The Leviners

Your personal mission statement!

What is your personal mission statement? Do you have one? My school is studying the 7 Healthy Habits of Highly Successful People and on Monday we looked closely at Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind  (this is the habit of vision). I enjoyed the activity and I thought you would to! I highly recommend completing the activity when you have time to think and reflect (I've just begun part one myself). I am glad I am giving this some thought now instead of later in life!

Think: You're at your 80th birthday party. You are surrounded by those that you hold near and dear. They begin to toast you! What would you want them to say about you? Looking back at your life what do you really want your loved ones and friends to say about you? What kinds of memories do you want them to reflect on and remember about you?

Start with listing 7 roles and relationships in a chart. Beside each role and relationship list exactly what you want that person to say to you/about you at your 80th birthday party. For me it would look this:

Role 1: Spouse
Key Person: Sam  How committed I am (ex of tribute statement; however generic)

Role 2: Mother
Key Person: Caroline    How devoted I am (ex of tribute statement; however generic)

Some other roles inlcude: Daughter, Aunt, Educator, Friend, and Sister (you get the idea)

Next: On a seperate sheet of paper write one thing you could do to make that tribute statement a reality for each role that you listed above (I didn't thoroughly finish this part (nor the 1st part) so I have half of an example to share).

Role 1: More hugs, date night, (etc)

After you finish that part move on to reflecting on those who have influenced you (you can only list 4).

Example:
Name: Grandmother
Attributes: loving, patient, outgoing, funny, devoted to family (etc)

Last ask yourself these questions and freewrite for 10 to 15 minutes on them. Literally just write away!

What do I consider to be my most important future contribution to others?

Are there things I feel I should really do, even though I may have dismissed such thoughts many times?

What are they?

I am best when..

I am worst when...

What do I really love to do at work? Why?

What do I really love to do in my personal life? Why?

My natural talent and gifts are:

If I had unlimited time and resources, what would I choose to do?

Possible life goals are...

I want to be a person who...

After much thought and consideration about your life and your goals, you can write your personal mission statement. A personal mission statement is like a constitution by which you make all decisions for your life. Highly effective people shape their own furture instead of letting other people, their culture, or their circumstances determine it. It's your purpose and meaning in life.

Benefits of a personal mission statement:
Clarifies what is important to you.
Provides focus.
Helps you design your life instead of having it designed for you.
Guides your day to day decisions.
Gives you a greater sense of meaning and purpose.

If you do this activity or blog about it, share your comments and leave your blog link! Hopefully I can complete my mission statement and share it soon!