Unstoppable

Chapter 6The Wonder of WHY

There is much wisdom in the words of Nietzsche: “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”

—Viktor E. Frankl (c), (AZ Quotes 2017)

Decades before Simon Sinek and Bill Hybels shared the power of “WHY” with multitudes through conferences and best-selling books, Nazi death camp survivor Viktor Frankl was explaining its power in his book Man's Search for Meaning. Frankl explained the wonder of WHY, which really is your reason—or reasons—for getting up each morning, and how it has incredible potential to power you through adversity, disappointments, setbacks, and hurts. It also has the ability to generate a drive and focus in you that the person with weaker or fewer reasons will lack. A WHY is personal, and thus it differs from one individual to another. There is not a right or a wrong WHY; there is your WHY. And as you can imagine, unstoppable game changers have a more compelling WHY that lesser performers lack. This is what prompts their focus, energy, effort, and resilience on a far more consistent basis than that of the playmaker, caretaker, or undertaker.

Sports performance specialist, author, and coach Allistair McCaw puts it this way: “I think after 23 years in the sports performance coaching game, my observation of what separates the occasionally better-than-average performer (the playmaker) from the team member who consistently brings effort, energy, and intensity day in and day out is that the champion athletes are more invested ...