Start with “Why” - Why do we do the work we do?

从“为什么”开始-我们为什么要做我们所做的工作？

The question of “Why” is always a big question. Plus, it always makes you look smart in a meeting!

“ 为什么 ”的问题始终是一个大问题。 另外，它总是使您在会议中显得聪明！

Kidding. Seriously though, I’ve been contemplating this question for a while. Started my career as a Data Analyst and then moving further towards the direction of data science and programming, I feel sometimes a bit doubtful about whether I’m following the crowd for a trendy career rather than doing what I really care about.

开玩笑的 认真地说，我已经考虑了一段时间了。 从我作为数据分析师的职业生涯开始，然后又朝着数据科学和编程的方向发展，有时我对我是否追随人群从事时尚职业而不是真正关心的事情感到有些怀疑。

Meanwhile,

与此同时，

“Over the long run, the crowd is always wrong.”

“从长远来看，人群总是错的。”

— Seth Klarman, American billionaire investor and author.

—美国亿万富翁投资人兼作家塞思·克拉曼(Seth Klarman)。

You may also have heard of the book “Start With Why” of Simon Sinek. You may even have read it (and never finished the exercises). Yeah, I got you.

您可能还听说过Simon Sinek的《为什么开始》一书。 您甚至可能已经读过它(从未完成练习)。 是的，我懂了。

寻找你的“为什么” (Finding your “Why”)

As a Data Scientist (or other data related role) these days, we are lucky to be part of a very fast-developing field. Our work is in (very) high demand. The pay is decent to very good. Be good at what you do, and the world is your oyster.

如今，作为一名数据科学家(或其他与数据相关的角色)，我们很幸运能够成为一个快速发展的领域的一部分。 我们的工作需求很高。 薪水很不错。 善于做自己的事，世界就是牡蛎。

But did you ever stop and ask yourself, are you in this *just* for the money? Or maybe you are in this for the fame and respect of others? Or other reasons?

但是你有没有停下来问自己，你是为了钱吗？ 或者，也许您在此是为了赢得他人的名望和尊重 ？ 还是其他原因？

It’s not to say these why’s are not valid or worth pursuing. In addition, some of us choose this career simply we find it more intellectually satisfying than any others. However, in the long run, if your work doesn’t connect with any deeper purposes, chances are you will feel empty and hollow.

并不是说这些为什么无效或值得追求。 另外，我们中的一些人选择这个职业只是因为我们发现它比其他任何职业在智力上都更令人满意。 但是，从长远来看，如果您的工作没有更深层次的目的，那么您可能会感到空虚无聊。

On the contrary, if you can connect what you do with your important values or deeper purposes and meaning, you will be more likely to achieve greater happiness, fulfillment and resilience in your career. It is sort of to achieve the maximum self-alignment in your work and your personal values.

相反，如果您可以将自己的工作与重要的价值观或更深的目的和意义联系起来，您将更有可能在事业中获得更大的幸福感，成就感和韧性。 这是为了在您的工作和个人价值观中实现最大的自我调整。

Purpose/ Meaning = The values you are willing to struggle for.

目的/意义=您愿意争取的价值观。

There are many ways to find your “Why”. I will explore a few methods below.

有很多找到“为什么”的方法。 我将在下面探讨几种方法。

1.找到你的主题 (1. Find Your Themes)

In his book, Find Your Why, Simon Sinek recommended to begin with stories. Stories could be from your childhood, all the way up to your adolescent, and the formative years of choosing your field of study and starting your career. They are stories that connect with you emotionally.

西蒙·西内克( Simon Sinek)在他的《 发现为什么》一书中建议从故事开始。 故事可能发生在您的童年时期，一直到青春期，以及选择您的研究领域并开始职业生涯的成年时期。 这些故事在情感上与您联系。

He suggests to do this exercise with your family and close friends to understand more about yourself and your personal “theme”. After that, you craft your own “why” with the format:

他建议与您的家人和密友进行此练习，以更多地了解您自己和您的个人“主题”。 之后，您可以使用以下格式来编写自己的“为什么”：

To [contribution] so that [impact on others].

要[贡献]，以便[影响他人]。

What Simon Sinek came up with for himself is:

Simon Sinek为自己想出的是：

To inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that, together, we can change our world. — Simon Sinek

激励人们做能够激发他们灵感的事情，以便我们共同改变我们的世界。 —西蒙·辛尼克

2.探索目标层次 (2. Explore Goals Hierarchy)

In the book Grit by Angela Duckworth, she suggests to make goals hierarchy. Essentially, it is to keep asking “why” like an annoying 3 year old to yourself, until your goals converge into a handful of categories.

