015 How to create your personal mission statement

Every important decision you’ll make ties to your mission statement. Your next great beginning shouldn’t start without one.

 

In this episode, Leary and Armin pick up from the previous episode (How to cultivate your personal vision) by getting real practical on how to construct a personal mission statement.

The Inspire Me segment quote is from Mosaic church founder and visionary pastor, Dr. Erwin McManus:

“The unique way God has designed you—with talent, intellect, gifts, personality, and passions—informs you about how that service will be expressed. But don’t look for God to fill in all the blanks. Don’t wait for Him to remove all the uncertainty. Realize He may actually increase the uncertainty and leverage all the odds against you, just so that you will know in the end that it wasn’t your gifts but His power through your gifts that fulfilled His purpose in your life.”

Having a personal mission statement:

• Aids in creating clarity about your future.
• Guides decision making about what to take on.
• Solidifies your resolve to keep going when things get difficult.

Leary and Armin discuss three simple steps to create your personal mission statement.

1. Start with action. Write down as many verbs that appeal to you. You can get good verb lists by searching the internet or take Leary’s verb affinity exercise. Example: “craft” or “engage”

2. Stir in your talent. Now, add what you’re good at doing. Here’s where you might need the help of friends and colleagues to help out (see below). Example: if you’re good at storytelling a mission might be “to craft stories”

3. Find your patch. What field has God given you to work? These are the people that you are most passionate about/drawn to. Example: “to craft stories that engage children to overcome fear”

It’s difficult to get an accurate assessment of ourselves in isolation, so you’ll want to invite others to give you input too. Here are the questions that Leary posed to his friends and colleagues when he crafted his:

• What are the talents, skills and gifts that you have noticed in me? List as many as you can, but at least three.
• Which of these is most evident to you and how?
• Which of these do you think I should develop more? Why?
• If I were to move to another region of the country and two years from now you were to hear of something I did, what might be mentioned that would not surprise you?
• Which of the following verbs (a list of favorites from the verb affinity exercise) do you think best describe me? Any others that come to mind?

Resources mentioned or related to this podcast that may be helpful to you:

• Verb affinity exercise, a list of verbs you can use to jump-start your mission statement
• A personal mission statement: the resume’ for you future, Leary Gates, blog post on this topic

Our next episode will be on how to network like a pro. Please join us.