Why do most people give up on their dreams and settle for a mediocre life?
It’s not because they don’t have the discipline or that they’re lazy.
The reason why most people procrastinate or give up after failing once is that they lack a clear motivation behind their actions.
That’s what a personal mission statement can do for you.
A written statement clarifies your direction in life. It helps you to get moving with a sense of purpose. And it’s a great way to overcome many obstacles like procrastination.
It has been a very valuable tool in my life.
Because even after I became self-aware, I still felt stuck in a study that would end up in a job that I would hate.
But how do you get out of this without an alternative option?
You don’t.
Having a clear mission changes that.
After my experience, I would argue that it’s better to move in the wrong direction rather than not moving at all. Because sitting still isn’t going to help you figure it out.
So, in what direction is your life moving right now?
It’s up to you to write a powerful personal mission statement for you.
Because when you do, you get clarity. You get a sense of direction. And if your mission is big and bold, you’ll feel motivated too.
That’s how you escape from mediocrity.
That’s how you gain a sense of purpose in your life.
So let’s start!
What is a Personal Mission Statement
A personal mission statement is a one- or two-liner that lays out your biggest mission in life. This statement gives you direction, helps you to overcome procrastination, and reduce indecision.
Your mission is your big reason for living. It’s what inspires you to get out of bed and take action.
It’s what brings purpose to your life.
A personal mission statement is not a declaration of how you’re going to do it. Instead, a great mission is so big that you’ve no clue how to make it happen.
Think about the Wright brothers who wanted to be the first to fly, but had little money and were competing against the much richer Samuel Langley.
And what about Abraham Lincoln’s mission to fight for his belief that all men are equal?
And finally, think about Elon Musk’s mission to colonize other planets in our galaxy.
BIG missions.
What I’m trying to say here is not that your mission should be a world revolutionary idea, although it could.
Instead, it’s about having a mission that’s big enough to inspire you.
Why is a Mission Statement Important?
Every great business in the world understands that having a clear vision is a crucial element to success. It’s what binds the team together. It’s what creates culture.
Look at Apple.
Apple didn’t become big because they decided to sell overpriced phones. Apple became big because it had a clear vision: to challenge the status quo. And it’s what created their culture.
To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind.
– Steve Jobs
How does Apple’s culture teach you anything about having a personal mission?
Apple got a clear vision of what they stand for. This gave them a clear direction and fuels the actions that drive the company forward.
And that’s what a personal mission statement will do for you too.
Because you’ll have times where you feel unmotivated. There are times that you can’t get out of bed and watch Netflix all day.
We all do.
But it’s those with a strong purpose who get back on their feet faster. And how fast you get back on your feet is the game to success.
On top of that, a personal mission statement gives you clarity in life. It helps you to keep moving and make faster decisions.
Or as the famous Stephen Covey said in his book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
Begin With the End in Mind
Lacking a mission is the reason why most of you fail to reach your goals.
But when you start with your reason why you increase your chances of success. Because it helps with persistent action. And if you take consistent action, you’ll win.
Let’s get ready to craft your mission.
7 Steps to Write a Powerful Personal Mission Statement
A personal mission statement inspires you to take action. But how do you write an inspiring mission statement for your life?
These 7 steps will help you to transform your uniqueness into an inspiring vision for your life.
But before you dive in it’s important to understand that you should not judge the process. Don’t get upset if you don’t get it right at first.
The goal is to set a mission for your life so that you can start moving. And the details will become clear along the way.
Are you ready?
Step 1: Schedule Time
When you set a big vision for your life, it’s important that you schedule some time to do this. Make sure you remove all possible distractions too.
Why is this important?
Because when you get distracted you’re focusing less on creating a personal mission statement that you believe in.
And the whole reason why you’re writing a personal mission statement is so that it inspires you to take action. That it gives you energy when you need it the most.
But if you don’t believe in your mission, you’re still going to feel trapped.
Scheduling some time ensures that you get the best possible statement that will inspire you.
