KC5: Your Meaningful Mission Episode
In this episode, we’ll look at being clear about one’s mission in life and why this is important!
If you have yet to listen to the previous episodes on identity and purpose, NOW would be a great time to do so as it contextualises what we’ll be covering here.
And if you already have, I trust you got great value & clarity from it.
Ok, let’s move forward…
So just a quick recap, people often get confused between their purpose and mission. As I shared in the episode on purpose, purpose is often times long term or even for the life of the subject.
Whereas for mission, it is either short term or long term and is a specific expression of the purpose. Purpose is generally inward. With your mission, it makes the purpose real in the visible world.
It’s about executing our purpose through what we actually do in our mission. It is a lot more specific and practical than the purpose. It’s about boiling down the purpose so we can allow it to manifest.
The dictionary defines the word mission as…
An important goal or purpose that is accompanied by strong conviction; a calling or vocation.
Interestingly, the word mission first began in the 1590s. It means “a sending off”… “a sending abroad”. This is where we get the word missionary… essentially a person who is sent on a mission.
Now…
Ask anyone that has achieved a lot in life what their mission is and you’ll find that it usually doesn’t take long for them to articulate it. And that’s simply because they’ve thought about it long before and are crystal clear about their mission.
Someone’s purpose might be to make the world a better place. The mission clarifies the how in which the purpose is to be or being fulfilled. To one, it might be to raise awareness about global warming.
To another, it might be to stop or reduce human trafficking. Yet to the third, it might be to simply provide food to the homeless on the streets as often as he or she possibly can. And to the fourth, it might be to eradicate poverty.
In each of these instances, their purpose is the same… and that is to make the world a better place. How they do it is wrapped up in their personal mission. To go one step deeper would be to talk about their specific strategy in carrying out their mission or missions.
This we would cover in another episode.
Amazing Examples For You
Now let’s look at some real life examples of mission statements… and we’ll start off with some famous people.
For Oprah Winfrey, her mission is… “To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be”.
For Anthony Robbins, it is to… “Humbly serve our Lord by being a loving, playful, powerful and passionate example of the absolute joy that is available to us the moment that we rejoice in God’s gifts and sincerely love and enjoy all his creations”.
In Stephen Covey’s case, it is to… “Inspire, lift and provide tools for change and growth of individuals and organizations throughout the world… to significantly increase their performance capability in order to achieve worthwhile purposes through understanding and living principle-centered leadership”.
And now let’s look at some global organizations’ mission statements.
For Google, it is to… “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”.
For TED, it is as simple as.. “Spreading Ideas”.
In Save The Children’s case, it is to.. “Inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives”.
It’s Your Turn
These mission statements are inspiring, aren’t they? =)
Now you get to begin writing out your mission statement based on your own conviction for the purpose of your life.
Don’t wait for the perfect day to do this!
Ideally, you should figure out your purpose first if you haven’t yet already… and then get back to creating & crystallising your very own mission statement.
The sooner you have a working mission statement you’re excited about, the more compelling your life will be.
Do note that your mission statement does not need to be cast in stone and set for life.
It may evolve over time as you gain clarity.
So here’s how you can get started with your own mission statement…
Ask yourself these 3 questions…
#1 – What do you actually do?
#2 – For whom do you do it? (A.k.a. Your target audience)
#3 – What is the benefit?
Piece them together for your own mission statement.
As we wrap this up, here’s my mission statement to share with you…
It is to… assist people lead compelling lives.
And as before, if you need any assistance, feel free to reach out.
Thank YOU for listening and I trust this episode inspires you! 🙂
