Last week I spoke a bit about methods of increasing productivity to accomplish long term goals. Among those tips was to remind yourself of WHY you do what you do. While this is something many of us subconsciously know, it often times gets lost in our busy lives. I wanted to give a bit of insight into WHY I started ZULUECHO Lifestyle Initiative, and what keeps me motivated to continue to create the content I put out.

As many know, I started ZULUECHO Initiative as a blog in February 2017. At the time, my initial desire to create this platform stemmed from an appreciation of the age I found myself at. It was a way for me to share my passions and interests with the world. My peers had also begun to branch out of their comfort zones, trying new things and chasing new ideas. Furthermore I began to notice the happiness that people felt when they did the things they loved. They began to work harder than I had ever seen them work before, and I had started doing the same. I became interested in why that was the case. While now it may seem obvious, my naive 19-year old self was still struggling to grapple with larger concepts of the processes of life, growth, and development (not that I am an expert now). I realized that the answer was passion.

Regardless of difficulty, when we do what we love, we find fulfillment.

This realization became so important to me that I wanted to share it with the world. I wanted to express my appreciation for EVERYONE who had taken a chance on their potential and started following their heart instead of the pressures of what we often think we HAVE to do. I wanted to celebrate this notion that when we take a chance on our dreams, we are already closer to accomplishing them than we think. Through numerous conversations with people my age it became clear that many were scared to follow their passions. Worrying that they may fail, or not “succeed.” This reality scared me. Here were talented, passionate, strong people who had incredible amounts of potential but were scared to follow their hearts. ZULUECHO Lifestyle Initiative’s purpose became clear. I wanted to help people realize the importance of following their passion. Not to allow the prospect of failure to crush their aspirations, but rather guide them into making informed decisions on how they could really make their dreams come true.

The WHY behind every decision I’ve made since then for this brand has been to find ways to inspire people to tackle their greatest fears and challenges. Through my work, I aim to motivate and help people realize their own goals, letting them know that it is okay to fail. There is a lesson learned from all our pains, giving us experience that helps us truly build the life we want. It’s about helping others contextualize their life as a process within which they have control of the outcomes. I never thought that I would start a clothing brand. I never thought I would be making films – but it was a calling that became clear because I knew WHY I did what I did, and all these mediums allowed me to express that with the world in a variety of ways in the hope of affecting and inspiring as many people as possible. Thus, when you wear ZULUECHO Initiative clothing, you are representing a movement to inspire everyone who sees it. When you share a ZULUECHO Initiative film, you are sharing a vehicle for people to find their purpose.

This is WHY I do what I do. It is our time as a generation to make an impact, but we can only do that if we absolutely love what we do. We are writing the next chapter of our history books, let’s write one that will set an example for anyone who has dreams and aspirations bigger than what they think they can achieve. That, truly, is the only way to inspire change.

Find your purpose by knowing your WHY.

#zuluechoinitiative

As a reference I would like to suggest a book by Simon Sinek, “Start with WHY”. He has created an extremely effective understanding of the importance of knowing why we do what we do. The book can be found here.