In your quest for personal growth and development, you may find yourself struggling to decide on what direction to take and what to focus on as there are so many options out there. This is especially the case if you don’t have any particular areas in your life that you need to work on immediately, but you want to continue that process of sustained growth as an individual. This is where a personal mission statement comes in handy as it can help you create a guide of what you want to work towards and chip at it slowly. It can also help you figure out some of the self-care routines you may need to incorporate into your life.
But I digress…
A personal mission statement, simply put, is a manifesto that details everything you would like to do and achieve in life. This also includes a detailed description of the person you’d like to be, your ideal self. Or you can think of it like an economics statement…if I practice self-care daily, ceteris paribus, I’ll be able to appreciate more of the people and things I already have in my life. I hope that makes sense. It is from your personal mission statement that your short and long-term goals are born as they fit into the bigger picture.
So how do you go about writing a personal mission statement?
Give yourself permission to dream. This is the time to jot down the type of person you want to be – your ideal self so to speak. It might be helpful to think about the qualities and values you admire in others that you want to have. Also look at what you currently have and your values, do they already reflect the kind of person you want to be? Unless you have a list hidden away, this will take some time so don’t rush the process.
Think of how you would like others to describe you. As a mother/father, husband/wife/partner, friend (etc.), how would you like people to describe you? What are the memories you want them to have of you? Do you want to be remembered as a person with integrity, full of compassion, hardworking? All of these elements play a role in what your mission statement ends up looking like as you are multi-dimensional.
Your drive. Think about what makes you tick, and what pushes you to get out of bed in the morning. Instead of saying you get out of bed to pay the bills, look at it from the perspective of the value-add of that action. You might be getting out of bed to pay the bills, but it’s really driven by your need to create a healthy environment for yourself and your children. So spend some time thinking about the value-add of the actions that drive you.
The things you enjoy. What are those activities that bring you joy? It could be reading, painting, coaching a football/soccer team. You want to incorporate the things that bring you joy in your personal mission statement as they give your life meaning and add energy that you can’t get from caffeine. If you’re not doing anything that brings you joy at the moment, this is your chance to think of what those things might be.
Define your goals. Based on the first four statements, what are some of the short and long-term goals that can bring you closer to the things you’d like to achieve in life? Write them down and remember that your goals have to be S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, achievable, results driven and time-based).
Write down your mission statement. This is where the fun begins. Design your mission statement based on the five pointers above. I would say keep it short, write it in the first person and use positive statements. Once you’re done writing this, it would be your guide for any actions you look to take, and future goals you set for yourself. It’ll also serve as a great tool when you review your year/month. As you grow, you can always revise your personal mission statement to suit.
Thought provoking.
Working on it