在安吉拉·达克沃斯(Angela Duckworth)的《 沉着 》( Grit)一书中，她建议使目标层次化。 从本质上讲，这是不断向自己问“为什么”，就像一个烦人的3岁小孩子，直到您的目标收敛到少数几个类别。

This is my own version of goals hierarchy:

这是我自己的目标层次结构版本：

Q: Why do I want to work as a Data Scientist?

问：为什么我想成为数据科学家？

A: Because I want to use data to solve problems.

答：因为我想使用数据来解决问题。

Q: Why do I want to use data to solve problems?

问：为什么要使用数据来解决问题？

A: Because there are many important problems nowadays that can be solved with data. I think it would be cool to be able to help good businesses and the people around me this way.

答：因为当今有许多重要的问题可以通过数据解决。 我认为以这种方式能够帮助好的企业和周围的人会很酷。

Q: Why do I want to help good businesses and the people around me?

问：为什么我要帮助好的企业和我周围的人？

A: Because many people still struggle to have better and a happier lives. Similarly, businesses (and also nations) want to succeed and develop in a more sustainable way.

答：因为许多人仍在努力追求更好和更幸福的生活。 同样，企业(以及国家)也希望以更可持续的方式取得成功并发展。

It’s nowhere near exhaustive, but you get the idea. I notice that all my goals in the end tend to converge into a rather altruism type of goals. This may stem from fact that I have a background in Development Economics, and the concept of Donut Economics is highly inspiring to me. I also feel responsible to see many sufferings and injustice in the world that could have been potentially avoided by better technology, efficiency and insights from data. Indeed, it is believed that data science can help solve many of the world’s most pressing challenges.

它远未穷尽，但您明白了。 我注意到最终我所有的目标都趋向于成为一种无私的目标。 这可能源于我具有发展经济学的背景，而“ 甜甜圈经济学”的概念对我来说是非常鼓舞人心的。 我也有责任看到世界上许多苦难和不公义，而更好的技术，效率和数据见解可以避免这些苦难和不公。 确实，人们相信数据科学可以帮助解决世界上许多最紧迫的挑战 。

This simple exercise is powerful. It forces you to be honest with yourself and get through the shallow level of “having a great career” and “making good money” to uncover your deeper values and purposes.

这个简单的练习功能强大。 它迫使您对自己诚实，并通过“拥有出色事业”和“赚钱”的浅薄层次来发现自己更深的价值和目标。

3.提出问题 (3. Asking questions)

Asking hypothetical and seemingly childish questions to yourself can be a fun method to brainstorm your why’s. Some of my favourite questions are:

问自己假设，看似幼稚的问题可以是一个有趣的方法，集思广益你为什么的 。 我最喜欢的一些问题是：

• What’s something you haven’t had that you would like others to have? (explores what you valued but didn’t have in the past, and what you can do to help others being in that situation)您希望别人拥有什么您没有的东西？ (探讨您所珍视但过去没有的东西，以及如何帮助处于这种情况的其他人)

• Gun to your head, if you had to leave the house all day, everyday, where would you go and what would you do? (I took this from one of the articles by Mark Manson, this question explores what you would rather do the most and for what causes)

  如果您不得不每天整天离开房屋，请开枪，您会去哪里，该怎么办？ (我摘自Mark Manson的一篇文章，这个问题探讨了您最想做什么，以及原因是什么)

• How are you going to save the world? (= what you want to contribute the most to the world?)您将如何拯救世界？ (=您想为世界做出最大贡献吗？)
• If you were going to die 1 year from today, what would you do and how would you want to be remembered? What would be your legacy? What stories when you’re gone? What would you like your obituary to say?如果您要从今天起一年后去世，您会怎么做以及您想如何被记住？ 您的遗产是什么？ 你走了什么故事？ 您要ob告说什么？

结论 (Conclusion)

Finding meaning in our work is vital to a healthy and successful career. It helps us overcome the ups and downs in our career, as well as the uncertain times like what we are experiencing today.

在我们的工作中找到意义对健康和成功的职业至关重要。 它可以帮助我们克服职业生涯的起起伏伏，以及克服当今所面临的不确定时期。

It is crucial for us to maintain the grit and perseverance we need to struggle for what we call “success”, winning the competition and grind on the career ladder. I think it only happens if we find these struggles really worth it.

对于我们来说，保持所谓的“成功”所需的毅力和毅力，赢得竞争并在职业阶梯上努力奋斗至关重要。 我认为只有在我们发现这些斗争确实值得的情况下，这种情况才会发生。