Embracing PMS: Using Your Personal Mission Statement to Enhance Your Life

Why should you create a Personal Mission Statement? Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says that in doing so, you are “connecting with your own unique purpose and the profound satisfaction that comes in fulfilling it.” In other words — it helps you become a better you.

That’s one reason that creating your Personal Mission Statement is, in a way, the ultimate ‘you’ time. It’s a chance to sit down with yourself and ask the important questions — what matters most to you? What are your values? Who are you now and who do you want to be?

It’s a chance to define your self — and to redefine yourself.

Secrets of a Great PMS

Make it short. There are probably a lot of things in your life that you value and a lot of goals that you have. Your personal mission statement isn’t about making a list — it’s about distilling out the things that matter to you most. It’s about creating focus.

Make it snappy. Something memorable — something that speaks to who you are. Start off by listing some of the things you’re passionate about — education, specific volunteer work, creativity, efficiency. What are three or four of your favorite duties at work? What are your goals — both work-related and personal? What are your strengths?

Creating the Personal Mission Statement is Only the First Step

The second is to really think about what your PMS says you value and what your goals are — and what you’re doing to emphasize those areas of your life. Are you striving to achieve the goals you’ve laid out? Are you focusing time and energy on the parts of life that matter most to you? Make sure you are!

Whether that means finding out about an education seminar near you, volunteering more or becoming involved in a local organization, there may be ways to increase your own happiness by simply doing more of what you value. Because when you do things you’re passionate and care about, you’re happier in all areas of your life.

Review your personal mission statement regularly, but don’t make it a chore, it should be a time of real reflection. Set up a timeline that’s right for you — once a month, once a quarter, once a year. Take a look and think back on everything you’ve accomplished over that time! Now decide if your goals or values have shifted in the meantime and be ready to update your Personal Mission Statement if they have.

By regularly reviewing your mission statement and making sure it’s relevant, you can focus on what matters — you, your goals and your values. And that helps you become a better you.

Click here to view events
in your area

“I have learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as making a 'life’.”

“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”