So what are you wanting to accomplish in your life? We have talked about goals and mindset. Yet how do you tie these all together with your core values? That’s where this question comes into play. What are you wanting to accomplish in your life?
Do you want to make every person smile? Maybe you want to have every person you encounter to see the beauty around them. Perhaps you are more ambitious and you want to help each person you encounter with a particular obstacle in their path.
We are talking about mission statements. you may be familiar with these in the corporate world. Often they are these high exalted statements that nobody can remember. It seems as if they were created back in an early froo froo time of the company and nobody really believes it anymore.
I am going to make the case that they are still useful and good but on a smaller scale. What is your personal mission statement?
What is a mission statement?
To start the ball rolling, what is a mission statement? Be it for you or anything else it is good for us to get a good definition set up.
A mission statement is a proclamation of your long term goals and values.
That it in the simplest form. You can find elaborate definitions all over the place on the net but for you and me right now. We want simple, and that’s what were are going to get. It is what you want to do in your life and how your core values play a role.
Why a Mission statement?
Much like goals and core values, this helps give you clarity and direction to how you want to live your life. You can float aimlessly but doing so will rarely put you in a very good place. Often drifting through life will put you in a worse place. Take a person in the woods. If you are wanting to get out you need to know where to go. If you just set out in any direction you may find civilization but there is also a bigger chance that you do not find anyone because you are wandering around in circles.
If you look at goals like a map through life, your core values are your road and the mission statement is the vehicle. They all help you out so that you will be able to reach the dreams and aspirations you are wanting to achieve in the fastest way possible. If you noticed I didn’t say the easiest, but you get there the fastest.
How do you make a mission statement?
Making a mission statement can and could be argued that it needs to a bit of time you can get one cranked out quickly but as you look at it and you will find that there are small tweaks that will need to be made as you go through and experience life.
There are a few items that you might want to gather when you are creating your mission statement. These tools are pen and paper. You might add some good walking shoes too.
Ask yourself some questions
What Does the Best look like to me?
Think of what does the BEST look like? Are you-you standing on a stage helping 5000 people at a live event? Then again maybe, the best is you sitting on the sandy beach with your wife and kids laughing the day away.
Think about what the best is. Allow yourself to imagine it, experience the feelings of the best. What would it sound like? What would it feel like what would it taste like? Get your self into that line of thinking. That way you know full well why you feel what you feel.
How do I get to that Best?
Much like planning your goals. How are you going to get to that ultimate goal? Think of the journey you are wanting to take to on your mission.
You can also add different emotions and mindsets you want to employ as an overall attitude. So with an open heart or Exploring mind. Describe how you want to approach different problems.
What is important to me?
Also, think of what key points of life and your experience is important to you. So you may want to travel a lot or you may want to embrace each new problem with the mindset it will be fixed.
Whatever you find to be an important aspect to your life make sure to note it down. That way you can keep the right attitude and frame of mind when crafting your mission statement.
What image do you want to share?
How do you want to be seen, is another way to look at the question. Maybe you want people to say that you were always happy or positive. Nothing was impossible. So many different directions you can take these questions.
If you don’t want to be seen as a particular way, your mission statement can help with that. You can set the mood for your missions statement. You can be serious or light-hearted. Yet make the feeling it does help you to take you why to heart.
If you become stuck in your thoughts then put on those walking shoes and go stroll. Don’t listen to podcasts or music. Leave yourself with your thoughts. Let them run over your questions till you have answers that you are satisfied with. Then write then answer down or record the answer on your phone and proceed to the next questions.
Keep asking each question until you have all your questions answered. Once that’s done then the crafting of your mission statement starts
Putting Your Mission Statement Together
So now it is time to piece your mission statement together. Using the answers from your questions you asked yourself you can get a statement that resembles the following
I will help people to find their “why” and achieve the personal freedom they desire. Through compassion and humble joy, I can show people the positive life that they desire can be achieved. By example, show people that they can relegate worry and fear to a mear inconvenience that propels them to greater success.
Bryan’s Mission Statement
Use your core values
Remember those core values you created earlier? Those guiding principles now get a chance to shine. Find a way to incorporate those words into your mission statement.
My words were a challenge, as I am sure yours were too. I had used the 400-word list and had dropped it down to 16 words. Still too many for me to really focus on.
My Words were
- Abundance
- Genuine
- Comradery
- Freedom
- Candor
- Adventure
- Compassion
- Humility
- Delight
- Reliability
- Empathy
- Service
- Humor
- Mindful
- Positive
- Awareness
Way too many words. So I needed to whittle those words down a bit more. After lots of thinking while on the road I was able to trim the list down a bit more and found these words
- Freedom
- Compassion
- Humility
- Empathy
- Service
- Humor
- Positive
- Success
One key point to your mission statement is that it is yours. You will see people who say that the statement needs to be short. Yeah, there is some advantage to it being short. You can remember it a lot easier. But as the saying goes brevity is the soul of wit, if you are like me you may not have that much wit about you.
Therefore make the statement as long as you need it to be so that it is meaningful to you.
Also as you read it over and over through the following days if it isn’t ringing true to you as much as it did then alter it and make the needed adjustments you need so that your mission statement ring true to your soul.
If you are still lost and not sure where you go with creating a mission statement then you can use a mission statement generator. There are several out there. Take the mission statement builder from Franklin Covey.
This site will take you through several different questions then it will spit out a starting point. that will help you make your statement. I ran through it and I got the following
I am at my best when I am helping people.
I will try to prevent times when I am dealing with the unexpected.
I will enjoy my work by finding employment where I can guide and encourage others.
I will find enjoyment in my personal life through adventures and travel.
I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts such as Exploring, Inquisitive, Supporting, Cheering others along.
I can do anything I set my mind to. I will take guys outdoors to to to to help them to find their goals and overcome their limiting beliefs by helping them change their mindset.
My life’s journey is a quest to find peace love life and happiness.
I will be a person who My son to stand up and say, “My dad, with my mom standing beside him, fought tooth and nail with me every day to have me realize the true potential my sister and I have. To embrace that potential. grow with that potential. reach the stars because that way you will never have come up with handfuls of mud”.
My most important future contribution to others will be My optimism and enthusiasm for life.
I will stop procrastinating and start working on:
- Realize that fear is only in your mind
- Pressing through discomfort is the shortest way to success
- realize what life truly holds for me and chase after it with all the enthusiasm God has granted me
I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life:
- Gentle, Funny
- zest for life
- Honesty and Humility
I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life:
- Walk daily
- Pray humbly
- Challenge the thought by looking at the other side
- Meet and friend people who are better then I am
As you can see is it a very large layout of all the pints you can make. So this also will help you get started. Take the time and see what you come up with. WHen done share your finished mission statement in the comment section below.
Also if you are having trouble with your mission statement let me know I would enjoy the opportunity to help you get your missions statement created and ready for you to use.
