March to a Mission
[Learning Purpose, Vision, Roles, and Goals] [Determine your Mission]
If a man has a
sense of purpose in their lives, then they will be able to tolerate all the
problems necessary to achieve their goal. Sixty
students at an American University were asked why they had attempted suicide.
Some 85 percent of those said life seemed meaningless; furthermore, 93
percent of those students who suffered from apparent lack of purpose were
socially active, achieving academically, and on good terms with their families.
Yet even in the midst of all these positive things going on in their
lives, they felt as though their lives lacked meaning.
It is important to
develop a mission in life, something that anchors us and allows us to achieve
stability. This mooring allows us
to see things with greater clarity, which in turn results in increased inner
strength.
In order for us to
achieve this mooring and stability, it is necessary for us to develop a mission
statement for our lives. A mission
statement will serve as a beacon, something that will divest for the rest of our
lives in the right direction. As we
develop this mission statement and begin to live it, we will grow not only in
meaning and significance, but it will have in increased sense of mooring and
stability.
A sense of mission
will also help us to develop greater motivation. A mission statement serves as a source for starting and
sustaining a project. We will be
less likely to become stuck in circles, captive to our habits and unable to
motivate ourselves to make a start. If
we have a firm idea of where we're going, it becomes easier to develop a map as
a how to get their.
Mission takes us
away from an endless cycle of existence. It
creates in us a motivation to move ahead with purpose and direction and to break
out of those molds that might be keeping us from achieving our purpose and
destiny. It gives us a reason for
getting out of bed in the morning, and to live in line with the spirit behind a
challenging words of George Bernard Shaw,
"This is the true joy in life. The being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. The feeling thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap. The being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish, little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the whole world will not devote itself to making you happier."
Additionally, a
sense of mission will give us momentum or speed. It allows us to become more focused upon our goals, and
determine this action is required to achieve them.
A mission also helps produce cognitive dissonance, that is, we set
goals that stretch us be on what we would normally do.
Cognitive dissonance is what Cortez produced in 1519 when he landed with
700 men to take Mexico. As the men stood facing their new land, they noticed that all
eleven ships which carried them were being burned. Cortez said, "Men, don't panic, don't worry.
I shut set the ships of flame. You
see, we only have two options: we take Mexico or we die."
Those men decided that point that they had better achieve their objective
or they were going to be in deep trouble.
There are four
areas of life that need to be in included when we talk about mission: purpose,
vision, roles, and
goals.
Why do we exist?
Why are we here? We need to
develop a several sentence purpose statement for our lives.
The purpose statement can apply to individual, a family, a business, a
community, a nation, were to any organization of which we are apart.
Developing this purpose statement might take from 30 minutes to two hours
depending upon the depth in which we decide to respond.
As we try to develop our own definition of success and this will help us
toward defining our purpose.
How do we envision
the world as being different because we are here. The following questions might be asked to help us delineate
these outcomes:
One-way people help
to develop answers to these questions is to look at their lives from the vantage
point of old age. Visualize
ourselves sitting in a rocker on a beautiful autumn afternoon when you're 91
years old and have lived the most productive and positive life we can imagine.
What is our life look like? What
is true of our impact on our personal life, marriage, family, business,
community, finances, friends, etc.? This
ideal scenario of our life should be our vision as to why we exist.
Creating a visual
picture will help us to develop a mission statement. This process of vision is more powerful motivational link
then the statement of purpose. We
must visualize our life will impact others if we are to be properly motivated
for the long run. This mental
future will empower us to accomplish our vision.
Roles: Where Do I
Accomplish My Mission?
We all have
specific areas and our personal lives that demand attention if we're going to
authentically succeed. We have to
examine these rolls and identify them in order to develop specific strategies
for each one. We need to take the
time to write down all of the various roles we play and our life, especially
regarding responsibilities. Just as
in our business, we have a role with our friends and family that his specific
and vital. Roles might revolve
around seven Fs:
Goals: Where And
How Do I Achieve My Mission?
For each role that
we haven't life, we need to develop specific logical goals.
We need to determine what we want to accomplish in each of our roles
during our lifetime. What would you like to seeing your children at the end of
your life? What legacy do I want to
leave to them, which values, character traits, areas of service, and spiritual
lessons to one to teach your children? Once
these specific roles and goals have been identified, then we need to develop
further specific short-range goals that income us this year. For example, if one of the goals for our children is for them
to become authentic lovers of people, or to have a heart and compassion for
others, then what one thing can you do this year to help them develop that
characteristic?
