Not everyone wants to spend 30 minutes learning all the uses of the verb “to get”. Just saying…

So I’ll leave you with this… the next time you find yourself frustrated with what you’re doing, but you have to do it, remind yourself why you are doing it. And at the place you work, why do they do what they do? Do they have a strong why, or do they just want to make money? And if you’re studying, why do you want to learn what you’re learning? Why do you want to study for 4 years to get the degree to help you get the job? Why do you need to make listening to and reading English every day a priority in your life, even if you don’t feel like doing it?

If you find the big “why” you’ll be much more focused on your path.

And that’ll do it for today’s lesson. I hope you learned something.

Quick question for you. Do you want to become a confident, powerful English speaker? Do you need to attack English and make it something you don’t have to worry about anymore? Well you could simplify your life by making Feel Good English your main English learning resource. With my Feel Good Premium Membership, you get two complete lessons per month to help you reach that next level of English fluency. In each lesson, I take the podcast episode you’re listening to right now and transform it into a powerful English learning tool. Become a more effective, smart speaker by becoming a Feel Good Premium Member. Go check out how the premium program works at www.feelgoodenglish.com/go

Thank you for listening to another episode. You’re my why, you know.

Find your why.

See you in the next episode. Bye bye!