3 Questions to Discover Your Why and Change Everything

3 Questions to Discover Your Why and Change Everything

Kelly Kennedy: Welcome to episode 193 of the business development podcast. And today we're chatting all about the power of your why. Why's can move mountains. And we're going to leave you with three incredible questions to help you find clarity. Stick with us. You are not going to want to miss this episode.

Intro: The Great Mark Cuban once said business happens over years and years. Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal. And we couldn't agree more. This is the business development podcast based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and broadcasting to the world.

You'll get. Expert business development advice, tips, and experiences. And you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs, and business development reps. You'll get actionable advice on how to grow business. Brought to you by Capital Business Development. CapitalBD.ca. Let's do it. Welcome to the Business Development Podcast.

And now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.

Kelly Kennedy: Hello, welcome to episode 193 of the business development podcast. My gosh, guys, it is a honor and a pleasure to be on here with you today. Every once in a while, a show comes up and I've said it many times along this journey, but every once in a while, you got to wait for a moment to do a show.

And today's show is 150 percent that moment. Today, we're chatting all about your why. Why the heck do you get up in the morning and pursue your missions on a day to day basis? And yes, it matters. Because without a strong why, almost everything you set out to do You'll come up with reasons not to do it.

And the funny thing about wise is that they change and they update and purposes change and update. So it's really important that whatever you're chasing at any given moment is stronger than your will to give up. And we're going to get into that today. I'm going to talk about some of my wise, and I'm going to hopefully help you guys identify some of yours to make everything you do this year.

More powerful and guys. Oh my gosh. It has been a whirlwind of a month. Some of you may or may not know, but me and Shelby, we finally bought a house together in October and it was exciting and crazy and a whirlwind and somehow Even throughout that move, which was incredibly challenging, I still got my shows done.

And, you know, I'm a bit of a dummy sometimes, and I don't plan enough time to get things done, or I underestimate how long things will take, and I know I'm not alone in that. But the funny thing was, I told myself during the move, oh, it's not going to be a big deal. You're going to be in over the weekend.

You'll be ready to produce your show by Tuesday. Life will be great. It'll be no challenges. Obviously, obviously that is not what happened. You guys didn't notice because the show came out, but my gosh, it was a whirlwind. The move took way longer than expected. Took me almost a full week, almost a week and a half to really get everything moved over.

Thank goodness. We have the time budgeted, but. I did this show. I managed to get all my work done for my clients. I managed to do coaching and I managed to produce two podcasts during that time, if not three podcasts during that time, like it was crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy. And that was just the beginning.

Obviously we got into the house, which was amazing. And we kind of coasted out and there were new things in here. Like we'd never had before, like a fireplace. So I had to kind of learn how to do that. Smoked out the house a couple of times. Yay. And then we got a hot tub. And so there was a hot tub here when we first moved in and we knew about it, obviously, cause we kind of negotiated for it in in the deal.

And then guys, I shit you not, the hot tub didn't flippin work. We didn't find this out until we literally filled the thing, we turned it on, all the things were good, I'd already been like, I don't know, I was already like 500 into this damn hot tub by the time I realized. It had a leak that we couldn't fix.

Not to mention it's snowing outside. It is November in Canada. Oh, it's been a week. And guys, the same week that that hot tub I realized wasn't fixable. Our frigging fireplace, our electric fireplace upstairs, the glass crap. So it's just been like one thing after another, after another in this new house adventure as homeowners, which has been incredible.

But guys, just today, just today, I love to do my recordings on Tuesdays. I know I'm always like last minute for my Wednesday shows. I keep telling myself I'm going to do it better, but it never really seems to happen. I don't know. Maybe one day I'll get smart about it. I don't know. The inspiration doesn't seem to strike until like the Tuesday morning or afternoon.

And so that's kind of where we're at. I had today's show. Like I took the whole afternoon. I had it all planned out that from like noon till four o'clock, I was going to do the show prep, the recording, the production. And I was essentially going to have a nice evening to myself, which was going to be really, really great.

Well, life, guys. Life had other ideas. And here is what happened. Noon comes. And we have the water meter lady come to the door and say, Hey, just want to let you know, I was checking the water meter, Your tap is broken and I was like, oh no guys it is minus 15 in December and it is a blizzard outside

That's all I have to say I Get out there sure enough god knows. How long this tap has been running. There is like a ice an icicle Chunk as big as your fist all the way to the ground. And our tap is just, it's flowing. Oh my goodness, guys. So obviously immediately things go from, I have a nice afternoon plan that I'm going to do my show and it's going to be relaxing and life is going to be great.

