Creating Your Personal Mission Statement

It’s the start of a New Year, which means countless New Year’s resolutions will be made. How many people actually follow through with their New Year’s resolutions? Can you even remember what your New Year’s resolution was last year? Many people begin pursuing their resolution vigorously in the beginning, but eventually flame out because other stuff just gets in the way. What they’re missing is their very own ‘personal mission statement’.

In our business we help executives to better manage what’s happening so they can achieve their long term goals. When we first engage with them we always start by asking what their company’s mission statement is; to help us (and them) understand where they are going. Unfortunately there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about what a mission statement is for. The function of a company mission statement is to state what the purpose of the business is – why it exists. We’ve seen a variety of ill-conceived mission statements – from none at all to multiple paragraphs describing what they are going to achieve and how they are going to do it. An effective mission statement is meant to be timeless, easily understood and inspiring. Examples of good mission statements:

• Merck – To preserve and improve human life
• Disney – To make people happy
• Cargill – To improve the standard of living around the world

A mission statement is the foundation by which all goal setting and planning should be based. So now think about your own personal goals in life and try and find a theme. It’s not easy! In fact, the more challenging this exercise the greater your need for a personal mission statement. Think about what makes you happy and fulfilled in life. I’m sure ‘get rich’ hopped into many peoples’ minds. But ‘get rich’ is a goal, not a mission statement. If you received $100 million tomorrow you would be rich, so what would you do next? …Race cars? Travel? Philanthropy? Creating your personal mission statement might take some incremental steps in order to uncover what your real purpose in life is.

Don’t set goals (including New Year’s resolutions) until you have created your personal mission statement. Otherwise you might be setting goals that really aren’t going to fulfill you. Once you have your personal mission statement you have a powerful decision making tool – every decision, large or small, can be weighed against your personal mission statement. Do I get a hamburger or a salad? Do I borrow money to pay for it or save up?

You can truly have a Happy New Year by creating a personal mission statement – the basis to really fulfill yourself. Happy New Year!