Writing down your hopes, dreams, and goals for the future is a powerful tool you can use to achieve success. Studies have shown that those who write down their goals are more likely to reach them.
You can boost your odds of crushing whatever objectives you have by jotting down your personal mission and vision statements.
You’re probably already familiar with the term mission statement. Companies routinely have mission statements that lay out who they are, what makes them different, and what their shorter-term goals are.
If mission statements are such a powerful tool for companies, why shouldn’t you have one too? After all, you are the CEO of your own life.
Your personal mission statement can help you shape and guide your life. Your personal statement definition can include things like:
What you hope to accomplish in your life.
How you wish to live your life.
Goals that you want to reach.
Think of it as a way to spell out clearly what kind of person you are and what your purpose in life is. That may seem like an easy thing to do, but when you try to define it in a few words, it can be much more complicated than it seems at first. You need to do some soul searching to uncover what your core values are, what makes you tick, and where your passion lies.
While the mission statement is aimed at helping you achieve your goals, a personal vision statement is more comprehensive.
What is a Personal Vision?
This kind of statement digs deeper into who you are and your long-term vision of what you want your life to be like. It will look at factors such as:
What your core values are.
The belief systems that you hold dear and are motivated by.
What inspires you to work hard and be the best version of you.
Guiding principles that have brought you this far in life.
Your ultimate goals for your future self — dreams of how you want your overall life to be decades from now.
Your personal vision definition can be geared toward your personal life or your career, or even both. The sky is the limit — you can do anything you want with this statement as long as it moves you, inspires you, and is aligned with your core values.
If you’re stuck when you’re writing your vision statement, try to picture that life you’re writing about in your mind. Imagine what you’ll be doing decades down the road and how that makes you feel. The more you can clearly see that picture, the stronger your connection will be to your statement. A strong tie to it will motivate you more both now and in the future.
What Is the Difference Between These Statements?
If you’re having trouble differentiating between the vision and mission statements, don’t feel bad. Sometimes companies run into the same problem when they are drafting theirs.
To keep them straight, remember that you’re thinking long-term with your vision statement. Think of it as what kind of legacy you want to leave behind when you’re gone, how you want to spend your days.
The key to any great vision and mission statements though is that you should revisit them often. These aren’t statements you should write and then just stick in a drawer. They should be seen often and reread for inspiration. If you have a home office, consider framing a copy of your statement and sitting it on your desk where it is always in sight.
Both these documents should be concise enough that you can give them a quick read-through and remember your focus. While some people recommend sticking to 50 words, others say 100 is short enough. The most important thing isn’t the word count, however. It’s how you feel when reading these documents. If they reflect who you are and what your ultimate purpose and goals are, then they’ll resonate and reinspire you every time you read them.
Make It All About You
To inspire you, let’s take a look at three famous personal mission statements out there:
Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, explorer, investor, author, and philanthropist has a personal statement that says: “To have fun in my journey through life and learn from my mistakes”.
Walt Disney, the founder of Walt Disney Productions, had a simple but genius personal mission statement: “To make people happy“.
Andy Andrews, an international speaker and the author of such bestsellers as “The Traveler’s Gift” and “The Noticer” created the following mission statement: “To help others live the lives they would live…if they only knew how.”
While it’s fine to draw inspiration from other people’s statements, their chosen path will be very different from yours. There is only one you, and you’re the only person who knows what you want and what truly makes you happy.
When mapping out your future, make sure these documents are the compass you’ll use to reach your ultimate destination.
