How to Create a Personal Mission Statement & Goals

So you've decided to turn your life around. You want to live up to your potential; to be everything you can be. And that's a good thing. Congratulations for making that decision. Now it's time for you to begin that transformation. In order to achieve that goal, you have to first fully define it. Understand exactly what you want so you can take the proper steps to attain it. And one great way to do that is to create a personal mission statement and goals.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil/pen
• Paper

Instructions

Create Your Own Personal Mission Statement and Goals

1. Make a list of what you're good at. Write down everything you excel at. Stick to activities such as cooking, cleaning, writing, woodworking and so forth. This may be a short list or a lengthy list, but make sure that it is both honest and accurate.

2. Write down what you enjoy doing. Some of these may not match what you're good at, but that's OK. If you enjoy dancing, making crafts, white water rafting or working with numbers, write it down. It doesn't matter how trivial a certain activity might seem. You may be surprised later on how you can work it into your finalized mission statement.

3. Match your list of what you're good at with what you enjoy doing to create potential occupations.
   If you wrote down that you excel at instructing and you enjoy working with children, you could write down teacher. Or if you listed bodybuilding as something you're good at and sports as something you love, you might want to list jobs such as coach or personal fitness instructor.
   While you are doing this, keep in mind that your "occupation" does not necessarily have to be a profitable one. It could end up being a stay-at-home mother or joining Greenpeace.

4. Think realistically. Now that you have a list of potential occupations, narrow it down as logically as possible. If you are 47 years old and have no past history in the fashion world, you probably don't have much of a chance of becoming a model. Or if you have a bad back, then you should probably rule out anything involving heavy lifting.

5. Choose an occupation. Out of the remaining potential careers/activities, select the one that fits you best. Write it down and determine that you will achieve it.

6. Write down the goals you have to accomplish in order to achieve your larger objective. List them in the order that you will have to achieve them. For example, if you want to become a professional engineer, your list might possibly look like this:
   1) Apply to colleges
   2) Obtain my bachelor's degree in engineering.
   3) Send out resumes to likely employers.