And Danny too. Oh my gosh, there is a water emergency. And I need to figure out what to do with this immediately. Thank goodness, guys. My dad taught me from a young man to just fix things. So I don't tend to fix things that aren't my problem. I don't like to fix other people's things, but I'm really good at fixing my own things.

And I've never fixed a water spigot before. But I figured it out this afternoon. I was at home Depot. I got all the stuff I needed. I figured it out. I got it fixed. It was a nightmare. It took longer than expected. The screws I got were too small and didn't fit. Anyways, long story short, what should have been a nice relaxing afternoon turned into a very stressful afternoon, which then turned into, I haven't planned for tonight's show.

And here we are. So even though despite. Essentially having a total plan on how I was going to do this properly and how I was going to do this better than ever. I ended up right back where I'm always at, which is an afternoon planning and an evening recording. So, life interfered. And guys, you know, the reason that I'm telling you this story, things like this happen all the time, and you guys don't hear about it.

I don't necessarily speak about every challenge that comes up in my house. But I think it's so fitting because a lot of people could have looked at this day and said, Kelly, why even bother? Why even bother to record this show? Like, you've clearly had a really hard day. It didn't go to plan. You've been out in the cold and a blizzard fixing a water spigot of ice on the side of your house.

You could just not. Right? And yeah, you know what? I probably could just not. I probably could just put out a recorded show from a hundred episodes ago and nobody would really know the difference. But, that is not the point. It's so much about what I want to do. And I pride myself, guys. I pride myself at this point at not missing a show in nearly 200 episodes.

And I wasn't about to do that today. So much of it is about your why. And it's kind of funny and maybe a little bit synchronous that today's show was going to be about your why. And then present me with such a challenging afternoon that made me question my why. Every once in a while, guys, I think this show produces itself.

I really do. Every once in a while, something like this happens. It's like, obviously, how could you really speak about your why when you weren't really struggling with it? Not an hour or two hours ago. So there you go, guys. It's fitting for today. Today, we're talking all about our why. This is one I've actually been sitting on for quite a while, because I really did need a moment like this.

I think I needed a kick in the pants to do one on your why, because I don't think you can do one on your why when things are all fine and dandy, when things are just flowing. I don't think that's the right time to do a show on the why. You really have to do it on a time when you're feeling down and dirty and tired and questioning it.

That is the time you have to do your show on your why. Because your why, guys, is so much bigger. It's so much bigger and it can be nuanced and it can be multiple whys. I think we get so hung up on this idea that we have to chase our purpose. And you're absolutely right. I think we all do have to chase our purpose.

But the funny thing about a why. And a purpose. Is there ever evolving? They're changing all the time. And the thing that was your why in the beginning might not be your why as you get further down the line. Would I have cared as much about missing a show if I was only at episode 10? Probably not. But the further I got along without missing an episode, it started to become like a record for me, it started to be a point of pride for me.

And so, at some point, not missing an episode unless I absolutely have to, unless it's like a family emergency, or something along those lines. Has become a point of pride for me, and so it has become part of my why journey. Like I said, I have many whys. We're going to get into them today. You need to ask yourself in whatever you are doing, whether you're a career employee, whether you're an entrepreneur, whether you're starting a podcast this year, whether you're a YouTuber, whether you're just starting video or whatever it is you are choosing to do.

What is the reason for you to be doing it? Because it can't just be about financial gain. It has to be bigger than that. And we're going to get into that later. But a why is so much bigger than just financial gain. And if you're only chasing financial gain. You'll probably fail your why needs to be so much bigger than that, because the roadblocks that come into your way when you're on a journey, like we are on with the business development podcast at Capital Business Development, there's 1000 things that are going to pop up that are gonna make you question.

Why are you doing this? And you need to have wise and reasons bigger than those challenges. And that's the thing. We've got to work on that. We've got to understand intrinsically what motivates us. And keep in mind, too, your why is just that it is likely intrinsic, it is likely special, it is likely very individual to you and your values and what matters to you and what impact you want to make in the world.

So. It really is something you need to reckon within yourself. Your why is individual to you. Nobody can tell you what your why is. Nobody can tell you what your purpose is. These are all things and questions we have to ask ourselves. And sometimes we might find that our whys Are even thrust upon us. We just wake up one day and we're like, holy crap.

This is why I'm doing this. It might not feel obvious, but one day it might become obvious. And I will talk about this as I get into my wise for the business development podcast and my journey in business development. I didn't see it coming. I didn't see this being such a major purpose in my life at this point in time, but that is what it has become.

