Do you tear up when you think about being held hostage to uncertainty? Does the wheel in the sky keep on turning, making you feel as though you are merely a hamster on a wheel, running hard but going nowhere?
Then it’s time to design your personal mission statement.
Your personal mission statement is like a personal GPS. Can you imagine getting in the car and driving without knowing where you are going? You need a destination, and you need directions. Without them, you don’t know where you’ll end up.
Instead of tearing up with boredom or purposelessness, you’ll have tears of joy when you realize you’re living life from the core of your being. With clarity comes freedom!
Here’s how to write a personal mission statement.
Gather Your Raw Data
1. Build in one hour a week
This is vital business. Make a an appointment for yourself. Look at your calendar for the next week, and block out one hour a week for the next four weeks.
Or a half hour. Or even 15 minutes.
The important thing is to get started.
2. Write Down Your Ideal Day
3. Use the 3 Goal Development Questions To Tap Into Your Deepest Desires for a Meaningful Life
4. Go through the 7 Step Process For Discovering and Living Your Purpose
Write Your Personal Mission Statement
With all the data you have gathered from the four exercises above, write some rough drafts of your mission statement, phrasing it so that it directly or indirectly answers the following questions:
- What do you do? (What)
- How do you do it? (How?)
- Whom are you serving? (Who?)
- Why are you doing it? (Why?)
- What’s different? (Uniqueness)
Personal Mission Statement Examples
I’ve included some mission statements from people I admire:
Cliff Ravenscraft from the Podcast Answer Man
My mission is to dedicate my life to Entertaining, Educating, Encouraging, and Inspiring Others! To share my passions and experiences in life in an authentic and transparent way that inspires others to make positive changes in their lives. I want to be known as a follower of Jesus who authentically attempts to live out my faith (though I may fail miserably at times) in a way that engages popular culture without turning others off. I want to always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that I have and to be ready to do so with gentleness and respect.
Celestine Chua from the Personal Excellence Blog
- “To touch others’ lives, help them achieve their highest potential and live their best lives”
- “To achieve my highest potential and live consciously and freely in truth, love and power”
Here’s my current personal mission statement:
I inspire children and Gen X fathers, particularly on the autism spectrum, reach their full relational and career potential by a) connecting deeply with them in empathy and humor; and b) providing innovative solutions rooted in my writing, speaking, teaching, research, and learning from a Christian world view.
Personal Mission Statement Articles and Templates
Barrie Davenport, life coach, has written a great article: Do You Have a Mission Statement?
Dr. Randall Hansen shares The Five Step Plan for Creating Personal Mission Statements
Dumb Little Man provides some great insights in this article: Should You Write a Personal Mission Statement?
And Celestine Chua tells you how to Discover Your Life Purpose In the Next 30 Minutes
Finally, here are some templates for Personal Mission Statement Writing
What is your personal mission statement? Has it made a difference in your life? I’d love to hear about it!
I never thought about writing a personal statement. I guess I can try this out. Thank you for the great tips Stephen!
Glori recently posted…Small Talk Your Way Out of Awkward Silences: 8 Practical Ways to Do It
Glori, I hope you’ll share your personal mission statement with us! Thanks for the encouragement. 🙂
Interesting thing to think about. In this clutter in which we live nowadays, I guess that it is just logical enough to have some clear sense of direction, something that is there to remind us from time to time, as we tend to forget our priorities. Or should I say we are forced to forget, by being so easily distracted.
This may give us the thing we are looking for when it comes to stuff like that.
I used to practice something quite similar to this some time ago, and only looking back in retrospect I can see that during those periods I was far more productive, with a more clear sense of purpose.
You’re right, Slavko. For example, in our blogging or internet business efforts, if we don’t have a clear idea of Who we are, Who we are writing to, our Purpose, Vision, and Mission, then it’s like trying to shoot at a target that we don’t even know exists….with buckshot! Compare that to a sharpshooter who has a clear target and a good sighting mechanism on her gun: she’ll be a lot more successful in hitting her target.
Hi Stephen,
Great post! I love personal development post because no matter what they will encourage the reader in a positive way. I will also read the posts that you are linking here in the near future.
Sylviane Nuccio recently posted…How To Break The Victim Mentality
Thank you, Sylviane, and welcome to the Personal Success Factors community!
I think the mission statement is a critical point in the development of your own business plan and direction. Once you have clear direction for your business, your daily operations will take shape and you can more readily take the actions you need to succeed.
All of this begins with a well-drafted mission statement, so thanks for the guidance here, Stephen.
David Merrill recently posted…The Continuity Product | Internet Marketing’s Holy Grail
David, I’m guessing you’ve already written your personal and business mission statements a while back. Have you ever gone back and revised them based on changes you’ve experienced in your own life? Just curious.
Hi Stephen, having a mission in life is of fundamental importance, it gives you a goal and the motivation to accomplish it. We might believe that we have some kind of mission but without writing it on paper it’s just a though which can easily change, thanks for sharing…
Kostas recently posted…Improving Productivity – Managing your Workload
Kostas, thank you for the comment 🙂 You’re so correct about writing our mission statement down on paper: it makes a real difference.
