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How About A Mission Statement?

Guest post by: Richard Rondeau

Article Overview: If you're like most people, you've probably flirted around with New Year's resolutions: You've said, "THIS is the year I'm gonna lose weight and get in shape. Starting January 1, no more snacking. I'm joining the health club and I'm gonna work out daily. I may even do my first marathon." What happens? By March 1 (the latest ...) you're back on the junk food regimen, you've been to the club a total of five times (you're "just too busy to get there"), and you've filed that marathon application in the trash. And you've concluded, "Resolutions don't work for me." (You've got a lot of company on that one ...) Maybe you need a better approach. Instead of making a mental resolution, create a Mission Statement.

How About A Mission Statement?

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." Proverbs 29:18

If you're like most people, you've probably flirted around with New Year's resolutions: You've said, "THIS is the year I'm gonna lose weight and get in shape. Starting January 1, no more snacking. I'm joining the health club and I'm gonna work out daily. I may even do my first marathon." What happens? By March 1 (the latest ...) you're back on the junk food regimen, you've been to the club a total of five times (you're "just too busy to get there"), and you've filed that marathon application in the trash. And you've concluded, "Resolutions don't work for me." (You've got a lot of company on that one ...)

Maybe you need a better approach. Instead of making a mental resolution, create a Mission Statement. The difference?

A Mission Statement

• is a handwritten or typed-out paragraph
• is posted someplace you can see it regularly
• is committed to memory
• has specific, measurable outcomes
• has a deadline - in this case, December 31st

Here's a process you can use right now to create a Mission Statement for personal success in your career or business. Get out a pen and some paper.

Write down 5 positive personality characteristics you like about yourself in your career/business. For example: willingness to learn, persistence, creativity, friendliness, sense of humor.

Step B. For the items you listed above, describe the way you express each positive characteristic on a regular basis in your career, using the word "by" to begin each phrase. For example, if you listed "willingness to learn" above, you might write "by being committed to ongoing professional development" below. Another example: If you wrote "persistence" above, you might write "by making sure the job always gets done" below.

Step C. Write down 5 goals you'd like to achieve by one year from today. Be sure to list a specific financial goal separate from these 5 goals.

Step D. Look back over Steps A, B, and C, circling the 3 most important items in each column.

Step E. Now fill in the blanks of the following paragraph:

"My purpose is to express my __________________________ ,________________________, and ______________________ (write in the three items you circled in Step A) by

__________________________________________________,

by ________________________________________________, and by ____________________________________________ (write in the three items you circled in Step B) to create ___________________________________________________, ___________________________________________________ and _____________________________________________, (write in the three items you circled in Step C) and at least ____________ (write in your financial goal) by ___________ (write in the date one year from today)."

When finished, you will have a short paragraph that reads something like:

"My purpose is to express my intelligence, creativity, and people skills by continually learning and applying new ideas, by finding unique solutions to my clients' problems, and by building a powerful network of contacts to create 15 new corporate accounts, a steady flow of referral and renewal business, and full technological competence, and at least $125,000 in gross commissions by this date one year from today."

I hope you give this deceptively simple exercise a try, and I encourage you to follow the guidelines above by posting it where you can review it, committing it to memory, and reciting it daily. Then you won't need to make any more fruitless resolutions - you'll be like The Blues Brothers ... you'll be on "a Mission from God."

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Article Tags: first marathon, food regimen, health club, junk food, mission statement, new years resolutions, shape, trash
Referred by: http://www.westwindcos.com



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Mission Mantra - Why don't we call it a mission mantra? It depends on the business and how much emphasis they put on a Mission Statement or Mantra. Most of the business I've dealt with don't really care to much about a Mission Statement and only believe they need one because everyone else has one.
Re: Essential Leadership skills - Vision Values Mission Strategic Thinking Decision Making Communication Team Bonding People Development Coaching / Mentoring / Guiding / Grooming Presentation Thanks Robert
Do you believe in "Mantra" or "Mission Statem - In the Strategic Management course I'm currently taking, my group and I were supposed to come up with an improved mission statement for the organization we're analyzing or explain why the existing one doesn't need to be revised. However, business expert and author, Guy Kawasaki says "Forget mission statements; they're long, boring, and irrelevant. No one can ever remember them-much less implement them. Instead, take your meaning and make a mantra out of it. This will set your entire team on the right course" ("The Art of the Start" 3). Which do you use for your own businesses: Mantra, Mission Statements or neither? Thanks
Business lesssons from movies and TV - There's a new book out on doing business the Sopranos way... that's a TV show I never watched and I'm not interested in the book But sounds like a fun idea... Movies and TV do teach us things, even if only subliminally ... Toy Story is a good example of leadership styles between the "old way" Woody the wooden puppet and the "new way" Buzz the charismatic space ranger...(and one of my favorite movies...) Mission Impossible the tv series (not the abominable movies) would be great for plannng intricate operations and being prepared for anything...
You can see my Bank statement......... - Hi there, Today we are bombarded with 'Business Opportunities' by the multitude. I believe it is possible to earn a lot through the internet, but it is hard work. Nobody gets it very easy on a long term basis. [b][b]How much notice do people take[/b], [/b]when the Bank Statements are shown as means of 'how credible' their business idea is? Are they always totally true? They look authentic. The whole industry is growing rapidly. What is your experience? Is there any regulation in presenting the 'Bank Statement' or other statements from 'Click Bank' etc ? Kindest Regards Beat "Unlock People's Potentials!"


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