And it was not obvious, but it became obvious. My whys are so much bigger than bad days, sickness, being tired. Guys, I am an entrepreneur, I'm a podcaster, I'm a partner, I'm a parent to four boys. I am busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy. But I don't let. Any of that get in the way of what we show up to do here.

Every single week, I care about you guys. I truly want to improve your lives, your businesses, your careers. And if I don't show up, I'm not just letting myself down, but I'm letting all of you guys down too. And I can't tell you how like motivating it is when I get a message from one of you. Letting me know how this show has changed your life, how it's helped you get that job, how it's helped you upgrade your career, how it might be the first step or the first thing you're hearing as you're getting into your business development career.

We are changing the world with this show, and it's not me that's changing it. It's each and every one of you who take the knowledge you learn here and take it out to the world and do something incredible with it. And I can't tell you how much of an honor it is to me to be able to do that, to be able to show up and know that that is the impact that we are able to have with this show.

I never saw it guys. I never saw the impact we were going to have with this show. I couldn't have seen it. It's been so incredible and it's ever evolving. And the crazy thing is. We are nearly at 200 episodes, and we are still not on our second year of the business development podcast. We will cross that in February.

And I could have never imagined, guys. I could have never imagined the impact we would have had with this show. And I am nothing but, like, Grateful and proud that each and every one of you who found us stuck around, told a friend, told a family member, come back week over week, month over month, year over year.

You guys are incredible. You really are rock stars. You really are. And it is such a motivator for me to know that you are out there, my community, and that you are not just listening to this show. But you were taking what you're learning on this show and you were sharing it with others. You were sharing it with the world.

You were using it to improve where you are. That was the whole point. The whole point of the show when I started was to share my business development knowledge with the world and make an impact bigger than I could have ever made. One on one with companies that I worked with or even through coaching.

Those are incredible mediums. I love working with companies. I love coaching. Like I really love coaching. It has become like a major passion of mine, but no matter how much I coach, no matter how many companies I work with, I will still only be able to impact hundreds, maybe thousands of individuals over time.

But with this show, we are going to impact millions of individuals over time. It's a purpose so much bigger. Then I could have ever imagined and that is a major driver of what keeps me coming back a major why for me to come back week over week, month over month, year over year as we get into the second year of the show guys.

So, for me, that's just one, but it is so much bigger than any sickness, guys. I've showed up here sick. I've showed up here feeling crappy. I've showed up here feeling downright tired. But you know what? None of that mattered. Because I got the show done, I put it out to the world, and one of you, it made an impact for.

If not thousands of you, it made an impact for. And so, for me, That's worth it. That's worth showing up, even when it's not perfect. Number two, I want to be a great role model for my boys, and show them that hard work, resilience, and determination can move mountains. I love my partner, I love my boys, and they are bigger than anything that could hold me down.

At the end of the day, guys, It doesn't matter because if I show up here, even when I'm tired and they see it, if I show up here when I'm feeling a little bit down and they see it, what they're learning is resilience. What they're seeing at the end of the day is that your purpose can drive you. Your purpose is bigger.

Then life challenges, and you need to be able to encourage and inspire your kids. You need to be able to encourage and inspire people around you. And for me, I love my boys and they come in here regularly. You know, one came in here not that long ago and asked, Dad. You're always in here working so hard, why do you work so hard?

And I just looked at him and I said, because I love you and I want you to see that hard work pays off over time, guys. It matters. It matters. And it's so much bigger than us. It's so much bigger than us. Our hard work. And I say our, because I know every single one of you works this hard. I know it. I know it for a fact.

Because people that don't. Have this work ethic, people that aren't willing to face challenge. They don't listen to a show like this. The people listening to this show today are the ones who are out there kicking butt. You show up when you're tired. You show up when you're down. You get up when you're knocked down.

That is the kind of rock stars who listen to this show. And guys, every single time you do that and your kids see you, they see strength. They see resilience. They see. The parent that they want to be you are emulating success for them and for me that matters that matters more than any tiredness or any other thing that could hold me down during the week.

I want to show them that at the end of the day if you show up. You make a difference. And three guys, I genuinely want to change the world. One of the prayers that I say regularly is, God, please let my life make an impact on this world. I want to leave a positive impact when I'm gone, guys. At the end of the day, what better life can you lead than to leave an impact in the world, a positive impact in the world that makes it better for others.

I want to improve the world and change the way that we build businesses for the better. And I can't think of anything more meaningful than that to keep me going every single day. At the end of the day, guys, there was like nothing for business development people when I started this show. And I realized that because I was one.

