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[MUSIC PLAYING] Before setting any goals, it's important to identify why you'd want to achieve those goals. It was author and Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl who once said, "He who has a why can bear almost any how." Once you're clear on why you want to achieve your goals, the how becomes easier. In this lesson, you'll learn the power of why and how to create your motivation before you set goals.
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I'm sure many of you are thinking the why is easy. I want to be successful. I want to make money, and so on, and so on. Before you pick some random goals like make a million dollars, it's important to know why you'd want that experience. What are you going to do with the million dollars? For my why, let me tell you something. First, I was always chasing money.
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I thought that's what I wanted. So I used to have a idea on how I would make money. And I went through various stages. I finally found one good idea. I like cars. And you know? What I was going to buy crash cars. I was going to then buy them in an auction, fix them up, and then sell them. But what I didn't realize was why was I doing that? Because I wanted money, I neglected everything else behind that.
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Number one-- I hated working and fixing cars. I can't do anything with my hands. So I had to pay a whole bunch of other people to put them together. I also hated negotiating with people who wanted a discount on this car, a discount on that car. I ended up closing the business after two years. I thought I was going to be a bazillionaire. I was actually in debt.
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And I had a whole bunch of unfinished crash cars in my backyard. But it ended up almost damn near giving away. However, what happened? Well, I always had a love for fashion. I always had a love for hip hop. And I sought to believe that the designers at that time did not love kids buying their clothes who liked hip hop. They were not designing it for us on the street.
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所以我的为什么是什么?等一下。我将聚氨酯t both of my loves together. I'm also going to address a community that is just like me. They have the same pains, the same problems. They feel like, how dare I work so hard to give my money to somebody who hates me? And I came up with this concept called FUBU. And my why was to be able to see somebody across the street wearing the clothes that I was wearing the same where I was wearing them and say that person is into hip hop.
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That person likes all the things I like. And that was my why. I wanted to dress people for free for the rest of my life. And over 30 years later, I'm still here enjoying my why. Discovering your why will not only help you create personal goals, it will help you with your business goals. You may have heard of the famous Simon Sinek TEDx talk about "The Power of Why." The idea is that people don't buy what you do.
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They buy why you do it. Today's consumer wants to know why a company exists. Listen-- with transparency today, people know why you're doing it because there's layers and layers. Whether it's your tweets or your Instagram or your social media, when they go into your Shopify account, they can look through your entire story and know that you resonate with them. There's a lot of companies out there that also on the other side.
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Because of transparency, they go dead, because people realize they're trying to exploit a consumer for the wrong reasons. What's your why and share it with your consumer. For example, with FUBU, our name was also our why, For Us Buy Us. Now a lot of people thought it was meant for only hip hop kids or only people of a certain color or religion or gender. Absolutely not. It was about people who love hip hop who value this new form of music and art that was coming around on the streets.
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And we didn't care who you were. As long as you love hip hop, you were part of FUBU. Inclusion is extremely important in the hip hop community. And that's what we wanted to do. And at Shopify, the why is to make commerce better for everyone. Put it in the palm of your hands. You no longer have to rely on a retailer or somebody else or the decision that they'll make. You're always one step away from your customer.
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And you can empower your customer as well as empower yourself all at the same time. At the sock company named Bombas-- one of my favorite Shark Tank investments. Their why is to Bee Better. Their logo is a bee. Bees live and work together to make their world a better place. At the apparel company Outdoor Voices, their mission is Get The World Moving. Your why is very personal to you.
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And it doesn't need to be fancy. Take a moment and write down on your worksheet your why. Feel free to brainstorm a bunch of words or phrases until you've nailed it. The way you will know that you got it is if you say the word or sentence out loud, and you feel that gut feeling of excitement. It can be a few words like freedom, power, joy, respect, or a few sentences.
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You can have one. You can have five. And remember-- you're why today could be very different from your why five years ago or five years from now. Just focus on who you are now. Your why evolves as you do. Take a few moments now and write down your why. Then, meet me in the next lesson. [MUSIC PLAYING]
