It is really hard to get anywhere in life if you don’t have some sort of map, a guide or even a sherpa (now that would be an awesome asset in life!). Yet, most of us just float through our lives, fingers crossed, clinging to hope, without a fully formed idea of direction. Don’t feel bad! You are in good company 😉
Interested in taking back a little more control over your destiny and enjoying a life with a little less uncertainty and stress?
I thought so!
Well, let’s start with developing a personal mission statement. Mission statements themselves are fairly simple statements that clarify what you are all about and what you want to do in life. Believe me, this is a way better approach to life that having to answer, “so what do you want to be when you grow up?” Instead, work on answering “who do I want to be in this life and what do I want my life to be like?” Careers can change but a well lived life, that fits you, evolves and sticks around. Careers are only a part of that life.
The following are some questions designed to get your brain in gear for this mission:
- What do you get up each and every morning wanting to do?
- What directs your actions and decisions, especially the impulsive ones?
- What comes easily for you?
- What gives you a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day?
- What do you value in life?
- What skills and talents do you have that you would love to use and build upon in your life?
- What characteristics do you admire in others?
Mission Statement Writing
I just tested out the Personal Mission Statement Builder from Franklin Covey and it is pretty awesome! You are guided through a series of questions that get you thinking. At the end of the guided process you are given a page that describes the following:
- I am at my best when…
- I will try to prevent times when…
- I will enjoy my work by…
- I will find enjoyment in my personal life through…
- I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts such as…
- I can do anything I set my mind to. I will…
- My life’s journey is…
- I will be a person who people remember as…
- My most important future contribution to others will be…
- I will stop procrastinating and start working on…
- I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life…
- I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life…
Try it Yourself! It is pretty cool 🙂
Extra Resources
- Take the VIA Character Survey to discover your best qualities.
- Use my Skills, Characteristics and Values Checklist to help guide you in this process.
My advice to you is take the time to reflect and write your personal mission statement. Know that this is something that will change throughout your life and through various experiences. Try to live your mission each day by choosing to do things that support your mission, that help you grow as a person, even if you “don’t feel like it”. Our lives are filled with a constant stream of choices, so make the best ones possible for your development.
Choose to be the kind of person who is able to say, at the end of this wild ride called life, that “I left no stone unturned”. LIVE BIG…LIVE DEEP. You are capable!
Dr. Heather Drummond, C.Psych.
Psychologist * Passionate Advocate for Flourishing * Human Muddling Through
#EmbraceThisMessyLife