How to Create a Personal Mission Statement
Because it is easy to lose sight of why we do what we do as we progress through our professional lives, it is critical to have an anchor, such as a mission statement, to assist us when darkness settles and we become disoriented. This is extremely crucial for entrepreneurs and individuals who operate businesses, but it is applicable to almost anybody. It is surprisingly easy to create a personal mission statement, and in this article I hope to show you how to do just that.
When it comes to high-performing teams, one of the most important components of success is recognizing and understanding the motivations of each member. Often, the failure of underperforming teams is a failure to recognize and comprehend what motivates the team, both collectively and individually. Overall team performance can be improved by using clear, concise, and genuine mission statements, which in turn allows more individuals to fulfill their personal goals. Isn’t that something worth looking into further?
What is a personal mission statement?
When it comes to your personal mission statement, it defines your identity (as an individual or as a part of a work team) as well as your purpose, whether it is personal or professional in nature. It discusses how you intend to go about achieving your goal and why it is so important to you.
Dan Miller, author and career coach, believes that a successful mission statement should have the following three elements:
- Your knowledge, skills, and abilities (what you like to do)
- Your personal characteristics (how you operate)
- Your personal beliefs, aspirations, and desires (why you want to excel)
That’s all there is to it! It should be no more than one or two sentences in length, and it should state, in plain English, just what you stand for, without any tacked-on principles.
How to write your personal mission statement?
Prior to attempting to develop your mission statement, consider your requirements, values, and interests. One method is to jot down keywords on sticky notes and think them over for several days. Occasionally, messages such as your mission statement come to you while driving or showering. Make a point of writing down your thoughts whenever you get a flash of insight.
The following are some actions you may take to assist you in developing your mission statement:
- Consider the words that best define you. – Examples include teacher, learner, strategist, and farmer — or any other term that describes you.
- Add verbs that describe how you prefer to be in the world. – For instance, perhaps you enjoy educating, inspiring, selling, or running.
- Include your vision of a perfect world. – This image may be generated from your vision statement, which I discuss in further detail in the following section. Examples include “I see a future in which everyone has the opportunity to use their abilities to meaningful employment,” “I wish for a world in which no one goes hungry,” and “A place where everyone has enough money.”
- Combination of these three components. – You’ve created a mission statement.
Why creating a personal mission statement is important
Whether you are a stay-at-home mom, a retail manager, a college student, a company leader, or a truck driver, developing a personal mission statement will benefit you throughout your life. Each and every person should have one!
It’s critical because it assists you in focusing on how to accomplish your long-term goals. It acts as a guidepost for the direction you wish to go in life. Writing a mission statement is inexpensive, but the reward is enormous because—simply put—it works!
This is because a personal purpose statement prevents you from being disoriented. For example, if the option you’re considering does not fit within the limits of your personal mission statement, you should reconsider. While something may be an interesting concept, that does not imply you must incorporate it into your life.
According to Dave Ramsey, a strong mission statement serves as a boundary for your thoughts. If your love is being outdoors, is it really prudent to spend your entire career cooped up in an office? Maintain a sense of reality and avoid setting yourself up for failure.
Individuals fall short of their goals and objectives due to a lack of clarity and focus. They take too many detours and lose track of who they were created to be. That is to say, they disregard their personal mission statement. However, a successful individual will have a strong vision articulated in their personal mission statement.
If you do not yet have a personal mission statement, now is the time to create one.
Personal Mission Statement Examples
- You can use your previous acheivements and include the following:
- Developing new product features for a stagnant product;
- Assembling a team to create a new positioning statement for the product;
- Assisting a child’s school with a wildly successful fundraiser; and
- Increasing turnout for the opening of a new local theater company.
- Contributions to the world at large – produce goods and services that assist individuals in achieving their life goals. To make a long-lasting difference in how individuals live their lives.
- My family: to be a role model in terms of personal viewpoint, compassion for others, and adherence to an ethical code; to be a good father and husband; and to leave a better world for my children and their children.
- My company or prospective employers: to set an example and illustrate how innovative and issue-solving solutions may be effective in terms of both fixing a problem and generating income for the business.
- My friends: to always provide a helping hand to my pals and to let them know they can come to me with any problems.
- My community: to utilize my abilities in a way that benefits my community.
- Short-term: To continue my career with a progressive employer that allows me to leverage my abilities, talents, and values to help the company succeed.
- Long-term: To find more channels for my abilities and to devise a strategy for broadening my life and achieving career and personal success.
In this article you learned how to create a personal mission statement. I hope you use your statement to benefit your professional career!
Matthew J Fitzgerald is an experienced DevOps engineer, Company Founder, Author, and Programmer. He Founded Fitzgerald Tech Solutions and several other startups. He enjoys playing in his homelab, gardening, playing the drums, rooting for Chicago and Purdue sports, and hanging out with friends.