About two years ago, I spent about two days developing my own mission statement. I spent a lot of time over it, looking at myself and what makes me tick along with spending time organising and identifying my own wants and wishes. Some people dismiss it as rubbish, but I have to admit that the time that I took helped me to identify what was important in life – at the time I couldn’t see the wood for the trees. I wrote down my mission statement and signed it, committing myself to it as a contract. I resolved to review it every year, or when something major changed.

It’s now time for the second review, and though I wrote it two years ago, it’s still applicable. Personally, I think that’s great, because I think that I got it right the first time around. Of course I could just be lying to myself… *grin*

So I’ve decided to post it here, so all and sundry can see it. Have a look, see what you think. Hopefully, it might help you sort your own mind out about what’s important in your life right now if you need that. It’ll probably give you a better insight into Me, but don’t read too much into it.

My single sentence mission:

   I will live my life to the full, with passion, honesty, loyalty and love for others; I will be there to provide support to those who need it most; I will do the things that make me and the ones I love happy.

My professional mission statement:

   I will expand into whatever role I choose for myself; I will do my work conscientiously, with care and professionalism and take the initiative; I will be dependable.

My full mission statement:

I will make sure that I make the most of every opportunity that comes my way. I will approach those opportunities with an open mind, with passion and with honesty.

I will stop looking for love, but when it finds me I shall embrace it with all my soul and ensure that I nurture it, and develop and devote myself to the relationship.

I will seek to be there for my friends, family and loved ones when they need me most. I will look to expand and develop my relationships with them. I will ensure that my actions towards them are what I would wish them to do to me.

I will be selfless in my consideration for others, yet all the time being aware of my own needs and wishes. I will seek to develop myself and not forget Me, who I am and who I want to be. I will realise that I can be interdependent with others without losing my identity, and I will revel in that identity. I will find weaknesses in myself and situations, accept them and choose to improve them. I will refrain from building walls, allowing pessimism and criticism to creep in but I will choose to learn from them, not react or hide from them. I will allow my values to guide me, not jealousy or other’s values, competition or wealth. I will not compete, but add to others success.

I will help others in need, on the mountains or off. I will develop my life-preserving skills.

I will take time every day for reflection and to plan my life. I will plan my time according to my core values and ensure that I am timely in everything that I do. I will develop my intelligence and capacity for learning and learn, learn, learn. I will learn from my mistakes.

I will be healthy and fit and lead a clean life. My home will be a place where friends, family, loved ones and guests find comfort, joy, peace and happiness, yet I will seek to create a clean and orderly environment. I will spend time outdoors in environments that I enjoy.

I will manage my finances and debt in a timely manner. I will save for a rainy day. I will keep my desk tidy.

2 Responses to “Mission statement…fluffy shit?”

  1. apel says:

    All those things sound like something a person can live with. I particularly like the bit about keeping cynicism at bay. It tends to poison everything.

    What I’m missing is perhaps a bit of ambition. It all seems very focused on relationships and not much on advancing in your career, earning more money or becoming more financially secure. If you want to live your life with an emphasis on relationships rather than on career and finances, then your mission statement reflects that. That’s good. But if being more financially independent might help you enjoy life more, it might be good if it was reflected in your mission statement.

    Just some food for thought.

  2. taffyboy says:

    Heh, no I have plenty of ambition. It’s partially in my perofessional bit – “I will expand into whatever role I choose for myself…”. I tend to reach higher than I should most of the time. 🙂

    Indeed the whole thing is focused very much on personal. I value money very lowly, other than the fact that it lets me do what I want to do in life. I treat jobs as ways to get cash – if it’s somethign I enjoy, then bonus.

    This is partially historical. Two years ago I took my partner for granted, and got too excited by new work opportunities. Now I’m single. This mission statement was a direct result of the self-appraisal following that event and so it probably reflects a bit of a backlash. However, the fact that I haven’t felt it necessary to change it in two years is perhaps more of an indication that it’s not so much an overreaction to a bad time, but more of a complete paradigm shift in my own little world.

    If I could, I would live without earning money. The fact that modern society prevents me from doing that *and* enjoying what I like doing means I have to do it. Such is life. 🙂