Building a Personal Mission Statement

One of the most fundamental parts of business is a mission statement. Oftentimes, mission statements are built before the business is even off the ground.

Why? Because it give a sense of direction.

It is meant to be a timeless sense of purpose given to the organization. For instance, when I worked at Pespi, is was, “We sell soda.” And thats we did.

I sold soda by the pallets.

Why, then, has it never occurred to me that individuals need mission statements as well? I have a purpose. Or at least I think I do. Companies that hire me to consult usually don’t like to throw away money, so I think it’s about time that I know exactly what I have to offer!

The Personal Mission Statement

A personal mission statement is a concise statement of your purpose in life. This can be in the context of your profession, you personally or a mixture of both. The key is it has to be unique to you. It also has to be broad enough that it will fit in a lot of different situations, for many years to come.

Your personal mission statement is going to be what you hold everything up to like a new job offer, a new consulting gig, or a new car. It is going to be made up of all the core values that make up who you are.

The Value of a Personal Mission Statement

1. It will force you to evaluate you life, your purpose, and what is important to you.
2. It makes you identify you values and goals.
3. It makes your values and purposes real, so that they are always top-of-mind.
4. Integrating it into your weekly planning gives you a clear sense or purpose on a day to day basis.

Identifying Aspects of your Personal Mission Statement

One of the hardest things for a lot of people to do is be real with themselves. Getting down to our core values is terribly hard, especially if we are easily affected by other people.

For me, I used to be a terrible introvert. I didn’t like getting in front of people or expressing my opinion in the least. That is mostly gone away now, thanks to speaking engagements I forced myself to set up and this site (outward expression). But a year ago, that introvertedness would have affected my personal mission statement.

When you are thinking about the different aspects of your Personal Mission Statement, take these into consideration:

• Identify your core values… What makes you, you.
• Figure out who you want to become, not just what you want to do. If you’re like me, you will quickly see you don’t ever want to grow up.
• Identify a couple influential people in your life. Why were they influential? List some of their qualities.
• Define your life roles – mother, father, husband, wife, executive, worker, fabricator, etc.
• Think about these things:
  • I am best when…
  • I am worst when…
  • I am truly happy when…
  • I am really good at…
  • I really suck at…
  • Goals for me are…

After that little brainstorming session, we move on to the putting it all together.

Draft your Personal Mission Statement

The last couple steps are the easy part. Since you have identified your roles, your values, and so on… All that’s left is to sit down and write!

Use the your normal writing style, and make sure you do a draft, working copy, and final copy. Also, try to make it as short as possible, without leaving anything out.

If it’s a page long, you still don’t know what it is you are after.

Summary

I have read a lot recently discussing personal mission statements in books like 7 Habits and Never Eat Alone. Since I developed mine, I have found how easy it is to become relying on it to make decisions and predictions about where I am going in my life.

My Personal Mission Statement is as follows:

I commit to consistently learn, grow, and assist others while empowering ideas that lead to success for myself, my family, my clients, and my associates.

There is a great white paper detailing all the steps required to develop a personal mission statement at rochestermnchamber.com

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