Use our free personal mission statement generator to define your purpose in life and inspire you to take action and reach your potential.

What is a Personal Mission Statement?

A personal mission statement a similar to a personal constitution. Your mission statement should define your purpose in life. It should inspire you to take action and reach your potential.

A personal mission statement can help give you clarity and focus and live a more balanced life. It will help you define your long-term goals and know when you are going in the right direction.

If you don’t take the time to think about who you are and what you want in life, then you don’t really fulfill yourself and you don’t live your best life. We only have one precious life and if we don’t plan, time will pass and we will not live our life to the fullest. If you don’t know where you are going then you probably won’t get there. However, when you have a mission statement that describes what you truly desire to achieve in life, then you begin each day or task with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination. You will not only use it to plan your time so that you focus on the things that really matter to you but you will also use it as a basis for making major life decisions. When you live your life with direction and purpose, then can you reach your potential and live a happy and fulfilling life.

Viktor Frankl, was the founder of Logotherapy, a form of psychological analysis, that analyzes the importance of purpose and meaning in life. According to Logotherapy, many mental and emotional illnesses are really symptoms of an underlying sense of meaninglessness or emptiness. This emptiness can be eliminated by helping someone find his mission in life.

Once you find your mission in life, you will find direction in your life. Once you know where you want to go, you can set long- and short-term goals. Once you have set your goals, you will know how to use your time effectively.

Habit 2, in the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is to “Begin with the End in Mind”. Dr. Stephen Covey explained that there is no better way to implement this than to develop a personal mission statement. Your personal mission statement should focus on what you want to be (character) and to do (contributions and achievements) and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based (your core values).

Since each person is unique, their personal mission statement should reflect that uniqueness.

It takes a while to write your personal mission statement and even when it is complete you will keep making changes until you are totally satisfied.

How to write a Personal Mission Statement

Stephen Covey explains that a mission statement is not something you write overnight. It takes deep introspection, and careful analysis, to create your own personal mission statement. Even once you have completed it, you might want to review it regularly and make minor changes as your priorities and circumstances change. Once you have written your personal mission statement and you are satisfied with it, it will become your own personal constitution. It will express your vision and values and it will guide you in life.

To write your personal mission statement you have to dive deep to clarify and understand your priorities and beliefs and to align your behavior with your beliefs. You will stop letting life drive you. Instead, you will have a mission and you will lead your life according to this mission.

Stephen Covey explains that in order to write a personal mission statement, we must begin at the very center of our Circle of Influence. Your circle of influence is the things that are important to you and that you can do something about. When you focus on your circle of influence then you are using your energy and attention where it counts since you have power over these things and therefore have the potential to make changes.

Identify the various areas of your life

We each have a number of different roles in our lives – different areas in which we have responsibility. Your role could be as an individual, a partner, a parent, and a business owner, etc. Each of these roles is important.

One of the problems in life is that some people don’t take all their roles into account. As a result, they don’t have the balance that they need in life. For example, they might work too much and neglect their family or personal health. Your mission statement will be much more balanced if you break it down into the specific role areas of your life and the goals you want to accomplish in each area.

• What is your professional role? For example, you might be a salesperson, a manager, or a product developer.
• What are your personal roles? For example, husband, wife, father, mother, neighbor, friend, etc.
• Do you have community roles? For example, the political area, public service, or volunteer organizations.

List the two or three important results you feel you should accomplish in each area to move ahead

Ask yourself what is to you in each of these roles. What would you like to achieve?

Dr. Stephen R. Covey asks an interesting question to help you know what to include in your statement. Imagine you are at your 80^th birthday party. What would you like the speaker to say about you, your life, your character, and your contribution? Which achievements would you want them to remember? What impact would you have liked to have made in their lives? What are the values that should guide you?

Do this exercise to help you set goals for each of your roles.