Write a Personal Mission Statement

There are many different ways to write a personal mission statement. Despite this there are also some commonalities and good guidelines you can follow when writing your own. Writing your own personal mission statement will give you a clear view of your goals, values, and relationships. Grab a pen and paper and let's get started.

Steps

Getting Started

  1. Understand the benefits of writing your personal mission statement. Writing a personal mission statement can help you in many ways such as learning more about yourself, expressing your goals clearly, and becoming the person you want to be.
    • Learn more about yourself. When you sit down to create your own mission statement it will force you to examine yourself in more detail than usual. You will need to learn just what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve it.[1]
    • Express and understand your goals clearly. You might have a broad understanding of what you want to achieve in life, but it may be difficult to put that understanding into precise words. Examining your goals will allow you to focus them into clear and concise statements.[2]
    • Knowing your goals will help you to achieve them more easily.
    • Relate your goals and how to achieve them to your values and beliefs.
    • Make your statement a way of life. Creating a personal mission statement will allow you to start living your goals and values. After clarifying and focusing your ideals and life direction you will be able to work your mission statement into everything you do.[1]
    • Don't just settle for writing your statement on paper.
    • Always strive to live in accordance with your values and beliefs.
  2. Imagine who you want to be. The first main step in writing your personal mission statement will be to imagine exactly who you want to become. Examine the qualities you want to obtain, the relationships you want to have, and the way of life that you want to live.
    • Find a person you admire. Examine that person that you most admire. Discover the qualities in them that you find so admirable. List those qualities and think about how you could best bring them into your own life.[2]
    • Try to make this list as detailed as you can.
    • Start practicing these qualities from you list in your daily life.
    • Imagine who you want to be. Try to picture exactly who it is you want to become. Envision the details of your accomplishments, your personality, or any future you may want to find yourself living in.[1]
    • For now, forget about how you will achieve this.
    • Focus only on what you want to achieve.
    • Think of the roles you play. Examine your relationships to friends, family, career, hobbies, or other areas of your life. Think about how you would want to be described in these relationships.[3]
    • Understand your roles and what you want from them.
  3. Start discovering you. Writing your personal mission statement isn't directly about laying out a path to your future. The main function of your statement will be to help you better know yourself. [1]
    • The personal mission statement is focused on self-discovery, rather than creation.
    • Your mission statement should be written only to inspire you, not to impress another person.
    • Knowing yourself will help you to relate to and engage with the world at large.

Developing Your Mission Statement

  1. Answer life questions with your statement. Your mission statement should answer questions about your life and how you desire to live it. By answering these questions, you will be able to live your life in a more focused and aware manner. Some of the most common questions your mission statement should answer are:[3]
    • What do I want from life?
    • What are my values?
    • What do I excel at?
    • What do I hope to accomplish?
    • How do I want to be remembered?
  2. Understand your beliefs. When you create your mission statement, you will want to list your beliefs. Think about them until they become as clear as they can. Knowing your own beliefs will help you fully understand your own unique approach to life.[2]
    • Clarify your beliefs on a broad level first. Ask yourself the big questions:
      • How should I treat people?
      • How would I like to be treated?
      • What do I want the world I live in to be like?
      • What do the words Justice, Truth, Love, etc, mean to me?
    • Work to apply the broad beliefs to more focused issues. Think of detailed situations and how your beliefs would be applied. For example:
      • If someone is treating me poorly, how will I respond?
      • What should I do if someone asks something of me that goes against my beliefs?
      • What profession would be allow me to practice my beliefs?
  3. Focus on the roles you play. Your mission statement will provide a great approach to life in general. To apply it effectively you may want to examine how your roles in life relate to you mission statement.[1]
    • For instance, think of your professional role. Where do you want to be, professionally, in a few years time? What responsibilities do you see that role requiring of you? What attitudes or practices have you found to work best for you in your profession?
    • Understanding each role will help us to balance our focus on the roles that most need it.
    • Once you have your mission statement, apply it to your roles and relationships directly.
  4. Create goals. Continue to focus your statement by adding goals to the various roles you play. Goals are the most specific level of your mission statement. Think of them as applying your general beliefs and values to very specific tasks and deadlines.[2]
    • Some examples of a goal would be, “I want an increase of five percent in my salary within six months” or “By next year, I want to lose twenty pounds”
    • Goals are the foundation of our roles and mission.
    • Goals have deadlines and very specific details.
    • Goals allow us to fulfill our roles and realize our mission statement.
  5. Start living your mission statement. Once you have an idea of what you mission statement is shaping up to be, start living it. See how it works for you and if you are able or still willing to achieve your goals and directions you originally set..[1]
    • Examine your actions and check that they are in accordance with your own beliefs, goals, and values.
    • Ask yourself if your goals are realistic for you. You may have to change details of your goals, for example, moving a deadline to a more reasonable time.
    • After you have a good understanding of yourself, goals, and mission statement, it's time to start writing it.

