If you are like most business professionals, you have at least heard of or even watched Simon Sinek's Start With Why TED Talk, which in the moment of writing this has 11.5M views on YouTube alone.

I have been intrigued about the concept of the WHY and my WHY specifically ever since I first watched the video of Sinek. As it often happens, the haunting need to know returned in April 2023 (if it had ever left, that is), and I decided to go to the source and do the online courses that one can find on Sinek's website.

The whole process consists of four parts - Start with WHY, Refine Your WHY, Apply Your WHY and Live Your WHY. These are online meetings with an instructor from the Optimism Company (Simon Sinek's organisation). The first session is the longest - it takes two hours, because you are working to unearth and spell out your WHY, but the other three are an hour long. I mostly had the same group of people on the calls, with the tendency to have fewer with each call which is normal, especially as the four classes are not a bundle but something you opt in for separately and they happen on different days too.

Anyhow, these are the technical details and having those out of the way, let's move to the fun part of the course.

THE PROCESS OF FINDING YOUR WHY

I truly enjoyed the work with the group and the instructor really helped create a safe space for so many complete strangers. We were quickly asked to pair up and discover our WHYs together. The process is broken down into steps and without giving up too much of the sauce, I will tell you it is all based on stories - your stories and those of your fellow classmates. What surprised me was that it was not me finding my WHY, but the other person who spelled it out for me, as I did the same for them. Then it comes the fun play with words, trying to find the best fit in the formula “To (contribution), so that (impact).”

The first version of my WHY was “To empower people, so that they don’t settle.”

REFINING & APPLYING YOUR WHY

The second class helps you clarify your WHY, finding if there is correlation between contribution and impact, among other things. There is some pair work again, but of course, it is not necessary that you will do that with your partner from the first class. Here I arrives at the final version of my WHY “To inspire others, so that we don’t settle.” Subtle change, yet it felt so much more powerful and more true to me.
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You might be thinking that this might be enough, but I’d still encourage you to go through with the whole process, as the next step - applying your WHY, is very interesting in helping you activate the whole Golden Circle (that’s the WHY in the middle, followed by the bigger circle of the HOW, which is in turn surrounded by the even bigger circle of the WHAT). In this one hour you go through all other parts helping you crystalize the whole and what each means for you.

LIVING YOUR WHY

My main takeaway from the final class was finding a way to be constantly reminded of my WHY and making sure I check with it when I find myself at crossroads. Having a symbol helps a lot with this or using a colour. That’s how the strawberry took a more prominent place in my life - the symbol of my WHY. It was interesting to be shown the subtle ways Simon Sinek himself uses orange as a reminder of his WHY.

It is a powerful concept, a fun and engaging process that helps you find your core, spell it out for yourself and the world. This in turn gives you the ability to live truly aligned with your own self and move away from “living by accident” to living “on purpose” as the course description states. The course is suitable to everyone. What are you waiting for?

Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.

I submitted my application on December 31, 2021, just hours before ringing in the New Year, believing the symbolic date might bolster my chances of getting into the program. I had long hoped to afford it, and when the opportunity arose, I didn’t hesitate to hit send and raise a glass to the New Year and, hopefully, a new experience.

I didn’t realise how perfectly this beginning encapsulated Seth Godin's altMBA until I wrote my first note in the dedicated course file: Take a step, celebrate it, and make it the beginning! To start, all I needed was belief that the program would edge me closer to the person I was ready to become. While I coveted the prestige of saying, "I've completed the altMBA," I gained something far more valuable - a new perspective to life and the world around me.

More than a year has passed since I completed the program, and it has profoundly changed me, both personally and professionally. I genuinely believe that without the altMBA's worldview-changing experience, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Even if you aren’t seeking something that can entirely alter your life (though, why wouldn’t you?), I argue that a good measure for the value of any program is the lessons that remain.