Step 2: Gain Self-Awareness
For some of you, this step can be the most time-consuming and difficult one. It took me a while to become self-aware enough.
But self-awareness is super important when you draft up your personal mission statement. Because it’s your interests, personality, and experiences that make your mission unique.
The more time you spend on this step, the easier it becomes to create the best vision for your life. So take your time to dig a little below the surface here.
Because it’s often when you dig deeper into the challenges that you’ve overcome, which you can transform into your superpower.
If you’re just starting out on your journey and are not self-aware yet, start by understanding your:
- Personality;
- Strengths (and weaknesses);
- Interests;
- Values;
- and Dreams.
Self-awareness is a crucial foundation for everything in your life. And once you’ve got some insights into who you are, what makes you unique, and what you want, then it’s time to move to the next step.
Step 3: Your Big Audacious Goal
Packed with awareness, it’s time to think about the future. There are many things you may desire, the dreams you have, and things that you want to experience.
But what’s that ONE thing that you would change in the world?
It’s important that you seek that big thing that you wish to change. And that could be anything. Although most great mission statements contain the following elements:
- Your values, dreams, and desires.
- Your purpose
- Your service
You have already thought about your values, dreams, and desires in the previous step.
Any of your dreams could become your mission. But then you move to your purpose: your WHY. What’s the motivation behind your dreams? Why do you want to make that your mission?
You see, traveling around the world is a great dream. But your mission is only as good as your reason for WHY you want to travel the world. And for most people, it’s not a good mission because it lacks a vital element.
This brings us to service. There’s no doubt that you feel more motivated when you do something for others and not only yourself.
With these three elements, dreams, purpose, and service, you’ll end up with a personal mission statement that inspires you deeply. One that ignites your fire and keeps you on track to success.
If you can’t get it right away, don’t worry. Think about a couple of big ideas that you’re interested in. And perhaps one of these will grow on you as you move through these steps.
Step 4: Write the Ugly Draft
So far, you’ve given thought to who you are and you’ve got a general direction of your big vision.
It’s time to start writing.
Scary stuff.
Before you freak out about what you’re going to write, I want to stress the following: don’t worry and don’t judge the process.
Just write your first ugly draft of your personal mission statement.
How? That’s up to you.
This step is about your creativity. The more mission statements you can draft, the higher your chances that you’ll end up with one that inspires you.
The only tip that I want to give you right now, is to include both your WHAT and WHY in this draft.
Now write your first statement.
Don’t worry about what you write. It doesn’t have to make any sense. And unless your mission is super clear for you already, it’s going to look ugly – guaranteed.
Then you write another one.
And another one.
Step 5: Write Many More Drafts
Do you know that you could be a great writer? Because writers write many ugly drafts too. The editing is where the magic happens.
In fact, do you know that great bloggers come up with at least 30 headlines before they pick their final version? Why do they write so many of them?
Because your first draft is always the least inspirational, most conventional crab you can write.
There’s no creativity in the first draft.
Only after you’ve gone through all the easy choices, that’s when your brain starts to become creative. And that’s your goldmine.
Because when you get drafts that include your creativity, it’s more likely that it will inspire you.
Don’t expect that your draft looks nice when you include creativity. That’s not the goal here. Although you might have a feeling of “ahh, there’s something here”.
You know the deal by now. Write more drafts.
Have you got at least 30 versions of your personal mission statement? If not, keep drafting up new ones.
And when you experience a writer-block, sit with it for a while. And then write many more drafts. Because this is when you start to become more creative.
Step 6: The Final Draft
While most drafts feel super ugly, there will be some drafts that you feel better about. Select the top 5 drafts that inspire you the most.
Based on these 5 drafts, look for common elements that you like. Also, look for the unique elements in your drafts that inspire you the most on a personal level.
Use these 5 drafts to create your final draft.
And don’t worry, it’s still a draft.
Step 7: Touch Up the Draft
By now, you should have a final draft of your personal mission statement. Hopefully, you already feel inspired by it.
