The entire basis of this blog post is best understood after watching this GREAT video on a TED talk from Simon Sinek that you can watch right below this. After you’re done watching the video, then come back and read the rest of this article for some more great information and some clarification 
.
How to Inspire Others, Yourself and Action
When communicating with others, it is important to know your Why. Why do you do what you do, and Why do you do that? Forget about asking “What Do You Do?” or “How Do You Do It?”. First – just tell me Why you do it and the What & How will naturally make sense and follow.
This is built into our brains. How often do you encounter somebody who just gives you the What and the How? How inspiring is that?
We can usually pierce their bulls*** because they don’t seem to have a Soul – and this is why attaching stories to companies and products helps them to sell so well – because their stories usually (if done properly) help to satisfy the “Why?”.
When people sell us on the What and the How – they normally just try to sell us on features and benefits, then we are stricken with that all too familiar feeling that just “doesn’t feel” right – it’s the feeling of feeling like we are just being sold to. And nobody likes to feel like they are just being sold to because it makes you feel like you are less than a human and more like a piggy bank that is ready to be broken open. It’s a cold and shallow feeling that we have grown to resent and yet we feel this because our senses are trying to tell us that something isn’t right with the situation; usually because the energy that the other person is emitting is deceitful.
Without the Why – there is no Trust or deeper sense of connection. When the Why is satisfied – people are attracted to you and will share your vision – not for you, but for themselves. They Align themselves with you because they believe deeply enough in your own message since it resonates with their own and what they believe in.
Most people, especially sales people, have it backwards. They sell based on What somthing can do or How much it can do it.
I used to personally work in a certain retail store for a certain big name computer seller and I have learned very fast 3 Golden Rules of selling physical technology products that are applicable to selling Anything.
3 Golden Rules of Selling Anything
Never sell on the How, even if you understand How something works on a more intricate and technical level. You have to evaluate who you are selling to and decide what they know and understand. Do you think that the college student, business person or Doctor wants to know how a computer works on the technical and back-end? Do you think that they want to understand how an external hard drive saves files? Do you even want to know how it works? Only roughly about 5-8% of you will. The How for the average person is How something will improve their lives and make something easier for them. They won’t buy anything until you can convince them Why it will change their lives.
They need something to believe in. They need the Why.
Here’s a good example:
Are you tired of getting viruses, popups and always having your computer slow down? Are you tired of always losing your data because viruses crash your hard drive constantly? Yeah? Well, we were too and this is Why we built our computers – to substantially improve upon this and to give additional levels of protection, security and more options in case any of these things do happen in order to guarantee that you and your data are protected.
Sounds good, right? That makes somebody Believe in the Why – from there, the How and the What makes better sense, and should flow naturally and logically. The How and the What will now make better sense and compliment what you are saying and seem like the next logical answer in the order or sequence of conversation.
“The What”. Most people will make the mistake of selling the What part of how what they have to offer can do for you without having the Why in place and firmly established. This is a good thing – it just means that our built in human bulls*** detectors are working properly. When I was in physical product sales I saw it and I’ve seen it for years in my own marketing companies. Selling the What first usually shows your true intentions first:
“I just want to make money”
It says this because if you lead off with What from the start, then chances are you only care about What you are selling and NOT who you are selling it to. Think about this – you encounter this all of the time yourself I bet. Do you like it? Does it feel right? How does it make you feel on the inside when you encounter this in the world and everyday?
The What side of something is usually just a shopping list of benefits. It might look something like this:
* It will scratch your back and tickle your toes, just the way YOU like them!
* It does X, Y AND Z better than A, B AND C could ever dream of by 150 PERCENT!!!
* It will vacuum your floor for you. This saves you time!
* Our version is improved over our competitor’s by 30 TIMES! This means you get more for less!
Think about most TV Advertisements, especially infomercials and As Seen On TV products. There is really no “Soul” behind them and they seek to sell solutions to lazy and desperate people. They also take everyday items and give them their own “brand name” and then try to resell you something that you probably don’t need or already have, just dressed up to look a bit cooler. Think about the Snuggie and all of the other As Seen On TV junk that nobody needs or already has such as can openers, laundry detergents and slippers etc. They capitalize on these things, why? Well, why not? It’s because they feel as though they can do it and we buy it.
Just compare my examples of What and How to my examples of Why and you’ll see the difference.
Also, compare the examples I have given about the What and How to a more Why based approach such as Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream Speech” or a Steve Jobs keynote speech. I believe that Steve Jobs always did a truly exceptional job of blending the Why successfully with the What and How. He mastered that approach.
The Why is the soul and intuitively satisfies and confirms what people believe in.
The How and What are the physical manifestations of the Soul Behind the Why.
The How is also the technical process of how the Why works and functions. It’s how it physically is assembled, or what it does.
And the What is what it can do in order to satisfy the soul of the question behind the original and initial Why.
Leaders and Visionaries Always Understood Their Why
All of the people who know Why they do what they do are innovators and visionaries – they don’t do what they do for a paycheck. They do it because they believe that they can change the world and make it a better place for everybody at once to enjoy and benefit from.
And they do this, one soul at a time.
All visionaries are like artists in that each use a different medium of expression. Some use technology to give us what we didn’t even know we needed and others help to give us more abstract things like Equality (think about Martin Luther King) that we have so desperately wanted and longed for.
Some write great articles on their Personal Development blog and write great books about Philosophy and Spirituality that help to inspire others as well as himself (think about Steven Michas ).
They all serve to Unite people around a common thread of belief – that the Universe is built upon the philosophy and Law of Unity.
Most important, we need to understand why these people can become so successful AND be Happy.
It is because they have figured out and continue to live their Why from their hearts and their souls.
Additional Content For You to Follow Up With
If you’re starting to feel REALLY inspired then I’d also suggest that you watch this video. Despite what has been going on with this guy lately, it’s truly an excellent video on Arnold’s 6 most important rules for creating and generating success:
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