Last year when I read Dr. Covey’s book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I was encouraged to develop a mission statement that I could live my life by. I read the samples and saw how individualism was pronounced and how values and beliefs were set forward in a timeless presentation. It took many sleepless nights (I am THAT type of person…the one who doesn’t sleep until a task or thought is beat to a pulp) to come up with a mission statement that was timeless and not bound by circumstances.
There have been so few moments in my life that were consistent and I found it difficult to come up with what I really wanted to work at everyday that wasn’t bound by those changing emotions, however, with lots of prayer and second guesses I was able to come up with one that I feel will carry me on for quite a while.
My Mission Statement:
To love openly and freely
To empathize and listen
To live and love beyond insecurities
To be a woman of service and kindness
To dream, but not before to love
To be faithful and honest
To be wholehearted
To be sincere and decisive
To be a voice for the voiceless
I feel that it is probably also important to explain that all of these things listed are wrapped up in the fact that my faith stands as my most important part of my being. I do not always live that out in practice, but it is my prayer that I seek God more and more in all moments of my life and not just the challenging ones.
In this new year instead of giving a list of goals that I have and sharing those openly, I felt that it would be more of an encouragement to you to talk about developing a mission statement. Don’t get me wrong goal setting is pivotal; health and fitness goals, education goals, career goals, relationship goals, etc, they are all a key to success, but there is something about a mission statement that moves beyond that.
Mission statements are meant to withstand circumstances. They may have direct statements regarding emotions in circumstances, but they shouldn’t revolve around them. The beauty to me in developing one is that it confirms your identity in Christ, it speaks to your individuality and says that you are beautifully created as you are.
I know that within my own mission statement I wanted to create something that spoke to my tender heart. I am sensitive to a whole new level and at times that sensitivity has been a curse and at others a blessing. One of my hopes for my mission statement was that it would help embrace my sensitivity as a gift.
I am about 8 months into my mission statement. A break-up and graduation later, it is still something that I seek to get better at everyday.
I encourage each of you to write out a mission statement. Check out Dr. Covey’s book for more samples of them. Write it with your heart in mind.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What heart issues do you find yourself struggling with? Is it something big that could transfer into something you want to live your whole life being better at?
- What are your gifts? How can you better use them in serving others and in growing individually as a person?
- What do you want to be remembered for that isn’t based on material success?
- What life-long goals do you have?
- Think of moments when you have been really proud of yourself? What do they all have in common? Was it pride in character or accomplishment?
I know that with time my mission statement will change, as it should. In this new year, my prayer is that we experience growth. I pray that we take better care of ourselves so that we can better serve others and that we learn to step outside of our comfort zones to do more.
With all my heart,
Savannah
Bright side of Brokenness 