The Importance of 'Why?'

The question 'why?' is one of the most powerful basic questions we have, because it's at the heart of our life as human beings, because it is about purpose, one of our most core needs.

Purpose

The purpose of Technaturally is:

• To make a significant positive difference on a global scale
• To inspire and empower people to grow, uplift and support one another
• To make technology more natural: easier, more reliable and more intuitive

So, why am I writing and sharing this article?
Because there are many useful, powerful, interesting and inspiring ideas that have made a huge positive difference in my life, I want to share them with you in the hope that you will gain something valuable.

You deserve a life of fulfillment.
Sharing good ideas with each other benefits you, me and others we connect with.
Since technology is one of my great passions, many of the ideas I will share here will be about how to make life improvement easier and better by using technology in various ways, whereas other ideas don't involve technology except as a means to share the ideas with you. This article is the first in an ongoing series of sharing positive ideas.

My wish is for you to take from these articles the ideas that resonate with you. To do that, I suggest paying attention to your own reactions to any of the ideas by doing this:

1. 'Check in' with yourself to identify how you are feeling (notice what emotions & body sensations you have)
2. Name (in your head or out loud) your feelings (e.g. “I'm feeling excited”) or describe the physical sensations you are feeling (e.g. “I'm feeling a fluttering in my stomach and I am smiling”)
3. Hold your hand over your heart and yourself the question “Why am I feeling this?”
4. Pay attention to the answer that comes back. Or if no answer comes back, try practicing this technique over time with different situations until you start to hear an answer – the more you pay attention to your inner voice, the more it grows in confidence.

Some ideas may make you feel positive feelings, and you may feel a sense of harmony & resonance. I suggest paying attention to those ideas and over time integrating them into your life – I will talk more in other articles about ways to do this.

In certain cases, an idea may bring you negative feelings. This is when it somehow challenges or threatens your existing values, beliefs and/or personality type, and the negative feelings are trying to protect you in some way from the idea. In this case, I suggest still paying attention to the answer to the question “Why am I feeling this feeling?”, and it may reveal a clearer understanding of your own values/beliefs/personality type, and what you need to feel safe.
Maybe the idea really does not fit with you. Of course, then, please choose not to take that idea on board.
However, you may find in some cases that the negative feelings come about because you have underlying beliefs that are challenged, and the beliefs themselves are unhelpful to you and have been hindering you in your life. This is very common, since we all grow up learning a multitude of different beliefs, and some are helpful, whilst others are unhelpful and get in the way of our success.
If you identify that you have some of these unhelpful beliefs causing resistance to learning a positive new idea, please have the courage to allow that new idea space in your world anyway, gently, bit by bit. Doing this over and over again will gradually make your life easier, happier, more successful (whatever you consider 'success' to mean) and more fulfilling.
In future articles, I will talk about ways to replace unhelpful beliefs with more helpful, more powerful beliefs, since that is key to leading a fulfilling life.

There is a huge amount of power in asking the question 'why?' more often. There is also power in asking 'why?' again to each answer you get until you get to the heart of a matter. Each time you ask, it's like peeling away another layer and it reveals a deeper, more focused meaning behind an answer.
For example:
“I'd really like to own an electric car.”
“Oh, why is that?”

“Well, I would like to reduce the amount of pollution that I am adding to the planet, as well as having a car that feels so nice to drive. Plus, I like technology and would feel good to be an early adopter of a technology I respect so much.”
“Interesting. Why it is important that you reduce pollution?”

“Because I see that as humans we are completely out-of-balance with our world and nature, and it's causing pain and suffering to each other, to animals and it's harming our world.”
“Hmm, so I think you're saying we'd do a lot better to be in balance with our world and nature. Why is that, exactly?”

“Because balance with nature means sustainability, equality and respect for each other as people, for all the animals we share this world with, and for nature as a whole system.”
“Okay, that makes sense. Why do you want that?

“Well, I want to have a future of abundance, connection and harmony. I want to know that my life is important and brings joy to others, and also that I am doing all I can to minimise any harm I cause in the world – directly or indirectly. I want to be treated with respect, so I need to treat our world with respect.”

Do you see how asking 'why?' digs deeper and reveals more about a person's thoughts, feelings, beliefs and values?
More about who they are?
It is a great way to connect and get to know another  person better, which means they are more likely to connect and get to know you better, too.

Simon Sinek's insightful TED talk 'How great leaders inspire action' gives insight into why the question 'why?' is so powerful and why it benefits us to practise putting it at the centre of our thinking process.
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​Watch it here:

So, as you go about your week, I suggest asking variations of the question 'why?' more often - to yourself and to others - and paying attention to what you discover: it may surprise and fascinate you!

Thank you for reading.
I wish you a life of fulfillment.
-John