Stephen,
You’ve simplified creating the mission statement by asking the 5 questions: What do you do? (What),
How do you do it? (How?), Whom are you serving? (Who?), Why are you doing it? (Why?), What’s different? (Uniqueness).
Answering these questions, from your heart, will get you to a true view of yourself. I have several pieces already from my studies with The Passion Test. I’ll add the rest in the coming days.
Thanks for this post. Informative and action calling.
RICK
Rick Lelchuk recently posted…Why Know Your WHY?
Rich, thank you for commenting. And I can see the title of your latest post speaks to this subject perfectly. Now pardon me while I make my way over to your blog 🙂
Hi Stephen,
Having a personal mission statement is so important. You need to take the time to dig deep inside and write that list!
It is part of a training I went through and it does work. Sometimes we think of things and those thoughts go into space somewhere. Writing it down helps so much. When I went through this kind of training, I realized so much more that I wanted to do.
Also, I appreciate all the links you have given. I love when there are resource links.
Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted…Why Is Building Relationships Super Important?
Donna, thank you very much for stopping by. How long has it been since you went through your training? I encourage you to go back and reflect on whether your mission has changed at all. We change over time, so it’s a good idea to review our mission statements on a regular basis: quarterly, twice a year, or at the very least once a year.
Hey Stephen
I am a strong believer that everyone should take the time and write their mission statement.
And you laid out a great way to create one.
Thanks..
Peter Fuller MBA recently posted…What You Are Doing Today Will Affect Your Retirement Freedom
Peter, I would love to read your current personal mission statement. I always enjoy your take on business and life.
I agree Stephen, a personal mission statement gives you a sense of direction. Keeping your personal mission statement up to date is also important.
I remember many years ago, while working in the mortgage lending industry, the company I was working for flew me out to Atlanta for 2 weeks. There I was enrolled in a personal development program called XINIX. It was an amazing opportunity to really learn about myself and what direction I wanted to go in life. By the end of this program, we all had our personal and business mission statements. From that day forward, I have always enjoyed referring back to my mission statements making sure they still reflect the direction I am taking.
So thank you for sharing your tips on what I think is something everyone should take some time to experience.
Lynn Brown recently posted…Best 4 Blogging Tips for Small Business Owners
Lynn, what a great opportunity! Have you considered re-writing your mission statement since then? I ask because I know that we change, as do our life circumstances and values, over time.
Actually Stephen I review my business plan and mission statement right after the New Year. I get all reved up when the new year hits. So it is a great time for me to reflect on the past year and think about the coming year. Then, if necessary, I will make changes to my mission statement and/or business plan. Thank you for asking!
Lynn Brown recently posted…Leverage Your Business With The Top Social Network Sites
Great to hear, Lynn. Thank you for sharing 🙂
I love the thought that a mission statement will help you keep on track! I’m going to write one now – thanks for sharing this resource rich post.
A personal mission statement is very important. You have done a great job putting together a guideline for creating your mission statement.
Melodie Kantner recently posted…Rev Up Abundance Energy – WHY – Your Network Marketing Mission
Thank you, Melodie!
Great post, Stephen! I think that the think that is even more interesting about the world of personal mission statements is the way that it kind of feels like looking at the pieces of a puzzle. In some ways, it seems like we know part of the picture, and watching how our mission statement evolves over time says a lot about what we have learned about ourselves and our role in life.
Steve Nicholas recently posted…What if You Keep Living?
Great point, Steve, about watching our mission statement over time. It’s key to making sure we’re living life in line with what we truly value.
Aloha Stephen, Amen to you and what an inspirational post. It’s a tough world out there and encouragement like this to set others on track is a valuable thought. I believe if everyone can stay aligned to what their purpose is, it would be a better world. Because we would have time to up lift others in who need the extra push, rather than focusing on non-productive issues.
So glad I came by. Mahalo, Lani 🙂
Lani – Aloha recently posted…Get Indexed By Google With The Use Of Sitemaps
Lani, thank you very much! I appreciate your encouragement and input.
Stephen,
That is a great idea to have a personal mission statement. I will have to create one. I like the idea of just completely defining my purpose. Awesome!
Andy
Andy Nathan recently posted…Social Networking Minute: Install WordPress Plugins
Andy, thank you very much. I hope you can share your purpose with me once you’ve completed it!
Hi Stephen,
beautiful and powerful post as always.
I totally agree about saying that our mission statement is like a GPS.
It’s like knowing what our genius zone is.
Once we know it and we are aware of it we realize the infinite possibilities we have to express it in all areas of our lives;)
Your guideline is useful for all the people that spin their wheels without knowing why.
patricia recently posted…Definition of Insanity
Great post Stephen. This information is great and definitely can use this to help me. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day.
Michael Levy recently posted…Reading is an Investment of our Time
Thank you, Michael!
Writing your own mission statement is your road map. It gives you a clear picture of what you want to accomplish in life. It can also show you how to accomplish these goals of yours. Let us all start on our mission statements. Thanks Stephen!