Getting started on your mission statement

 

 

For those of you who haven’t yet written your mission statement or find it difficult how to get started, here are a few easy methods to help you get started writing your own mission statement. You may want to try one of them or combine all of them in any way you see fit.

 

Method #1: The Quote Selection. Collect one to five of your very favorite quotes on to one sheet of paper. The sum of these quotes then becomes your mission statement. For some, great quotes are very inspiring, and this method works well for them.

 

Method #2: The Brain Dump. Speed write about your mission for 15mins. Don’t worry about what’s coming out. Don’t edit what you are writing. Just keep writing and don’t stop writing. Get all of your ideas down on paper. If you get stuck, get your imagination on gear and realize your individual values. When your brain has been sufficiently purged, take another 15mins to edit, arrange and make sense of your brain dump.

The result is that in just 30mins you’ll have a rough draft of your mission statement. Then over the next several weeks you can revise it, add to it, clarify it, or do whatever else you need to make it inspire you.

 

Method #3: The Retreat. Plan a large chunk of time, like an entire afternoon, and go to a place you adore and where you can be alone. Think deeply about your life and what you want to make of it. Discover your driving values. Take your time and construct your own mission statement using any method you see fit.

 

Method #4: The Big Lazy. If you’re really lazy, use the motto of  F.C.C “by love serve one another” as your personal mission statement. (Hey, I’m only joking)

 

A big mistake we make when writing a mission statement is that we spend so much time thinking about making it perfect that we never get started. We are much better off writing an imperfect rough draft and then improving it later.

Another big mistake is that we try to make our mission statements look like everyone else’s. That doesn’t work. Mission statements come in many forms; a poem, a song, a quote, a picture, many words, a single word, a collection of magazine pictures. There is no single right way to do it. You’re not writing it for anyone else but you. You’re not writing it for your English teacher and it’s not going to be graded by anyone. It is your secret document. So make it sing! The most important question to ask yourself is, “Does it inspire me?” If you can answer yes, you did it right.

Once you’ve it written, put it in a place where you can easily access it, like inside your journal or on your mirror. Or you could reduce it, laminate it, and put it in your purse or wallet. Then refer to it often, or even better, memorize it.

 

Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens