What’s inside you that can play a part in solving real problems? Who will you be in response to a crisis? What can you do today to create positive change? It’s time to think about your answers. Your answer to questions like these is more important than you may realize because it provides the motivation The Real You needs to become a new breed of hero. The Real You is a hero with a Red-Hot Why.
What’s a Red-Hot Why?
Recently, we’ve been talking about the Real You – a new breed of hero that knows him or herself well and shows up when it’s time to act. But we humans don’t act until we are motivated (either positively or negatively) to act. It’s safe to say, the Real You must have positive motivations if positive change is going to be the result. In the past, I’ve referred to these positive motivations as your inner strengths. Follow these strengths and they lead you right to a “Red-Hot Why:” your reasons to act and create positive change.
- You devote much of your energy to seeing this challenge to the end. Do you know why?
- Why do you feel this major wrong needs to be put right . . . by you?
- What enables you to keep going in your fight to help others who can’t seem to go it alone?
These are Red-Hot Whys!
Reasons Reap Results
Fortunately, we don’t have to look very hard to find great examples of everyday people who chose to act on their Red-Hot Why to become heroes in the lives of others. They are all very different from each other. They were all faced with Hard Things Worth Doing (#HTWD). And, you can be sure they followed design-driven inner strengths for the motivation to act. Here are just a few examples:
ACTION: Turning last chances into second chances
An auto mechanic in Massachusetts, diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease, made peace with his fate and decided he’d spend much of his free time and last days giving back to local youth.
ACTION: Transforming victims into survivors
One mom’s reaction to losing her son to pediatric cancer resulted in the birth of a non-profit that now raises millions every year for seven of the nation’s top research hospitals.
http://www.cookiesforkidscancer.org
ACTION: Offering hope in place of heartbreak
West-Virginian moms turn their shared experiences dealing with an addicted family member into an outreach program for others in their community who are struggling with heroin addiction.
Make your own list. Did you even have to go outside of your own life experiences to think of at least one Hero with a Red-Hot Why?
Be the Real You: a Hero with a Red-Hot Why
It’s your turn. And you CAN do it. Set out to understand and know The Real You better. That is where you’ll discover all the positive motivation and inner strength you need to become a new breed of hero that we all need.