Here are the lessons still guiding my life, months later:

1. Just starting: I can find a million reasons why I shouldn't start, but starting now is always better than waiting another day.
2. Setting goals: I now ensure to make plans in writing, including a detailed description of the goal, anticipated benefits, expected obstacles, necessary skills, a comprehensive action plan, a list of supporters, and, of course, a deadline.
3. Choosing ideas: The altMBA taught me why I should write down my numerous ideas, how to structure them, and essential principles in deciding which to pursue, especially challenging when doubts begin to creep in.
4. Identifying change agents: When I desire change, I consciously pause to understand the change agent pushing me in a new direction. I then revisit or update my goals to ensure this new direction truly makes sense.
5. Grappling with sunk costs: Despite past investments, I don't have to persist with something that no longer serves me. I can change my mind.
6. The power of framing: Everything boils down to how the situation is framed. I control how I move the pieces on my chessboard and have the power to change the narrative.
7. Asking questions: The magic of human connection lies in asking questions and allowing people space to answer. The program has made me more aware of this approach and the simple remedy of inquiry.
8. Leading from any chair: Leadership doesn’t require a specific position or credentials; it needs the courage to take the lead with genuine intentions.
9. Going for enrollment: To effect change, I need to involve others in the narrative, be open, find commonalities, and build from there.
10. Remaining true to myself: Realising I am not my title, was huge for me. And the fact that I can give the world so much more by honouring who I am.

+1 Generous feedback and the power of community: The altMBA thrives on a community that supports the individual and provides generous feedback. The aim is to be there for others, celebrating and empowering them to continue. The best part - the community remains open to support each individual even after the program ends.

In summary, if you are looking for a program that will open your eyes and propel you from dreaming to doing, this is it. It's your time to leap - with an open mind and heart. The program takes a month, which may feel like an eternity, but it will genuinely catapult you light-years from where you started.

I'm forever grateful for this life-changing experience.

Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.

“HOW ENGAGED DO YOU PLAN TO BE?”

It’s the first question you get as part of the introduction to this free online course. An important lesson delivered from the get-go. You are provoked to decide the degree of your own level of engagement right there and then. Because for a year-long course it is all about commitment and re-commitment, and The Year of Living Brilliantly (YoLB) aims to teach you exactly how to master that.

YoLB, created by Michael Bungay Stanier (MBS) - the renowned author of one of my favourite books called The Coaching Habit, is a course that features 52 teaching videos from a number of guest lecturers. What you have to do is give your attention and an open mind for a few minutes, twice a week. What you get in return is a different perspective that can shift more than one aspect of your life. Two years ago it definitely did shift mine and here is what stood out for me.

STRUCTURE

I took the leap into this curious experience in March 2021. I remember reading a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which mentioned that online courses have an average dropout rate of about 96%. Let's just say I can't imagine Michael Bungay Stanier's courses have such a problem - that's how good they are in my opinion.

The course progressed with emails delivered twice a week. The first was a short video from that week's lecturer, and a few days later there’s a second email with questions prompting the learners to integrate the lesson. There were weeks devoted to deeper reflection on the content from the past few weeks led by MBS. In this way the participants were sure to make the time to analyse what stuck and what not so much. Throughout the course there’s no right or wrong, it’s all a matter of personal perspective. 

THE SHIFTS

It took me a while to integrate the beat of the course in my day-to-day. What helped were the integration weeks, where Stanier would ask every so often - how engaged do you plan to be? The invitation to re-commit was the prompt that helped me to stay engaged.

And here we are, two years later. I’m happy to report on the lessons that not only stayed with me, but are truly now a part of my modus operandi:

