Tomorrow we welcome the New Year’s arrival with open arms and expectant hearts…Greetings 2016! If you have been following the Personal Mission Statement (PMS) blogs since December 1st, then hopefully you have done your introspective research and writing and are now ready to finalize the first draft of your 2016 PMS.

Today’s blog will conclude this series but before it does, I will include some sample statements so you can see that no two statements are alike. The beauty of drafting your PMS is that it uniquely reflects what is of most import and value to you…it is very PERSONAL and will not look like anyone else’s PMS, unless, of course you want it to.

Lastly, I would like to suggest you consider your PMS document as a statement in flux. The PMS you write for 2016 is written on parchment, not stone. It will serve you best when you allow it to be a living record, and its detail or simplicity is completely up to you. Over time, you may revise and update your PMS to reflect the natural ebb and flow of your life’s ever changing experiences. You are the author of this life-embracing, purpose-focused statement! For once, it’s safe to say that your PMS really is all  about you how you plan on living your ‘one wild and precious life’!

Sample 1 PMS: My mission is to act as an instrument of positive change in my family, my work and my community. I will utilize all of the talents that God has given me and will participate in all aspects of my life with energy, purpose and gratitude. I will utilize my talents in strategy and administration to ensure that my home is loving and calm, my workplace is productive and positive and my community is responsive and growing. Through this focus I will give more than I take and will provide a positive role model for my children, family and community.

Sample 2 PMS: My mission is to be a thankful, appreciative person. I will use my words with utmost care and, I will love others in sincerity and authenticity…in word, in deed, and in the feelings of my heart. I will live my life with child like wonder and humility. I will be always a learner; always a creator and delighter of beautiful things. I will live my life in love; not in fear; I will live in the realm of ‘all things are possible’ because of the One who has given Life to me.

Sample 3 PMS: My mission in life is to have my own family. I need to remember that what I do now in my life will affect them. Because of this, I try my best to do the right things that will benefit my future. I would someday like to have a large farm with horses where I can help handicapped children. I’d like to work with animals, maybe be a veterinarian. Mostly, I want to have time for my family. So today, I will study hard and stay away from things which may hinder or sidetrack my dream from happening.

Now that you have taken the first step towards preparing your Personal Mission Statement (PMS), the second step in planning your PMS is to look ahead, to your future. The first step asked you to consider those in your life whom you admire; those whose lives, abilities, ideals or passions resonated strongly with you. Your list might include descriptive qualities about these people like: compassionate, fearless, creative, forgiving, industrious, etc. Whatever your list contains realize this: it is a window into your soul. These are qualities or values that ‘ping’ you. These characteristics have captured your attention because they are important to you. These things are pointing you in the direction of your life’s purpose and mission. They are guiding you to your potential, to your passions.

Now for the second step in preparing your PMS ~ shift your focus to your distant future, and consider this: How do you want to be remembered? If you were to peek into your 90th birthday party celebration, who would be in that room with you celebrating your life? What kinds of things would these people say about how you lived? About what you mean to them? About what you taught them? What will the outstanding features of your years contain? In other words, what will your legacy be? You will no doubt hold many roles in 90 years of living. So whether you plan to leave a legacy or not, know this: you will leave a legacy, and you get to choose what it will become.

Please think about your legacy, because you are writing it everyday.
Gary Vaynerchuk

Once again, you will need to have pen and paper handy as you spend some time in the days ahead pondering these things for yourself. Remember the purpose of a PMS is to help you think deeply about your life, so that you may clarify and identify those things you value, what kind of person you want to become, and how you desire to accomplish these things. 

Additionally, when you make the effort to write these items down on paper, you are strongly imprinting and impressing your values, goals and aspirations upon your mind. In essence, you are making a ‘hard copy’
document which may be revisited time and again so your mission is always at the forefront of your vision.

There is much for you to think and write about in this coming week. I trust you will enjoy this process as you write down your days…because your life is your very own Work of Art.  And you are the only one who is uniquely qualified to make it a Master Piece!

Last week I posted a blog which I hoped would inspire you, my reader, to engage the coming new year with full-on focus and purpose…to make 2016 the year you craft your very own Personal Mission Statement (PMS).

Today’s blog is the first step in drafting your PMS, and it is relatively simple. It may be something like treasure hunting for you. Just make sure you have pen and paper at hand and prepare yourself to wander into the misty wonder-land of your heart, soul and mind. Are you ready? Then get set…to think about people you know (past or present, living or dead) whom you admire.

It does not matter whether you are personally acquainted with these folks. They many be historical figures from the very distant past of whom you have read, or they may be modern day leaders within the domains of  business, politics, entertainment, or athletics. And do not forget to consider the individuals with whom you have closest contact…those within your family, social and work environments.

Regardless of how you know these people, only include on your pad of paper those whom you admire. Then, and this is most important, consider what qualities of these individual’s lives ping you. What caught your attention, your admiration. Examine their lives. Then, jot these qualities down on your paper. These are clues into what you value in your own heart, in your own life. List these qualities in detail.

Give yourself the time and luxury to thoughtfully consider the lives of these folks, their attributes, their ambitions, their abilities…all those things of theirs which you admire. Your writing these things down will serve as your PMS repository. Give yourself permission to take some careful, reflective energies as you engage this process, and enjoy this most important first step in crafting your PMS.