Personal Mission Statement Part 4 - Mission

I have no idea what this means.

The problem with a mission statement is that it usually has nothing to do with everyday life. A lot of work goes in to crafting a mission statement and then it gets displayed to the world for a while as if it's some sort of monumental achievement and then it does nothing.

A mission statement encompasses vision and values. I've been sharing my process toward crafting a personal mission statement.

Ultimately, a mission statement gives you the ability to distinguish what you should or shouldn't be doing on a daily basis. Think of it like a color swatch that you can compare to what you're painting. You can check constantly to see if you have the right hue. All it takes is a glance to remind yourself of the basis of everything you should be doing.

The problem is that most mission statements are so wordy and cumbersome that they make it impossible to use as a check for daily activity. I think that most mission statements are trying to do too much, there's this idea that they need to encompass all the beliefs, values and vision as well as the mission. But if you have separate statements that cover those other topics, you can let your mission hone in on precisely what you need to be doing on a daily basis.

Remember, the vision tells you where you're going, the mission tells you how you're going to get there. My vision is: "To educate and inspire people to meaningful action that improves their lives."

To do that my mission is: "I learn so I can teach, lead to equip and live to create."

That tells me that today, the things I need to be most concerned with are learning, teaching, leading, equipping and creating. If something on my to-do list doesn't fit into those categories then it's not very important to achieving my vision and I should stop it or minimize my time doing it. I'm writing these words, at this moment to teach, lead and equip you. My minutes of typing will be worth it if I've inspired you to work on a mission statement that will guide your life.

So, did I waste my  time today?