1. WORD OF THE YEAR - a lesson from Dr. Jason Fox on How to Navigate. The message that stayed with me from this quite extravagant talk, was to dedicate a word for the year. Instead of setting new year resolutions or goals, I found that having a key word to guide me through the year is much more manageable and inspiring. Last year my word was Scholar (I dedicated a lot of time on studying and upskilling). This year I went with Transformation, as I wanted to put the lessons from last year into practice and shift my life and career. I even took it a step further and decided to start picking words for each month too.
2. ONE LINE STORY - a lesson from Bobby Herrera on How to Tell Your Story. The most powerful shift here for me actually came in the introduction email that MBS sent out to nudge us to watch the video. There he specifically pointed out how Bobby signs off his emails, with ‘Give > Take’. I was taken aback by the brilliance and simplicity of the idea. That's how ‘Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.’ was born. The positive comments that I have received by people who noticed it are countless. It was a powerful shift for me in terms of how I see myself contribute to this world too.
3. THE FULL STORY - Dr. Leana Wen on her lesson on How to Tell a Story. The most striking message she delivered was how little patients share with their doctors. And this is a matter of life and death. So every time I need to share information with someone removed from my day-to-day, I am thinking of her lesson and what information I may be withholding, just because I have stopped seeing it. A good example is talking to a colleague, where I would often assume they know the project I am referring to, only because we work at the same company. I’d often ignore that we are holding different positions, are in different departments, or even that we are located in different countries. This lesson helped me to be more clear in such situations, leaving less blanks for the other person to fill. 
4. BEING GOODISH - a lesson from Dolly Chugh on How to Lower Your Standards. The idea of goodish is straightforward. Just aiming to be good-ish, not perfect or ideal. Lowering the standards mostly for our own selves is powerful and very much needed for recovering perfectionists like myself. I still struggle with this, but saying the word as a mantra helps relieve a lot of stress when I try to outperform for no real reason.
5. EMBRACING FAILURE - a lesson from Kristen Hadeed on How to Embrace Failure. The lesson here is again apparent, but she wraps it in an amazing personal story on how she started her business, or more like - how she almost didn't. She started a business while in college, and failed in almost all aspects as a manager and owner. She was very close to driving the company into the ground. What made her turn things around was when she started to talk about her own failures with the team. Because of this they found the strength together to turn things around. It was a powerful reminder that failures are, in fact, stepping stones that we need to embrace and not discard.
6. NOTICING - a lesson from Austin Kleon on How to Pay Attention. He gives the example of carrying a little booklet and pencil around, which he uses to jot down things he notices. I have added a column in my journal with a headline: What did I pay attention to? It is a powerful practice and the notes are worth looking back at every so often. Every time when I turn back to what I jotted down the words seem to be sparking new idea for work or a side project, or just something to write. It is like keeping your best thoughts in a gallery and finding a masterpiece every once in a while.
7. GIVING ADVICE - a lesson from Mark Bowden on How to Notice Your Advice Monster. Mark looked at posture and how we physically feel when we are about to burst out with advice, when all we need to do is sit back and listen. Spoiler: it truly comes down to forcing our bodies back in order to settle into the listening. You will be amazed by the depth in the relationships that are formed as a result of good listening habits.
8. FAVOURITE QUESTIONS - a lesson from Liz Wiseman & Shawn V on How to Access Curiosity. They gave the example of building a list of favourite questions which managers can use to empower those around them. I took that to heart and my list now has over 100 questions that I often use when having 1:1 meetings. This helps me stay curious a little bit longer and thus learn more, not to mention that it is always funny to have that on top of your screen when you spontaneously screenshare.
9. ARGUING RIGHT - a lesson from Riaz Meghji on How to Have *That* Conversation. When having an argument, we need to start by agreeing on the common grounds for both sides. This was a powerful shift for me. And yes, it takes a lot of practice to lean to it every time you find yourself arguing, especially with a loved one, but it is indeed possible. The idea here is that if both sides agree on what they see the same way, there is a better chance for them to have more accountability for the outcomes of that argument. Both sides, after all, are equally 100% responsible for this situation. This simple idea for a common ground helps to ensure a better and less painful resolution for both sides.
10. GETTING IT - a lesson from Rich Litvin on How to Find Better Questions. One of the most powerful lessons for me - “It is easier to get what you really, really want than to get what you think you can have.” I have dissected that phrase a million times since I first heard Litvin say it. He shared a well kept secret that keeps us all in ruts and complacency. That lesson changed a lot for me - that's how I ended up choosing transformation as my word of the year.
    
    

And a bonus one:

• SAYING THANK YOU - a lesson from MBS on How to Say Thank You. It is important to say thank you to the people around you who move and touch you. And as part of this lesson, this whole article is my way of saying thank you to MBS and these awesome teachers whose ideas really struck a chord for me and ultimately changed my life. And generally, saying thank you is never a bad idea, it makes you feel better every time.

THE OUTCOME

Once the course finished I started missing these provoking bite-sized ideas, the questions from MBS that came along, and every a-ha moment that came with it. There were plenty of side-lessons too, such as re-commitment and staying curious. I missed the people on the platform too, as the community was a big part of the process. I cannot say what the completion rate of this free online course is, but I feel those that stick around are people worth connecting with.

And yes, you can certainly watch a TED video once or twice a week, and get an influx of new ideas. But this program is a course for a reason, as it masterfully helps you sculpt a better you. The value is found even in the seams.

If you are ready to commit to a year-long journey that is bound to change you if you only let it, sign up here.
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Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.