Next, we need to
move the goals from this year to this week.
How can we develop something into our schedule this week that will begin
to achieve this life goal in our children?
Once we have
developed this fourfold process: purpose, vision, roles, and goals-we have the
parameters of our mission statement.
Now, we must
combine these elements into a short-range paragraph or phrase that encompasses
the essence of each one. This
summary along with the four comprising elements can be adjusted throughout the
rest of our life.
The development of
a mission statement is critical to everything else and it is imperative that we
take the time to thoroughly consider this project, as it will be the foundation
for further change in our lives.
Learning to March to a Mission
Once we have
articulated and developed our mission, then we need to learn how to
"march" to it. There are
several skills that will help us in this area.
The skills are: seeing our purpose clearly, wanting it desperately,
accomplishing it wholeheartedly, and following it faithfully.
1.
See our purpose clearly
If we're going to
see our purpose clearly, then it is necessary to observe several principles.
First our purpose needs to be very particular.
We need to specialize our mission statement through goal development.
We must make goals that are measurable and specific.
We must make them enjoyable but inspiring.
Then we must build these goals into our schedule.
In being proactive and taking control of our life, we need to have a
particular sense of purpose.
Next, we need to
have a personal sense of purpose.
We need to know why we do things the way we do.
Widely used band the money the way you do? Why the use of free time the way you do?
What causes you to dress as you do with the morning were on weekends?
Often the reason has nothing to do with our mission and life but rather
we do things in a certain way because that is the way our friends, parents, or
associates have expected of us.
Next, we must make
our purpose preeminent. The
mission needs to be the unifying factor about which we organize the rest of our
lives. We need to be willing to pay
the price for it. As Martin Luther
King Jr. said, "if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he
isn't fit to live."
2.
Want your purpose desperately
The second
principle has to do with our constant motivation.
We must desperately want to accomplish our mission and life recognizing
that we have but one time to go through life and we went to maximize our
successes while minimizing our failures.
Socrates was
walking by the water one day when a young man asked him, "Socrates, may I
be your disciple?" Socrates
didn't say anything: he merely started to walk into the water. The young man followed him saying again, "Socrates,
please let me be your disciple." But
Socrates continued to keep his mouth shut and walked out of further into the
water. The young man still
followed, somewhat perplexedly asking, "Socrates-" at that point,
Socrates turned around, grabbed at the young man by the hair, and pushed them
under the water, and held them under the water until he knew he could take no
more. The young man came up gasping
for air. Socrates looked at him and
said, "young man, when you desire truths as much as you desire air, then
you can be my disciple."
How desperately do
we want something? After we have
put our vision, purpose, rolls, goals, and guiding principles into print, we
think about them all the time. We
need to keep them in our minds reading them over and over, while rehearsing
them, praying for their accomplishments. We
need to talk about them, interact with people concerning our vision.
We need to tell our friends and family about what we wanted to, and let
them hold this accountable for accomplishing these goals.
Remember that life
a short. So accomplish what you
truly want to accomplish. We need
to develop a deep sense of the preciousness and shortness of our lives, and live
in light of that!
3.
Accomplish your purpose wholeheartedly
We need to be very
committed to moving ahead. There is
a difference between involvement and commitment as typified by the story of the
pagan and the chicken. The story
goes the two animals or walking along one day when they happened by a church.
The sermon title on the sign outside was: "how can we feed the
starting masses of the world?" The
chicken turned to the pig said, “I know.
We can feed them ham and eggs."
The pig said to the chicken, "for use debts and involvement.
For me that's a total commitment."
The pig had to lay down his life; the chicken just had to produce a few
eggs.
W.H. Murray wrote:
“Until one is committed there is hesitancy. The chance to drawback. Always ineffectiveness. The moment one definitely commits oneself within Providence moves to. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision raising in one's favor are all matter of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamt would have, his way.”
We must first
learned to commit to. If we're ever
going to accomplish our purpose wholeheartedly, enthusiastically, and fully,
then we have got to commit ourselves to act.
4.
Follow your purpose faithfully
In short, we must
learn not to quit. We must stick
with our purpose regardless of whether things are going well or not.
Booker T. Washington said, "you measure the size of an
accomplishment by the obstacles you have to overcome to achieve"
A father was once discussing with his son why the young man should not to quit high school as he was proposing to do.