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Personal Mission Statements

Stephen Covey, in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, advocates strongly for writing a personal mission statement. Then use this as a compass in specific situations. He gives many reasons why having a personal mission statement is a crucial ingredient for highly effective people.

I have twice attended 3-day workshops sponsored by Covey Associates. The workshop leader asked us each time to raise our hand if we had written our personal mission statement. In each workshop, I was the only one who had written one. I was shocked. Covey's book gives so many good reasons for doing this. Why would someone sign up and pay for these workshops if they had not done this? The workshop leader guided us through writing our personal mission statement right then and there.

Writing your personal mission helps you clarify your core values. Your values can be your compass to guide you through turbulence. You make good decisions when they are based on your core values. You have to get clear on what really matters to you in the big picture. The clearer you get on what is important, the better you get at finding strategies to get there.

Clarity of intention is an important part of emotional intelligence and effectiveness in both big-picture and small-picture views. The big picture is about your core values that guide your life. The small picture is about what you want in a given situation. Ideally, you should get clear about the big picture values so that they inform what you want in daily situations. A good way to get clear about the big picture values is to write a personal mission statement.

I wrote my personal mission statement years ago, and it has kept me focused. I refer back to it to remind myself of my deeper values so that I express them in daily challenges. For example, a deep value in my personal mission statement is to help people develop professionally. Sometimes doing that may pull a person out of their comfort zone, and they may react negatively. This is a challenge to me. Do I continue to pull them out of their comfort zone, or back off? Then I remind myself of my value of developing people, and stay the course, but possibly with a different approach. This gives me a sense of integrity, which is another goal in my mission statement.

I noticed years ago that people don't seem to get around to writing their personal mission statement. Since then I have coached over 100 people through writing their own personal mission statement. All have been energized by the process. Some have told me later on that they kept on referring to their personal mission statement and were able to stay focused on their major goals. They were performing better as a result.

The personal mission statement is crucial for the big picture. I believe, however, that other forms of detailed planning are a matter of personal preference. Some people like more detailed goals and action steps planned out in advance. They make a plan and work the plan. Others prefer to stay flexible and react to needs in the moment. Either way may be more effective for a given person or in a certain work environment. Some work environments require a lot of planning. Others require fast shifting around. Some require both at different times.

I encourage you to get clear about your core values and intentions. Write your personal mission statement. If necessary, get my help, but do it. For more information contact me at Eagle Alliance website.

Article Source: http://articles.directorygold.com

www.EagleAlliance.com - Eagle Alliance Executive Coaching services www.EmotionallyIntelligentLeadership.com - Free Tips. www.EmotionallyIntelligentLeadership.com/index.htm#bottom/ -Scroll down for description of our Tele-Workshop,

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