If the quick answer to that question is “to make a profit,” then my friends, it’s very likely that you’ve lost your way a little since the day you opened up shop.

As Simon Sinek would argue, making money is a result of being in business, but it is rarely the reason you are in business in the first place. After all, you can make money doing anything. So why this?

Why do you run a business in the first place?

What drove you to go into business? What was the issue that you were trying to solve? What was the vision of the company that you’ve given everything for in 5 or 10 year’s time? Why? What are you passionate about? What drives you? Sounds a little soft for a guy who runs a company that’s about data, metrics, and analytics. Sure.

But life (and business) is a lot about balancing the tension between soft ideas and hard data. This “why” that you rediscover will be the emotional fuel that you need to work through the day-to-day. It guides and helps you identify the strategy, milestones, partnerships, or events that are needed to get you there. Which, in turn, will drive the metrics, behaviors, and data that we’ll need to track, measure, and iterate against on a day-to-day basis.

Once you get there, it keeps you focused so you don’t get lost in the sea of tactics and tasks. Oh, and for the sake of data and metrics, 28 companies in the Fortune 500 have got their big why figured out and dialed in. These same 28 companies outperform the S&P 500 benchmark by 1072%. #justsaying