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Finding your Why isn’t always simple. It’s more than just making a statement you think your audience will get behind. And it’s far more than co-opting the Why you’ve seen work successfully for others. Audiences are smart. They will instantly be able to sense if your Why is not authentic. Your Why is not the same, but has to align with and drive everything else you’re doing, especially your vision, mission, and values. Remember:

  • Your Vision describes where your organisation is going in the coming years.
  • Your Mission focuses on your business operations and the products or services you offer.
  • Your Values define how your entire organization should go about achieving your mission.
  • Your Why shifts focus from internal operations to your external impact.

Understand Your Why Exercise

Your “Why” or purpose is the reason you have formed your creative practice boiled down to a single sentence (or two). This exercise will help you to understand your purpose and communicate it to the world.


How to Identify Core Purpose: 5 Whys

  • Start with WHAT you do. “We make X products or deliver Y services”
  • Next, ask “WHY is that important?” How do you make a difference in the lives of your customers?
  • Ask the WHY question 5 times. Each time brainstorming and writing down your answers.
  • After a few whys, you’ll find that you’re getting down to the fundamental purpose of your creative practice or business.
  • Review all the different answers to the WHY question, searching for the answer that resonates most, generates some passion, and gets to the heart of your business or creative practice’s core purpose.

Questions to Test & Refine Your Core Purpose

  • Do you find this purpose personally inspiring, and does it make you feel proud of your business or creative practice?
  • Can you envision this purpose being as valid 100 years from now as it is today?
  • Does this purpose help you decide which opportunities and activities to say YES to and which ones to say NO to?
  • Is this purpose authentic (not merely words on paper that “sound nice”), and would it be greeted with enthusiasm rather than cynicism?

Putting it into words

When you’ve got your purpose figured out, try and put it in words. Keep in mind, it doesn’t need to be a description of your products and services. It needs to be a succinct description of the impact of those products and services, and it usually begins with ‘we.’ And it should speak to your highest aspirations, it doesn’t need to be something you’re delivering on 100 percent today.

You can find downloadable PDF and Word versions of the exercise below

Understanding Your 'Why' Exercise

Understanding Your 'Why' Exercise PDF

PDF: 57.64 KB
A downloadable PDF version of the 'Understanding Your 'Why' exercise
Download document

Understanding Your 'Why' Exercise Word

Word doc: 402.17 KB
A downloadable Word version of the 'Understanding Your 'Why' exercise
Download document

Questions to Test & Refine Your Core Purpose Exercise

Questions to Test & Refine Your Core Purpose Exercise PDF

PDF: 41.12 KB
A downloadable PDF version of the Questions to Test & Refine Your Core Purpose exercise
Download document

Questions to Test & Refine Your Core Purpose Exercise Word Document

Word doc: 330.54 KB
A downloadable Word version of the 'Questions to Test & Refine Your Core Purpose exercise
Download document

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Happy Bank Holiday Weekend! Here's what's on at Blick this Month!

- Wed 7th May - Creative Talk - Artist & Illustrator Danni Simpson
Time: 7pm - 8pm
Venue: Blick Hill St

- Sun 4th May - Seaside Books Beginner 6 Week Poetry Workshop Course�
Time: 2pm - 4pm
Venue: Blick Great Northern Street

- Tues 6th May - Seaside Books Intermediate 6 Week Poetry Workshop Course�
Time: 6.30pm - 8pm
Venue: Blick Great Northern Street

- Tuesday 27th May - Womenfolk Peer Mentoring�
Time: 7pm - 9pm
Venue: Blick Hill St

�- Wednesday 28th May - Nurture Program Participants Creative Talks
�Time: 7pm - 9pm
�Venue: Blick Great Northern Street�

�Find out more on our website: �https://blickstudios.org/events/�����
- - CREATIVE TALK NEXT WEDNESDAY WITH ARTIST & ILLUSTRATOR DANNI SIMPSON SHARING HER STORY - -

Come join us for our next creative talk next Wednesday with the talented artist and illustrator, Danni Simpson sharing her creative story! Hear and get inspiration from Danni’s journey, learn about her creative process, and gain insights into the world of art and illustration.

ABOUT DANNI:
Danni Simpson is an Australian Artist who specialises in Commercial murals and Illustrations. Her natural passion and talent for art has allowed her to complete a large number of projects and travel the globe to paint the world. Her style is an urban fusion of detailed floral illustrations where wildlife clashes with architecture and typography, sprinkled through with dashes of art deco and mandala patterns. Beyond her work commercially, Danni has been invited to appear at a number of events across the UK and Ireland such as Electric Picnic, Upfest Street Art Festival and Hit The North. Danni continues to travel the world leaving her mark wherever she goes and hopes to ignite a creative spark in everyone who sees her art.

You can find out more about Danni and her work on her Website: dannisimpsonart.com and on Instagram: @dannisimpsonart 

EVENT DETAILS:
Event Date(s): Wed, May 7, 2025
Event Time: 7pm - 8pm
Location: Blick Shared Studios, 46 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LB
Cost: Free

For more info and to book visit our website (link in profile)

#illustrationbelfast #belfastcreatives #blickstudios #creativetalk
We got a lovely new table for our South Belfast studios from the brilliant Ten Foundations charity shop on the Lisburn Road

Affordable, sustainable, supporting a great charity and close enough to our studios that we could carry it down the road!
We were featured in Ulster Business along with lots of great companies in an article about coworking in Belfast!
https://issuu.com/ulster_business/docs/ulster_business_february_2025
Our beautiful Hill Street Studios breakout space. Perfect for an afternoon coffee break in the sun and the chance to step away from your desk for a bit ☕️