125: Top Reasons Every Interior Designer Should Know Her Why
125: Top Reasons Every Interior Designer Should Know Her Why
with Michele Williams
Why is Why So Important?
Jack Canfield wrote the book, “The Success Principles” in 2005. I remember reading the book and just being blown away by the title of the first chapter, which was “Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life.” I will just let that one sit with us for a minute.
Topics Mentioned:
Why
Values
Alignment
Decision Making
Listen to the Episode
Imagine – the first success principle did not start with making money or anything else. It began with taking responsibility. Not just a little, but 100%. In my company, I have a tag line on all my emails that says, “what you own, you can change.” It is true. You have heard me say it in the podcast over and over.
Why? Because taking complete ownership is actually freeing. Yes, I know it can also be scary. But the whole reason we are in business for ourselves is so that we can call the shots. And at the end of the day, we are responsible for the score.
You also hear me mention repeatedly about owning our financials, and profit doesn’t happen by accident. Maybe you are thinking, “well, I made a profit that I did not see coming.” Ok, it might happen on occasion, but to create repeatable profit structures, we have to be in tune with all that is going on in our company. No excuses, no passing the buck. Us. Me and You. We are owners. And we need to act like it.
I help companies by using their financials to show the choices they have made in the past. The financial documents – for that matter, any data, is just a numerical expression of decision making. If we love the numbers, keep doing what we are doing. If we don’t – change it.
We could spend an entire podcast just talking about business ownership. But I am not going there right now. What I want to do is move to chapter 2. Which is titled “Be Clear Why You Are Here.” Notice the third word- WHY. Remember, this book was written in 2005. Let’s talk about your WHY.
Brian Tracy says this, “Decide upon your major definite purpose in life and then organize all your activities around it.” I wrote in a journal back in 2008, my life’s why. And I put it away after getting busy. In 2009 I invested in a business with others and ran it for four years. During that time, I was teaching, leading, producing, managing, and growing. In 2012 my life was majorly interrupted with some terrible health challenges. I needed to make some drastic changes and have a very serious operation to save my right arm. These changes required me to make more drastic work and life changes. I sold the company that I was part of and had to stop my other company for a bit. As I was considering what to do next, I went on an exploration of what was possible and what would energize me and spark joy again. I was feeling like I had lost so much – my health and two companies – and I wanted to see what I was getting moving forward.
I interviewed many people, researched options for being a counselor versus a coach. I realized that my love -aka – my why – is to equip and empower women to use their God-given talents and strengths to support themselves and the ones that they love. I had been doing this by teaching business classes and pricing classes for years, by supporting other businesses and consulting with them on the decisions they were facing, by teaching Bible studies in my church and community. Every one of these activities I did with joy because they were an overflow of my heart. They were the activities that jazzed me, and that created changes in the lives of those I was serving.
When I chose to coach, it was because it allowed me to further work within my WHY. In 2013 my coaching practice began after I went through coaching training. There was no way I was going to claim I was a coach without knowing how to structure and offer my services in a way that met the standards of the coaching industry.
Then in 2013, after starting my Scarlet Thread Consulting business, I found the book by Simon Sinek, “Start With Why,” along with his YouTube video. And it rocked my world again. I had forgotten the work that I did in 2008 because I had placed that journal on a shelf. So, I went back through Simon’s work and wrote out my WHY statement again. And I kept moving forward.
In 2015, I found my journal from 2008. And by that point, I had been teaching the importance of finding your WHY for at least a year or more. And when I found the journal, I had a moment of disbelief – kind of just being stunned. The WHY that I had written in 2008 was almost word for word what I had written in 2013, and I had forgotten that I even did it. Talk about confirmation. What was so interesting was that I could look back and see my WHY in action in my life and my business. And both had dramatically changed since I first took note of this concept.
In the book “Millionaire Success Habits, by Dean Graziosi, he discusses finding your why and going seven layers deep to uncover it. To ask why seven times so that you get to the real heart of why you get up each day. This deep why creates a connection, and there is an emotional component to it.
If you have not done the work to identify your WHY, I beg you to take time to do it and let it guide you this upcoming year. Grab Simon’s book or Dean’s book and dig in.
Once I was solid with my personal WHY I began analyzing my values. What was important to me personally and in business. Using these two components – the Why and my values – I created a litmus test for decision making. I have a company notebook, and in it, I have scripture and quotes that encourage me, my WHY, my values, and the outcomes I desire for my clients. And when I consider working with someone in any capacity, I go back and refer to these. Are we in alignment? Or are we not?
Over the years, it has sometimes been easy to say yes when I should have said no. Maybe you have been there. And it was not always saying yes to something that was bad – but maybe it was saying yes to something that was ok, but that took up too much of my time and energy that did not allow me the room for growth.
You have heard me mention the book “Who’s In Your Room” by Ivan Misner, Stewart Emery, and Rick Sapio. This book was so wonderful because it gave me the freedom to recognize what was an engine and what was an anchor in my life and business. And I began cutting the anchors so I could move forward with the activities, people, and processes that were engines.
Now, I allow my WHY and Values to invade every aspect of my business and life. When I focus on my marketing, I run it through the test of my WHY and values. The same for hiring decisions, client onboarding decisions, and vendors I will partner with. We must be moving in the same direction, or the relationship or work quickly can become an anchor.
If you have a team, every one of them should know the company WHY and vision as well as the company mission, which is the detail that describes how the WHY will be put into action. Every member of your team should know your company values and how it applies to their work. When we all know this, we are moving forward together. Because now, when there is a problem, we have a solid ground to all go back to. It is a great idea to have these up in a place where everyone can see them – and where the decisions are made.
Back in 2019, when we were still traveling, I was at the Gaylord Resort in Nashville, TN. As I was going to the elevator one afternoon, the door beside it was open. The staff was coming in and out. I peeked in and saw their customer commitment written and framed and hanging on the wall. My respect for what they were trying to do was surely increased.
With regard to teams, it can be scary to delegate some decision making to others. However, when they are in alignment with the company’s vision, and they know the heartbeat of the company – the WHY and values – they are able to make decisions with the best of that in mind.
2021 is a new year. And it is a great time to affirm the basic foundations in your business. Be clear on your WHY. Be clear on the 3-4 driving values in your company. Be clear on how they will be implemented across all areas. Refer to them often when making decisions. Own the identity of your company – and then see how you begin to operate with more ease.
It is my goal to help as many business owners as I can move forward with ease in their business. If you would like to take this journey with me, check out my website at scarletthreadconsulting.com and fill out a discovery form. Let’s get your year started off in the best way. Be intentional – because profit doesn’t happen by accident.
Key Thoughts:
I do a review of the people I work with. Michele (04:58)
Now let’s talk about finances. Michele (11:29)
Own the decisions and the choices that you make. Michele (17:49)
Contact Michele:
Facebook: Scarlet Thread Consulting
Instagram: @ScarletThreadATL
References and Resources:
The Designers' Inner Circle - Become a Member Today
The Success Principles - by Jack Canfield
Who's in Your Room: The Secret to Creating Your Best Life by Ivan Misner, Ph.D., Stewart Emery L.H.D., Rick Sapio
Start with Why by Simon Sinek
Millionaire Success Habits by Dean Graziosi