Make it Your Mission
Recently I have been working with my local chamber and the founder of Support Over Stigma to provide resources to our Leads Group to empower them in and at their businesses. In the last month we’ve had in-depth discussions on the power of a personal brand and a mission.
Do you have a mission statement for either yourself or your business?
Have you heard of the idea of a personal and business mission statement?
It’s not easy crafting and curating this, it takes a lot of inner work and knowing. But once you have it, it becomes your northstar, guiding your direction in life and work.
Like a ship at sea, it helps you plot your course, it helps you adjust your course when you veer. It helps you say yes and no and honor your boundaries and the companies.
But how do you get from here to there? (pun intended)
What Do You Want People to Say at Your Funeral?
Does anyone remember the early 2000’s romcom, Serendipity? You know, featuring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.
The main character has a series of choices to make after some unexpected serendipitous moments.
His best pal, just happens to be a Obituary Writer for the NY Times.
I don’t know if you recall but nearing the end as he’s looking at his choice points, wondering if he’ll ever see the infamous her again after deciding to not go through with his nuptials, the narrator talks about it in the form of his obituary. In doing so, he realizes, no matter what happens, he’s proud of the hard choices he’s just made and the risks he took.
There are a lot of camps out there that talk about the positive power a good mission statement can have over your life personally and your business.
Many of them often ask you to fast forward to the end of your life in order to better understand what your ideal mission is now.
Have you ever thought about what you want people to say about you at your funeral? What would be the title of your obituary?
These questions help you understand your why, your passions, the lasting legacy you want to leave on earth.
Is part of your mission to empower people and the planet? Then you likely will not work with companies that are known to treat their employees poorly and leave an earth disaster in their wake.
Be Like Apple, After They Re-Hired Steve Jobs
The following story showcases the profound impact a clear mission statement can have.
There once was a fledgling tech company called Apple. At a point in time, many moons ago Apple was losing millions of dollars. Steve Jobs had been fired by the board and he was later re-hired.
He looked at the original mission statement (that they had veered from – ironically someone recently told me that statistically they’ve found businesses that have to lay off employees and lose millions, have veered from their mission): And he re-instated it, making it a key focus behind everything they did.
He inspired them to only make extraordinary products that:
“To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind” – Apple.
He wanted to revive his company’s values by prioritizing the customer’s experience and developing technologies based on it instead of the other way around.
Can you guess what happened next?
Well… they obviously didn’t go bankrupt.
Instead this mission created considerable momentum in the company’s sales. The next four years after Apple’s near bankruptcy, it manufactured life-altering products that we know and love today, like this Macbook I’m typing on.
Sustainable life-long success starts with a purpose and is amplified with the focus that is provided by a mission statement.
By crafting a mission statement it helps you focus and take action on what you can control while minimizing the distractions from what you can’t control.
When you consider that most small businesses will fail within their first five years, the stakes are high. Your mission statement can also impact who works with you and who chooses not to.
Would you give a loan to someone without a mission? Would you work with the city to rent a building to someone without a mission?
So how do you create one for yourself?
A mission statement is an action-oriented statement that describes your fundamental purpose: who are you, what you do, and why you do it.
Here’s my hot-off-the-press mission statement:
I am a coach, mentor, bridge, and wayshower. I exist to nurture others to thrive in every area of life, hear and act on their inner voice again, lead with empowerment, authentic and regenerative practices, and become and achieve more than they ever thought possible, shining their brightest light out into the world. I do this by merging my spiritual attunement with my attention to detail and business expertise, guiding and teaching them to hear their heart and see their innate gifts and magic again, shifting subconscious beliefs and mindsets to enhance their clarity, clear any distracting inner and outer clutter, and anchor into joy, love, and consistent action.
I’ve also created a downloadable worksheet to ask some thought provoking questions to help you clarify and focus your mission.
Before you print and work on the below, close your eyes and take a heart-centering deep breath. Ask to be guided to the information for your highest and best as you write out your answers. Did anything surprise you?
I referenced the following sources for this blog post
Importance of Mission Statement from Inc.com
Examples of Powerful Startup Mission Statements
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