A Proper Mission Statement Can Drive Your Life Forward

(C) 2015 Darnell Glover All World Wide Rights Reserved

Darnell T. Glover

Vestibulum velit orci

A Proper Mission Statement Can DriveYour Life Forward

ullam lorem sapien, tempus ac, fringilla at, elementum sed, purus

Most people measure us by our ac-complishments -- what we’ve done.In my experience, most people com-pile their track record of accomplish-ments BY MISTAKE; that is, wedon’t have a plan, we simply react toopportunities as they arise. In otherwords, our accomplishments are ex-ternally motivated, not internallydriven. What this argues for, ofcourse, is a consciousness of mission-- what each of our lives is reallyabout. That’s what this short articlewill discuss -- your Personal MissionStatement. A Personal MissionStatement will help you to organizeyour entire life -- your time, yourthoughts, your priorities. Actually, apersonal mission statement, consci-entiously developed, will change theway you view everything in yourlife.

Your personal mission statement willforce you to constantly re-evaluatewho you are, what you’re about, andwhat you’re doing. As an example,just look at the Constitution of theUnited States. The essential missionstatement there is “...to create a moreperfect union.” Where would we be

as a nation today if they had not out-lined the goals and hopes of a newnation in those terms?

The basics of a mission statement areas follows:

1. Make it short and to the point.Nelson Mandela mission statement,developed over his 27 years in prisonin South Africa, says just this: “EndApartheid.” Another great missionstatement was developed by Abra-ham Lincoln upon his inaugurationas President. “Preserve the Union.”Note that mission statements canchange. Perhaps a mission is accom-plished. Franklin Roosevelt startedhis presidency with a mission to“End the Depression.” By the timethat was almost done another threathad arisen and the United States hadbecome involved in World War II.Now the mission statement was“End the War.”

2. Keep your mission statementshort, to the point, simple. Use directlanguage. Be sure that a 12-year-oldcould understand the statement andyou’ll be more or less on track.

3. Make it memorable so it can beburned into your consciousness. Therule of thumb here is that if you can’trecite it from memory, it’s too longand too complicated. Remedy: sim-plify, condense, “laser” your thoughtprocess until you’ve said everythingyou need to say in the fewest andstrongest possible words.

4. Eliminate excuses. Before you canwrite an effective mission statementyou must clear away the excuses thatprevent most people from writingone in the first place. Don’t make themistake of thinking that your job ISyour mission. It’s only part of it...ornot. Either way, remember that amission is larger than a job. Your jobmay change, but your mission maynot. In fact, there are times that a jobMUST change in order that a mis-sion be completed. So don’t lockyourself in a box that says that youARE your work. You’re far morethan that. Another trap excuse is“My role is my mission.” If you’re aman you may think of your role as“breadwinner.”

By Darnell T. Glover, President/CEODarnell T. Glover Media Communication Productions

Vestibulum velit orciNullam lorem sapien, tempus ac, fringilla at, elementum sed, purus

For a woman this might be “wife” or“mother.” The operating principlehere is that your role, too, maychange. In fact, as your life, evolvesyour role will almost certainlychange. The third excuse -- the onemost of us don’t want to cop to -- isthat we may believe that we’re justnot important enough to have a mis-sion statement. Sure, it’s fine for abig company to have one, or for a

country to have one, but I’m just oneof the “little people,” so I don’t DE-SERVE one. Parenthetically, we al-most never say this aloud. What wedo say, at least to ourselves, is thatwe don’t NEED one. WRONG,WRONG, WRONG!! Get rid of allthat silly thinking. Focus. You’ll beglad you did.

Finally, clear out influences thathave driven you in the past. A mis-sion statement isn’t about what youthink you should be doing. It’s aboutwhat EXCITES you. So instead oflistening to all those voices from thepast...the ones that told you youweren’t worth anything, that you’dnever succeed, and so forth. Concen-trate on your gifts, your dreams.