Should you write a personal mission statement in 2024?
It all comes down to this… Some people have a clear direction in life while others feel lost. Where are you at?
I first created my personal mission statement more than 25 years ago.
I was working as an architect in London at the time. But I didn’t find the work very satisfying. I was just turning up getting my paycheck and looking forward to the weekend.
That’s when I created my mission statement which I’ve lived by ever since. It’s very short – it has only six words and it helped me make a life-changing decision.
Many of us, at some point in our lives, feel like that. We’re drifting along, going through the motions, uncertain about what we want out of life. This can be frustrating and leave you feeling unfulfilled and restless.
Even worse, you might distract yourself by keeping busy just to avoid facing these feelings.
The big problem we all face is that we weren’t born with an instruction manual for our lives.
And even if you were given an instruction manual, human nature says you’d spend your whole life wondering if you were given the right one.
Plenty of people will tell you what to do with your life. But you’re the one who must decide because you’re the one who has to live your life.
Many successful individuals, from business leaders to athletes, use personal mission statements to guide their decisions and actions. I shared 12 Personal Mission Statement examples by famous people here.
And there are three big reasons why you need to write a personal mission statement.
The first big reason is the process of creating one. This is your chance to hop off the treadmill, look yourself in the mirror and be honest with yourself. This can be a reward in itself. But don’t stop there, It gets better…
The second big reason to write a personal mission statement is to direct your attention and have something important to focus on. It becomes your roadmap for living – the reference point for you to make decisions in your life. Should you take that new job? Start that business? Go on that holiday? Without this, your life can feel like being a rudderless boat floating at the whim of the wind.
The third big reason to write a personal mission statement is to help you jump out of bed in the morning. If your mission truly inspires you then it will become a source of energy, a motivation to tackle a challenge and take a risk in life.
My Personal Mission Statement is very short but it changed my life.
Before working as an architect in London, I had studied to be an architect for 7 and a half years. I started doing a drafting course. Then, I did a five-year Bachelor’s degree and after that, I travelled to the US to earn a Master’s degree.
But 18 months later, I quit. And I quit as a direct result of creating my mission statement.
To learn a living – anytime, anywhere.
I never worked as an architect again. And I haven’t had a full-time job either.
To ‘learn a living’ is a play on the phrase ‘earn a living’. I didn’t want to do jobs for money anymore. Instead, I wanted to earn my income from interesting projects that had the potential for me to learn.
This led me to choose self-employment because this gave me autonomy and choice about what I worked on. Plus it gave me flexibility about how much I worked and where I worked from.
Currently, I split my time between client projects and my own projects – which are writing books and publishing videos on YouTube.
Plus, I’ve been able to work from lots of different places. This included house-sitting around Australia for more than two years. This is made possible by doing most of my client work via Zoom. I’m not sure I’ve had a face-to-face meeting with a client for over 5 years. I love it when it happens, but it’s usually easier for both of us to jump online. Plus, I’ve had clients across Australia and New Zealand.
That’s the power of having a personal mission statement in your life. It means I am able to build a Lifestyle Business that fulfils my career and personal objectives.
If you would like to dig deeper into writing your Personal Mission Statement then read these posts next:
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