Understanding Your Why

Hey everyone. Welcome to episode two. In this episode, I wanted to talk about your "why." The reason I'm starting here is because if you are thinking of becoming a founder, you really need to understand why you're doing it. Your why is going to be your heart as well as your practical needs. It’s a combination of those two things. It's nice to focus on the heart part more, and I think that should be your driving motivation because that's what's going to keep you going through challenges, through all of the work part of it, and the sustainability of doing it long term.

The Importance of Loving What You Do

Just like with any job, if you have to go to your job every day because you just need the paycheck and you don't really love what you're doing, you don't really feel a lot of purpose behind what you're doing, it's hard to sustain that in the long run. Tons of people have to do it, and sometimes it's just the way life is. But if you are in a job where you're just collecting a paycheck so you can pay your bills and you're working for someone else's gain, it's just not as fulfilling as really loving what you're doing.

Inspiration from Simon Sinek

There's a relatively famous TED Talk by Simon Sinek about your 'why.' I can't remember the exact title, and he talks about a business's why. I think he uses Apple, their marketing, and how they marketed differently because they understood the 'why.' It caught people's attention because when you hear it spelled out, you realize if you can identify the why behind why somebody's buying something, that's huge.

Identifying Your Personal Why

So, what is your why? It's handy to set aside the practical things but then bring them in later. When we started our program, our why was very much wanting to deliver a particular type of education to our own children. We wanted short lessons, time outside, no screens, no long desk days, and less academic pressure. Instead, we wanted to cultivate a level of learning, a joyful environment, relationships, and community. That was the why that led us to our philosophy and was the driving heart behind working with little to no pay to get things off the ground.

Finding Fulfillment in Your Why

It was reassuring to see children coming to the program because they couldn’t find anything like it elsewhere. It helped keep us going. As I said in the first episode, you have a practical part of it too. Are you just trying to get out of your teaching job to start a business? That’s not bad, but it sometimes clouds your why. So if you're choosing this over just a career change, it’s probably because you have a heart for education and children.

Crafting Your Mission and Vision

You want to dig into the details of what you care about and write it down. It’s the beginning of your mission statement. A mission statement is more philosophical, whereas a vision is more practical. Your mission might be to deliver classical education to elementary children. Your vision might be a two-day week program for certain age groups. It all starts with your why, which informs your existence and informs the logistics of your school as well.

Creating Practically Viable Goals

You need to understand the practical needs in your personal life to make this work. If you plan well, validate your market, and strategize, by your second year, you can expect to be making a decent part-time wage. The first year can be tough, but if you’re aware, by the second year you will hopefully be heading in the right direction.

Conclusion and Next Steps

Consider this when writing your mission and vision. Your passion, what your program would look like, and practical considerations all play a role. An accurate assessment of your situation is crucial. In a future episode, I hope to discuss evaluating your strengths and weaknesses to place yourself where you’ll thrive.

Thank you so much for listening today. Don’t forget to subscribe, and make sure you check out the resources I am developing at startahybridschool.com. Send me an email anytime, I would love to hear from you. Until next time!