Mission Statement

Yesterday I read this inspirational book that discussed, among other things, the importance of coming up with a mission or purpose statement for your life. The book suggested that this process can be completed in about 20 minutes and that you'll know when you've hit on the right mission statement. I was skeptical, but I decided to try it. Sure enough, with a lot of cross-outs and additions, it took me about 20 minutes. (And I can't believe I've never tried this before!)

This is what I wrote.

My mission and purpose in life is to:

1. Bring deep joy, heartfelt laughter, and genuine smiles to as many people as I can as often as I can;
2. Serve and bless the poor, the hurting, the hungry, the orphan, the sick, and all the less fortunate with extravagant compassion in the beautiful name of Jesus, and in so doing to turn my own brokenness into another’s healing as I minister to others as Christ has ministered to me;
3. Radically and continually point people to Christ and the abundant life He offers them through my actions, attitudes, spoken words, and writing;
4. Use my spiritual and personal gifts to the maximum and strive for exemplary excellence in everything I find to do;
5. Experience ALL of the life I am blessed to live with joy and passion, taking risks, pursuing new opportunities, and ultimately valuing and enjoying each moment as if it were made of solid gold.

If I do say so myself, I'm a pretty big fan of this mission statement and am pretty excited about it. I know it's actually quite vague, and I may need to get more specific later. Now, the book said I needed to condense it to one sentence, but I just couldn't do that. So each number represents something I care about deeply: bringing others joy and laughter, ministering to others, evangelism, pursuing excellence, and finally, passion, fun, and enjoying life. I'd really recommend doing this exercise, since I think it helps you quickly identify what you are so excited about that it keeps you up at night; what issues in the world make your heart ache that maybe you can help remedy; how to make goals for the future; and most of all, what really brings you joy and makes you feel fulfilled and like you're doing what you were created to do.