I was a new business development person, you know, not that long ago. It feels like it's been a long time, but it feels like yesterday. That I was googling what is business development because no one ever taught me what it was, not even in college. And it's one of those things where I realized that I can leave a lasting impact here by teaching business development to the world.

By helping people, by sharing my knowledge with the world. And each and every one of you are experts in something. Every single one of you is an expert in something. Whether it's your current field of business. Whether it's a passion you have, there's something you have that you are absolutely an expert in, and that you could share with the world, that you could teach the next generation.

And I think there's so much protectionism. There's so much protectionism in business. Oh no, I got to keep all my cards close to my chest. Don't share any of that knowledge. Don't tell them how you did that because someone might kick you off your pedestal. Guys, all of our pedestals end. It doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter. You know what's more important? Teaching the next generation how to do it better. How to be better. How to be more ethical. How to do things in a kind and respectful way. Why not leave that impact in the world? You know, I think specifically business development has been very protectionist, and I don't really understand why.

But for whatever reason, we've all been keeping our cards very close to our chest, and with the Business Development Podcast, we really blew that up. We said, no, we're going to share all of it. All the knowledge I'm going to tell you exactly how I do it. And guys, I teach you guys exactly what I coach in this show.

I don't hold anything back. I tell you how I do it. I tell you what steps to take. I talk about the active marketing process. And you know what? Twenty twenty five is going to be a big refresher year because we're going back to the beginning and I'm going to go back to the basics over and over and over again.

And you know what? I'm going to help thousands of people more in twenty twenty five. And heck, I'm even going to do some video stuff on it, too. So it's going to be a fun year. But guys, share your knowledge with the world. You're going to find that there's a lot of passion in that, especially if you want to change the world.

Your knowledge can and will change the world if you let it. Number four, this might be my biggest. This might be my biggest why. And I don't want to let myself down. I want to prove to myself that I have the grit and resilience to make an impact. For me, this is it. The business development podcast, Capital Business Development, has been one of the biggest opportunities that has ever fallen on my lap to make a big impact in the world.

And I don't want to let myself down. I don't want to let myself down because I know I can do it, because I've gained so much strength and confidence and resilience in this journey, in this journey over just the last four years has been game changing. Game changing is Not even close to what it has been really it's been so incredible and such a growth opportunity and I've learned so much sometimes I feel like in the last four years I've learned more than I learned in the previous 20 really it's it's been such a growth opportunity for me and I've been challenging myself further and further and further and realizing that The things that I'm afraid of, the things that I've put off for all these years were the things that I needed to wholeheartedly embrace and chase and welcome into my life, because they will allow me to grow to the person that I am meant to be.

And so much of it, guys, is about not letting myself down, not letting myself down, because I know I can do this, because I know I can show up and because I know I'm stronger than the worst days. And I think at the end of the day. Your why can be that simple. It can be just to show yourself how strong you really are, and every single time you push a boundary and you show up even though you didn't want to, that's one more massive tick in the box of resilience.

And if you build up that box of resilience strong enough, guys, there's almost nothing that will hold you back. So trust me. It can be as simple as just not wanting to let yourself down. It's a big one for me. And I know a lot of you might have noticed that money wasn't on this list. And yes, money is very important.

I am not going to say that money is not important. And money can be incredibly motivating. It can be both, but here's the thing. Money is not good enough as a long term motivator. I can tell you, no matter what you do, the money likely will never be enough to drive you long term. It can be a really great short term motivator, but if you want to be in this for years, five years, 10 years, you need something much bigger.

You need a vision so much bigger than money, because there's going to be days where even the money ain't worth it. Okay, there's going to be days where even the money is not enough to keep you coming back week over week, month over month, year over year, trust me, money can buy a lot of things, and it can definitely make you happy, at least for a short period of time, but here's the thing, it can't be the only motivator for you, you need to find whys that are even bigger than money, and I know there's some of you thinking, oh crap, well that sounds challenging, yeah, maybe it is.

It might actually be a little bit challenging and it might be intrinsic and you might have to dig deep. You might have to dig real deep and try to understand what is it that motivates me? Why do I show up if money wasn't part of this? What would be worth doing? What would be worth doing if money wasn't the reward?

And guys, if you want to help the world, money will come. Money will come. If you start following your purpose, money will come in droves. Trust me. Trust me. It will. But you have to figure out your purpose and your why first. And as long as you get your purpose and your whys aligned, and they're bigger than you think, Then anything that can get in your way, the money will inevitably follow.