But if not, then you might miss one of the following elements:
- Ultra specific
- Your why
- Focuses on service
- ONE big actionable idea
You have already gone through most of these points in step 3. But it’s super useful to look at these points if your personal mission statement doesn’t inspire you yet.
Is your “what” ultra-specific? The more specific you can get with your mission, the more it will inspire you to take action. A trick is to make it as simple as you can.
Does your statement include your “why”? Remember that you’ll face challenging times. And having a clear reason why this is your mission, is very beneficial to make success happen.
Does your statement focus on service? Having an element of service in your personal mission statement is a big factor that’s going to help you persist through challenging times.
How many ideas does your statement convey? You may have many dreams and desires, but your mission statement should only convey one idea. And especially an idea that drives you to take action.
The goal is that you end up with a personal mission statement that’s simple and that inspires you.
Bonus Points: Put Your Statement in a Frame
How do you feel about your personal mission statement?
Is it already 100% the way you want it or close to that? Then congratulations, you’ve just written your personal mission statement!
Make sure you write it down somewhere, so you see it every day. A whiteboard for example. Or create a big background for your computer that displays your mission.
You’ll increase your chances of success when you do this. And it also helps you to fall more in love with your vision over time.
But what if you’re not happy with your statement yet?
What if you feel more like I did? That you’re somewhat close, but that it’s not 100% finished yet.
Then there’s one more step for you to do. And that’s to try out different personal mission statement templates.
The reason why you finish with this step is that you’ve used all your creativity by now. You’ve tried different things and you’ve stayed close to who you are.
With all the important elements of your personal mission statement, these templates are there for the finishing touch.
Personal Mission Statement Template
There are many personal mission statement templates that I’ve used, but my favorite one is from the book: Find Your Why by Simon Sinek.
To [contribution] so that [impact], is a powerful way to frame your personal mission statement.
Because the contribution part is your “what”, that becomes the actionable driver in your life. And the impact is the bigger reason “why” you do it. It’s the part that inspires you.
If you feel like you need a little more help, I recommend you to pick up Simon Sinek’s book. It has helped me a lot to clarify my purpose in life.
And if you’re still struggling a bit, that’s okay too. Sometimes your personal mission statement needs to grow a little on you. But for some more inspiration, let’s look at some examples.
Personal Mission Statement Examples
In the following examples, you’ll see that most personal mission statements are using a very similar framework. But you’ll also see that it’s possible to have a different form or even a question.
With these examples, you should understand the rule about writing your personal mission statement.
And the rule is this: if your mission statement inspires you deeply and gives you a clear direction forward, then it’s a great statement.
Let’s dive into the examples.
To inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that, together, each of us can change our world for the better.
– Simon Sinek
Empowering individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in their quality of life and the lives of others.
– Tony Robbins
To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.
– Oprah Winfrey
To help leaders and high-achievers make their impact so their ripple effect can positively change the world.
– Darren Hardy
Our mission is to give you the clarity, courage, and tools you need to stop all the frenzy and start living with focus.
– Michael Hyatt
My ultimate ambition is to make empathy, gratitude, patience, and kindness “cool.” I want people to look at those traits as “alpha male” characteristics.
– Gary Vaynerchuk
Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?
– Brendon Buchard
Final Note on Your Personal Mission Statement
For most of you, your mission will stay the same throughout your life. But how you’re going to get there could change tremendously. And that’s okay.
If you don’t feel that your personal mission statement is going to be your mission for the rest of your life, that’s okay too.
What’s important is that you set a direction for your life. Or at the very least think about it.
Because a clear and purposeful direction gives meaning to your life. It helps you to grow faster. And ultimately, it helps you to shape your life into how you want it to be.
Besides a personal mission, it’s also good to think about a vision. How is that different you ask?
Read here all about creating a personal vision statement.
And if you feel inspired by your personal mission statement, do sign up for the email newsletter for more exclusive content to help you achieve your mission!