Over the past few years, I have had the privilege of working with several SFL clients to develop their personal mission statements. Personal mission statements set a framework for our life and reflect what success looks like to us. They state what we feel is truly important and define what success looks like to us personally.
A good personal mission statement helps drive our daily decisions. Personal Mission Statements also provide boundaries for us and hold us accountable for our actions.
Here are two examples of personal mission statements:
Oprah Winfrey - To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.”
Richard Branson - “To have fun in (my) journey through life and learn from (my) mistakes.”
To craft your Personal Mission Statement start with where you want to end up. Steven Covey in “The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People”, recommends that we “Start with the end in mind”. If we know where we want to go, we can create a path to reach our goals.
Identify your core values. Core values are values that are important to us and define our essence as a person. Some examples of core values are integrity, loyalty, honesty, dependability, creativity, good humor, optimism, passion, fitness, education and a spirit of adventure.
Look at your past successes and contributions. Successes and contributions can give you a sense of your strengths and where you feel most like you.
Ask yourself, “What does ‘my best’ life look like”. “What do I want to be known for”? What is my legacy? At the end of my life, what do I want people to say about me? How do I want to act to be true to who I am?
Once you have done some soul searching and answered these questions, put your mission statement to paper. Use your own words and keep your mission statement short. Post your mission statement where you can see it, read your statement often and review your personal mission statement at least once a year.