Writing Your Mission Statement

  1. Create a draft of your personal mission statement. Don't worry about how rough it may be, even if it is just a list of qualities and ideas. Carry it with you and work on it when you feel inspired.[1]
    • Your draft should contain at least a rough outline and include the following information:
      • Your name.
      • Your overall statement.
      • Who inspires you and why.
      • What qualities you want to obtain.
      • What roles you play and how you want to be known for those roles.
      • Specific goals you have.
      • Beliefs that you hold.
      • Anything else you might want to focus on.
    • Evaluate how well you feel your first draft matches your values and actions.
    • Feel free to add or remove ideas or parts of your first draft.
  2. Lay out your final draft. Once you have worked with your first draft for a while, evaluating and adjusting it, it's time to lay out your information to create the final draft. While there is no one correct layout for your final draft, there are many examples:[3]
    • Benjamin Franklin opted for a list of concepts and then wrote his thoughts about each to form his mission statement. “Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation. Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve...”[4]
    • Gandhi wrote his mission statement using active phrases such as “I will” or “I shall. “...I shall not bear ill will toward anyone. I shall not submit to injustice from anyone. I shall conquer untruth by truth...”[5]
    • Your actual mission statement could be no longer than a paragraph. Aim to capture everything from your goals, to your beliefs and values. An example would be “I am a responsible student who values and practices hard work and rigorous study. I will achieve and maintain a 4.0 GPA during my time of study. I will graduate with honors by December this year.”
  3. Write a final draft. Once you start to better understand you goals and how they can be best expressed in your statement, you can create a final draft. Keep this draft with you and refer to it often.[1]
    • Compare your actions to your statement to make sure you are living as you intend.
    • Work your mission statement into every area of your life that you can.
    • Check to make sure you are meeting your goals in a way that is in line with your own self.
    • Add or remove whatever parts you see fit.
    • Find a format and style that suits your own personality best. Don't be afraid to make your own, as this is your personal mission statement.
  4. Review your statement periodically. Your views and goals may change over time and it's important to have a mission statement that is still in tune with yourself. Review your mission statement to make sure that you and the statement are always aligned with one another.[6]
    • Don't be afraid to change any part of your mission statement.
    • Examine any changes with the same scrutiny that you did when first making your statement.

Tips

  • Take your time when crafting your mission statement.
  • Relax and don't try to force any part of the process.
  • The statement is about self-discovery, not so much about self-creation.
  • Focus on yourself and what you want to achieve, not what you think others want for you.



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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Leadership/mission.htm
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 www.utsa.edu/mbrs/resources/courses/rescar/MissionStatement.ppt
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 http://wvde.state.wv.us/insite/files/Developing%20Your%20Own%20Personal%20Mission%20Statement.pdf
  4. ↑ http://msb.franklincovey.com/inspired/franklin
  5. ↑ http://msb.franklincovey.com/inspired/gandhi
  6. ↑ http://www.usgs.gov/humancapital/ecd/ecd_missionbldr.html
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