Personal Mission Statement Blunders: How to Get it Right

Have you ever sat down to write your Personal Mission Statement only to feel totally lost or overwhelmed? You’re not alone. And that’s because there is one big mistake that could derail your whole process!

The Big Mistake

It all comes down to this…

• What’s the difference between a Vision and a Mission?
• Or a Purpose and a Mission?
• What about Values and Mission?
• And which one do you need?

To write an inspiring Personal Mission Statement, you need to be clear about what a Personal Mission Statement is. That’s the big mistake – not being clear about what you are creating. If you don’t get this right, your efforts will be wasted.

And this applies to Mission Statement for organisations too!

That might seem obvious but a lot of people confuse a Mission and a Vision. Then, you also have purpose, values, and manifestos. No wonder people become overwhelmed.

In this post, I’ll share a simple way to learn the difference between these terms. And you can find out which one will work best for you. The bonus is this will make it much easier to write.

Learning Styles and Motivation

To get clear about each one we need a map or a framework that lets us compare and contrast them.

And that’s where Bernice McCarthy comes in.

While she was working as a school teacher in the US in the 1970s, McCarthy noticed how her students learnt in different ways. And with a little help from Carl Jung and David Kolb, she created a teaching framework.

The 4-Mat Model

She called it the 4-Mat model. No surprise, it had four main parts. And it was based on our motivation for learning.

1. Some students are motivated by the question: Why? They need to understand why the information is relevant to them. In other words, why is this a problem? Why should I care?
2. Some students are motivated by the question: What? They want concrete data or a concept that explains what the solution is.
3. Other students are motivated by the question: How? They want to know a process or series of steps for how to apply the information.
4. The final group are motivated by the question: What if? They want to know what else this information is related to. They’re looking to connect it to things they already know.

For more on the 4-Mat Model.

Vision, Mission, Purpose and Values

Now we have our framework let’s map Vision, Mission, Purpose and Values onto it.

• Your Purpose belongs in the Why domain. It’s asking why are we doing this.
• Your Vision belongs in the What domain. It is a general solution to the problem. Your vision provides a general description of what things will look like when you’ve reached your outcome. It’s how you want the world to be.
• Also, your Mission belongs in the What domain. It is a specific solution to the problem. But while your Vision is a direction to head in, your Mission is a specific result or outcome that you can achieve.
• And finally, your Values fit neatly into the How domain. They tell you how to act or behave in any situation.

What is a Manifesto?

Now, where does a Manifesto fit in all of this?

All of these things – Vision, Mission, Purpose and Values are intentions we set for ourselves. And that’s what a Manifesto is – a public declaration of your intent. That’s why ‘Manifesto’ is the umbrella term for them all.

More on How to Write a Personal Mission Statement

To dig deeper into writing a Personal Mission Statement then check out these posts next:

• Why you should write a Personal Mission Statement in 2024
• 12 Personal Mission Statement Examples by Famous People
• How to write a Personal Manifesto in five steps