If you are considering starting with a fresh, shiny YOU this year, may I make a simple but very powerful suggestion: Create a strong personal Mission Statement that will help you to discover or consolidate your true purpose in life.
We tend concern ourselves with micro changes that we want to make in the New Year, such as giving up sugar, or exercising like a crazy person everyday, but we need to address the big picture first, because without a powerful personal mission statement, you will likely take a lot of wrong turnings as the week goes by. A personal mission statement will help you to get really clear about who you are, and what you want to do with your life, based on your specific values.
Just as every successful brand has a clear mission statement, every successful person I know has one too. I when I say “successful”, I don’t necessarily mean the CEO of a giant company. “Success” can mean different things to different people, but the key is that you determine what success looks like for you. It might be that you start working for a animal rescue shelter, it might be that you create a company that gives back in some significant way, it might be that you decide to give up your job and become a full-time Mom, or it might be that you plan to take your company to the next new level. Only you can figure out what it’s going to take for you to feel fulfilled.
How to Create A Personal Mission Statement:
- Grab a notepad and get ready to write down your stream-of-conscious thoughts. This means that you write a the following questions at the top of the sheet, and set your timer for 2 minutes per topic. Then you don’t allow your pen to stop until timer goes off. Topics: I care about…, My top 3 values are…, I’m passionate about…, I want my legacy to be…
- Read over the pages that you’ve written and extrapolate (use a highlighter) the sentences you wrote, which really resonate with you. For me, it was sentences like: “I’m passionate about helping even one person a day to make healthier lifestyle choices”.
- Whittle your mission statement down to one sentence. You might find it useful to look at this Fast Company article to see the one-sentence mission statements of 5 uber successful CEO’s.
- Once you have your one or two-sentence statement, write it on a piece of paper, and stick it to your fridge. When you’re sipping your morning smoothie, read it out loud. This will remind you what you are on this Earth to do.
