Finding Your "Why"
"If life were a book, and you were the author... how would you want your story to go?"
Our last Thrive was about impact statements, but truly, the easiest way to make an impact is to do work you have a passion for! When you find your "why," you connect with your work on a deeper level and can make an impact in a way that matters to you.
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"How will I know?"
When researching for this Thrive, we read countless articles of professional psychologists and life coaches listing their top questions to ask yourself on your journey to finding your passion. To spare you the reading, we want to share 3 questions that seemed to transcend writers:

  1. If money wasn’t a factor and you could do anything, what would you do?
  2. If you knew you were going to die in one year, how would you want to spend the next year?
  3. What is something you do that makes you forget to eat?

The important thing to understand is: "What about it?" What about your answers drives your passion? If you love to travel, is it experiencing new things or learning about other cultures? If you love to paint, is it sharing your work with others or the ability to be creative with your mediums? If you love to teach, is it helping people grow as a whole or helping them understand a particularly difficult task? Once you understand why you love your passion , you can start to find ways to connect with it in your work, even if your work might seem unrelated.
"It's impossible."
Do you know your "why" but feel like there's an impossible barrier preventing you from connecting it with your work? Take a page from Amy Purdy's life. She's a double amputee and professional snowboarder who didn't let her barriers stop her from pursuing her passion.
Amy Purdy encourages you to change your perspective on your barriers. Rather than view them as a boundary, view them as something to push off of. Use them as an opportunity to be creative in finding ways to use your passion in your work!
Apply the Five!
Don't worry! We're not going to suggest that you quit your job and disrupt your life to go pursue your passion, but, by all means, don't let us stop you if that's what you want! Rather, all we ask is 3 simple things:

First, answer the 3 questions shared above.
Second, figure out "What about it?" makes you passionate.
Third, brainstorm one way to implement your "why" in your current work.

The more you can connect your passion to your work, the better, even if it's only in the little things. Start with one thing, and slowly start to explore where you can modify your work a little to incorporate your passion.
Learn How Evans Thrives!
What better way to inspire you to thrive than to hear about real people making it happen? And what better way to learn about Evans than to make those real people Evans employees?
Meet Sean Miller!
When thinking about what motivates me in my work, I use this reflective question: “When I put my head on my pillow at night, how do I know I had a great day?” Delighting clients and driving results are important to me, but enabling others to be their very best is what really makes me proud.
I first started connecting to my “why” around 10 years ago while working as a high school teacher and track and field coach. When I started training athletes, I thought it would be easy. “Write a workout, give it to the athletes, and then watch the results roll in.” I learned very early on that simply  telling  athletes was producing erratic results and low buy-in. I realized my approach was all about  my  training plans and  my  definition for success.
From that moment on, I made a commitment to make the training process all about them. I coached the athletes on goal generation, involved them in developing the training process, and helped them develop a sense of self-awareness. I  enabled  them to make choices that they believed would get them the results they were looking for. Athletes were happier and more motivated to achieve their goals, and their coach was now leading with his strengths.
 
Looking for your “why?” Take a moment to reflect on your work. What does a great day look like or feel like for you? Once you find your “why,” explore ways to connect it to your work as much as you can!
Until Next Time...
The Evans Thrive Team
(Nicole, Kaitlin, Laura, Bob, and Sean)
    (This image was adapted from a commonly shared internet image.)