Knowing Your Why

The Pressures of Profoundness

In service-driven careers like law, medicine, or teaching, people are often quick to ask, “What made you want to do that?” They expect a traumatic anecdote or a life altering event that formed your career choice. But what if your why doesn’t need to be profound? What if your why is simply yours—personal, practical, or even mundane—and that’s enough. Today we will dive into why understanding and honoring your why is important but also why it’s okay for that reason to be entirely your own.

Society has conditioned us to believe that a client forward career must always be about the sacrifice for others. The truth is not everyones’s why is altruistic and earth shattering. For many, their reasons are financial security, or the desire for stability. For others its about pursuing a challenge, something that makes their brain tickle with excitement. Knowing your why is important to serve as a motivator, but whatever the reason, it should be personal and true to you. It doesn’t have to fit into society’s expectations or live up to someone else’s idea of purpose. If your why is to give your family a better life, that’s enough. If your why is to build wealth, that’s enough. If your why is to challenge yourself intellectually, that’s more than enough. Knowing your why is about anchoring yourself in the midst of long nights, rejection, and the inevitable discomfort of your journey. It is not to succumb to expectations of sacrifice that are unrealistic and unfair.

In this space, we embrace all reasons for what drives us. If you have a profound story that has inspired and guided your path, lean into it and find strength in the power of your journey. However, the unspoken belief that we must abandon ourselves to serve others is unsustainable. Do we not deserve the space to choose our paths without judgment, to prioritize our own aspirations, and to live fully as whole, unburdened people?

Black women, here are my words for you:

Our mere existence in these spaces is a form of service. We carry the weight of representation, the pressure to excel, and the expectations of others, often at great personal cost. We deserve to carve paths of our own —whether they align with traditional notions of service or not. It’s okay to want something different, something that isn’t tied to the constant expectation of saving others. We have the right to pursue our dreams, prioritize our well-being, and thrive without apology. Service is what we define it to be, and that definition holds immense power. Whatever your why may be, I support you, and your presence is needed.

Letting go of external pressures is the first step in discovering your why. This is the phase of self-reflection, and now that I’ve invited you to embrace both the profound and the everyday aspects of your why, the next step is to practice honoring it.

By staying connected to your why, you remind yourself why the effort, the sacrifices, and the discomfort are worth it. Your why serves as a guiding light, helping you navigate tough decisions, remain focused on your goals, and resist the temptation to compare. What some may see as mundane are still powerful motivators for honoring your why. These reasons reflect real, tangible desires that drive us forward. Intellectual curiosity keeps us engaged and evolving, while financial stability provides the foundation for a better quality of life for ourselves and those we love. These motivations need not be dressed in grandiosity. Honoring your why is about staying true to what genuinely matters to you, no matter how simple or practical it may seem to others.

Honoring your why is also about giving yourself permission to evolve. As you grow, your reasons may shift, and that’s perfectly okay. What matters is that you continue to align your actions with what feels right for you. It’s a dynamic process, not a rigid destination. By consistently checking in with your why, you allow yourself the freedom to adapt, knowing that each phase of your journey is valid. This self-awareness empowers you to move forward with confidence, understanding that your why may evolve, but the core of it—staying true to yourself—remains constant.

In the end, honoring your why is a lifelong commitment to yourself. It’s about understanding that your motivations are valid, no matter how they may look to others. Whether your why is rooted in ambition, security, or intellectual challenge, it deserves to be nurtured and respected. The journey of honoring your why isn’t always easy, but it’s yours to define, and it’s the foundation of your success. So, continue to embrace your why, let it guide you through challenges, and remember that as long as it’s true to you, you will always be on the right path.