Ever feel like you’re wandering aimlessly through life?
Maybe you feel like you’ll never get to the important stuff you’d really like to do because you’re stuck making meals, driving kids around, running errands, picking up toys, and folding socks. Or perhaps you’re working a deadend 8-5 job and binge-watching Netflix with a bowl of ice cream at the end of the day, paying off a college degree that feels useless.
You long for something more. You want purpose and direction, someone to point you in the way you should go, to assure you that you’re doing the right thing. That’s where mission statements come in.
A mission statement describes who you want to be and what you want to do in life. It’s your roadmap to life. And the only person who can write it is YOU. ….Don’t panic. You can do this! I know you can! It only takes 30 minutes, and I’ll guide you every step of the way.
Tweet ThisHow to Write a Personal Mission Statement
1. Pray
Before you begin, pray for God’s guidance and wisdom. You were placed here on earth for a reason, and God wants you to live to the fullest capacity what He has prepared for your life. Ask God to give you clarity and bring to mind those areas of your life that He wants you to focus on.
2. List your roles, gifts, and dreams
Take out a piece of paper, and draw three columns. At the top of each column write Roles, Gifts, and Dreams.
Start with your roles. Ask yourself, “Who am I to others?” List who you are to the people around you, and it’s where you invest most of your time and energy.
So, for example, your list may include things like
- child of God
- wife
- mom
- daughter
- worker (get specific: homemaker, teacher, nurse, lawyer, writer, etc)
- friend
Next, list your unique gifts, talents, and experiences. Ask yourself, “What makes me unique? What makes me ME?” What do I enjoy doing and what am I good at. What are the words that other people use to describe me? What burdens my heart or makes me light up with excitement?”
Some words that could appear here are
- encourager
- organizer
- go-getter
- hostess
- patient
- thoughtful
- passionate about good food
- friendly
- athletic
- compassionate
- burdened for inner-city missions
(Those all don’t describe me, just so you know. I was just giving you examples to get your creative juices flowing.) 🙂
In the third column, list your dreams. Ask yourself, “What do I really want to do in life? What do I secretly dream of achieving? If I could do anything, what would I do?”
This is a place to dream big with God. Some God-sized dreams that friends have shared with me:
- I want to live in another country for a year.
- I want to write a best-selling novel.
- I want to start a fashion label that empowers girls who have been trafficked to live set free. (See Amy’s inspiring story here.)
- I want to pay off all my debt by the time I’m 30 and pay cash for my next house.
- I want to influence 100 girls for Christ during my lifetime.
Go wild and have fun with this. No dream is too wild or too big.
3. Prioritize your list
Now that you have everything on paper, highlight what’s most important on that list. We’re not eliminating the other things, but we are trying to hone in on the essential things that are integral to your identity.
And another thing: don’t let guilt weigh you down. If you need to, spend time in prayer over important areas that you’ve neglected and ask God to help you make them a priority going forward.
4. Create your legacy
Now that you’ve identified what’s most important, it’s time to think about how you want to handle those precious things. On a separate piece of paper, draft a simple legacy statement for each area you’ve highlighted as a priority. As popular blogger Michael Hyatt advises, picture your funeral. How do you want to be remembered? What sorts of things do you want people to say about you?
Look for ways to weave your gifts and dreams into your roles. In other words, how has God uniquely equipped and called you to impact the lives around you?
So for example, if one of your priorities is wife, a possible statement for that role would be “I want to be a wife who cheers her husband on and enables him to achieve his God-given potential using my gift of encouragement” or “I want to be a wife who makes her husband feel loved and cherish, making him want to come home every night.” Here’s a beautiful example of a mission statement from Intentional by Grace blogger Leigh Ann.
5. Revise it and live it!
Now that you have all your legacy statements on one piece of paper, guess what? You’ve just written your mission statement!
Yeah, I know. Exciting, isn’t it? 🙂
Post it on your fridge, in your prayer journal, or above your desk, somewhere you’ll see it every day. Take time to read through the statements and revise it to better fit your life. When new opportunities come up, review your mission statement and see if they align with your purpose in life. You’ll soon find it easier to say “no” to things you shouldn’t be doing and “yes” to your unique life purpose.
Remember: You are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do (Ephesians 2:10). God has a purpose for your life, and it’s something beautiful that only you can do.
Today, take time to pray and seek God’s direction for your life. Write down your mission statement and begin living it. Reclaim your life from the tyranny of the overwhelm and live the life God created you for. I’m cheering you on!