Personal Mission Statements

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1 VALUES AND CHARACTER TRAITS What are Values? What are Character Traits? Name one of four traits you want to be remembered for? List the two most important people in your life. List one word to describe each of them. You started your own county, On you dollar bill it says In We trust. Finish this statement, Give me or give me death. Describe yourself in one word. Finish this statement, Life, liberty, and the pursuit of. If there were two rules everyone should follow, what would they be? Think of the person you most admire. In one word why? Complete the following statements: I am at my best when... I am at my worst when... I want to be a person who... Someday I would like to... My deepest positive emotions come when...

2 The most important things in life are... Possible lifelong goals for me are... You have collected words and statements that identify your values. In the space below, list these values from the statements above. Now create an action statement from each value describing how you will use it to lead your life forward. Example: Freindship - I will be a supportive friend and seek out friendships that are healthy and encouraging. Now its your turn:

3 REFLECT ON YOUR LIFE: What are three things you would do if you know you could not fail? Think about the last time you were really excited about life. Briefly describe what you were doing, who was there, and how you felt. Imagine your life as an epic journey, with you as the hero or heroine of the story. What do you imagine your journey to be about? Describe what you are doing, who it is for, why you are doing it, and what it results in. Think of the person who know you the best. If you asked this person to name your three greatest strengths, what would they be? Think of the major events, accomplishments, challenges, and successes you have experienced in life. If you had the power to turn back time, what would you change? As you reflect over the events of your life, what are you most proud of? If you were given one million dollars and had to give it to a charity, what charity would it be and how would the funds be used?

4 Your Personal Mission Statement Perhaps you are familiar with mission statements at your place of work. We can create and refine personal mission statements, too. Below you will find some suggestions, steps and samples to consider. Remember that this is a process, and will likely change somewhat over time with new experiences and increased selfawareness. Most exercises about personal mission statements speak of three parts. What talents do you want to use? What places or settings most appeal to you to use these talents? For what purpose(s) will you use them? This statement will be your creation in the end yet may have parts that are shared by many. A mission statement, seriously and authentically considered, can be like a guiding light to continue to return to when you may find yourself struggling with decisions. A good statement should be: One sentence in length Fitting for all areas of your life Easy to remember It may be easier to create a mission personal statement if you have already done some personal reflection and assessment. Step One Choose two or three action verbs from your assessment work that best describe what you want to do in your mission. This could be action verbs like: teach, discover, pursue, improve, help, understand, reform, entertain, or many more. Step Two Choose two or three of your top values. This could be values like integrity, family, change, helpfulness, independence, humor, knowledge, or many more. Step Three Decide what or who you are here to work with. Think about what field (like technology, industry, health care) or group (like the elderly, children, handicapped) or cause (like the homeless, politics, the environment) you most want to impact. Now jot down some ideas of your own! Remember, it will be a work in progress. If it does not seem to be coming together for you at this time, consider leaving this exercise and return to it after you have progressed further through your exploration process.

5 Personal Mission Statement Sentence Templates Here are some sample personal mission statement sentence templates to get you started (check out your values list for ideas on possible values you could use). Use these templates as seeds to get your creative juices flowing. "To... [what you want to achieve, do or become]... so that... [reasons why it is important]. I will do this by... [specific behaviors or actions you can use to get there]." "I value...[choose one to three values]... because...[reasons why these values are important to you]. Accordingly, I will...[what you can do to live by these values]." "To develop and cultivate the qualities of...[two to three values/character traits]... that I admire in...[an influential person in your life]... so that...[why you want to develop these qualities]." "To live each day with...[choose one to three values or principles]... so that...[what living by these values will give you]. I will do this by...[specific behaviors you will use to live by these values]." "To appreciate and enjoy...[things you want to appreciate and enjoy more] by...[what you can do to appreciate/enjoy these things]." "To treasure above all else...[most important things to you] by...[what you can do to live your priorities]." "To be known by...[an important person/group]... as someone who is...[qualities you want to have]...; by...[some other person/group]... as someone who is...[other qualities]...;..." Feel free to combine these sentences in any way to carve your own unique personal mission statement. Here is a part of a potential mission statement for the health & fitness area using the first sentence template: "To be healthy, fit and energetic so that I can enjoy life to the fullest and have the energy to pursue all my goals. I will do this by exercising regularly, following a nutritious diet and eliminating negative habits that are impacting my health." If you are having trouble getting started, choose one of the sentence templates (whichever one appeals to you the most) and copy it into your word processor; then erase the "...[]..." parts and read the sentence from the start. When you get to a gap, pause for a moment, and then let your mind fill in the gap. Just write whatever pops into your head. Repeat this a couple of times and then choose the sentences you like the most as your starting point. Later, you can add or refine your personal mission statement using more of the sentence templates.