Because here's the thing, if you're following your why, and you're changing the world and you're making an impact. It gets rewarded for me. This podcast has lit a fire and given me an incredible way to achieve my goals, really to make an impact, to educate and inspire. I, I couldn't have picked a better way.

I didn't even realize at the time, guys, how big this was going to be, how, how impactful for me it was going to be. Not just the world, but frankly for me, intrinsically to just light a fire and keep my passions. Make me happy. I could have never seen how powerful this podcast would be for my own purpose.

And the funny thing is, you might not see that thing for you. It might be right in front of you. Your purpose and your passion and your why, it might be so close you can taste it. And it's just going to pop up and show you how important it is. If you're struggling with your motivation lately, if you've just been Struggling.

And you know, don't get me wrong, I struggle with my motivation. We all struggle with our motivation at times. But the thing is, you might be struggling with it because you are not in alignment with your why. You're doing things that have nothing to do with the impact you want to make. And so let's chat a little bit about it today.

I'm going to give you guys some questions to ask yourself. If you're struggling with your why or your purpose, or you're just working a job and you've been at that job for 10 years, maybe, and you're not really sure if you're passionate about it or not, try asking yourself a few questions because the answers could absolutely change your life.

It's three questions, guys. What. Are you willing to struggle for? And I mean, really struggle guys. We're not talking like, Oh, I worked hard for a week. What would you be willing to struggle at for the next five years? What would be worth it? The second question is, what are you so good at that you could teach others?

What are you so flippin good at? That you could teach others. And the funny thing about this particular question, that thing that you are super, super great at, you're probably also really, really passionate about. I bet you the thing that you're really great at is also something you love to do. So what is that thing?

What are you so good at that you could teach others? And the third question, guys, and this is a big one, this is like, this is like an existential question. What legacy do you want to leave behind? You're writing a legacy whether you like it or not. Right now, whatever you are doing, you're leaving a legacy.

Is it the legacy you want to leave when you are gone from this world? And guys, I hate to say it. We're all going at some point when you're gone from this world. How do you want to be remembered? What impact do you want to leave behind? Because whatever that impact is, you need to start working on it today because tomorrow is not promised to any of us.

The combination of those three questions could absolutely change your life. And I hope that you all take some time to think deep, ask yourself those questions and write out the answers. I think by the time you're done that, you're going to know exactly what you need to do next. When business development chose me all that time ago, I did not know that it would be the way that I could leave my mark on the world.

That it would become so meaningful to me. Your way to make your impact is likely right in front of you as well. Waiting for you to realize your potential. So get to it. My gosh, that takes us to the end of our show today, guys. And if this show resonated with you, let me know. Shoot me a message on LinkedIn.

Shoot me email to podcast@capitalbd.ca. Let me know if this message resonates with you and heck. Let me know what your purposes are. Let me know what you want to do, what impact you want to leave in the world. If this show has made a difference in your life, let me know. I can't tell you guys how encouraging it is and how special it is.

To get your messages. I absolutely love to hear them. Please do reach out to me. I love, love, love to chat with you guys. If you have any questions you'd like to send in, I would love to get questions for our upcoming community questions episode. You can send it to podcast@capitalbd.ca, and feel free to just shoot me whatever questions you have, and I will make sure that we get them answered for you on an upcoming show.

Once again, that is podcast@capitalbd.ca. And lastly, guys, if this show has made an impact, please give us a follow. Give us a rating on your platform of choice. If you guys want to join our community, come on over to LinkedIn and give a, the business development podcast to follow, give Kelly Kennedy a follow.

And you can also come hang out with us on Instagram. We are growing that rapidly as well. Shout outs this week. Jayson Chakkalakal, Cory Sellar, Adam Kimmel, Sherri Allen, Matthew West, Jack Dyer, Ricardo J. Flores, Fritz Frauendorf, Jillian Shecher, Chris Steffens, Jamar Jones, Vidhi Toshniwal, Nat Berman, Gary Noseworthy, Jan Hnat, Jim Gale, Justin LaRocque, Susan Poseika, Colin Harms, and Deanna Kean.

Until next time, this has been Episode 193. three of the business development podcast, and we will catch you on the flip side.

Outro: This has been the business development podcast with Kelly Kennedy. Kelly has 15 years in sales and business development experience within the Alberta oil and gas industry and founded his own business development firm in 2020.

His passion and his specialization. Is in customer relationship generation and business development. The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your Business Development Specialists. For more, we invite you to the website @ www.capitalbd.ca. See you next time on the Business Development Podcast.