Happy New Year!
As I’ve been reflecting on what to share with you as we move into 2025, I thought about how people make resolutions. There are people who make these resolutions without really thinking through how prepared they are to start, sustain, and even attain the goals that they desire. Many times, setting themselves up to fail. The research of people and resolutions tells us that many people don’t even continue the actions of the resolutions for even 30 days!
So, what I would like to challenge you to do over the next 30 days, is determine your own personal mission…your purpose. This is actually a great exercise for you to reflect on your own values and aspirations. These will better help you determine what motivates you, your “why”, and what your “purpose” is to better fulfill your life in a more healthy and equitable manner.
Do you have a “Personal Mission”?
Here is an article that was shared with school nurses more than 15 years ago at the Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Program (JJSHLP) with some of the cohorts. The article provides a template of questions and information to write your personal mission statement. Information below is from the article by Su, n.d.:
“What is your purpose? What is your mission? …share your goals and aspirations” (Su, n.d.).
Here are the instructions:
· Find a place where you will not be interrupted. Turn off your cell phone.
· Take 3 deep breaths and clear your mind.
· Write the answers to each question down. Write the first thing that pops into your head. Write without editing. It is important to write out your answers.
· Write quickly. Give yourself less than 60 seconds a question
· Be honest. Only you will see it. Do not edit answers.
· Enjoy the moment and smile as you write.
1. What makes you smile? (Activities, people, events, hobbies, projects, etc.)
2. What are your favorite things to do in the past? What about now?
3. What activities make you lose track of time?
4. What makes you feel great about yourself?
5. Who inspires you most? (Anyone you know or do not know. Family, friends, authors, artists, leaders, etc.) Which qualities inspire you, in each person?
6. What are you naturally good at? (Skills, abilities, gifts etc.)
7. What do people typically ask you for help in?
8. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
9. What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?
10. You are now 90 years old, sitting on a rocking chair outside your porch; you can feel the spring breeze gently brushing against your face. You are blissful and happy and are pleased with the wonderful life you’ve been blessed with. Looking back at your life and all that you’ve achieved and acquired, all the relationships you’ve developed; what matters to you most? List them out.
11. What are your deepest values?
12. What were some challenges, difficulties and hardships you’ve overcome or are in the process of overcoming? How did you do it?
13. What causes do you strongly believe in? Connect with?
14. If you could get a message across to a large group of people. Who would those people be? What would your message be?
15. Given your talents, passions and values. How could you use these resources to serve, to help, to contribute? ( to people, beings, causes, organization, environment, planet, etc.)
Steps to create your Personal Mission Statement
From your responses to the 15 questions, populate these three columns:
Things you are good at
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Things you enjoy doing
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Things that make you feel as if you’re giving back and gives you a sense of purpose!
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From the three lists, look for the thread that makes them similar, the common theme, between all three and highlight those similarities. Amongst the highlights, you’ll find the matrix of your talents, happiness, purpose that will lead you to your passion. Document the common threads/themes:
From your responses to the 15 questions list out action words you connect with. Example: educate, accomplish, empower, encourage, improve, help, give, guide, inspire, integrate, master, motivate, nurture, organize, produce, promote, travel, spread, share, satisfy, understand, teach, write, etc.
Based on your answers to the 15 questions. List everything and everyone that you believe you can help.
Example: People, creatures, organizations, causes, groups, environment, etc.
Identify your end goal. How will the “who” from your above answer benefit from what you “do”?
Combine your steps from the 4 prior responses into a sentence, or 2-3 sentences.
After you complete this exercise to determine your personal mission statement, take the time to review it and reflect again. Then, you will need to look at your work-life-harmony to see what steps you can take to attain the goals of the “Mission”. Right now, might not be the best time, but there might be “baby steps” that you can take to get closer. You might be able to jump in full force. We are all at different stages in our lives and we should have goals that we want to attain in mind.
I will use myself as an example. I had written a very basic mission statement about educating nurses. Back then, I was seeking out information about how nurses communicate with each other. I attended events and explored various platforms of communication to reach nursing (especially school nurses) colleagues. Once I realized the power of the “world wide web” and listservs (now communities), I knew I wanted to share my knowledge to empower (school) nurses. Today, I am on several other platforms for nurses generally beside these with NASN. Anyway, the initial “baby steps” that I took were in my state. There was a school nursing listserv, NJ School Nurse Listserv, that I learned about in approximately 2007, that was created by Dr. Lorraine Chewey and modeled after the national, SCHLRN-L listserv (now NASN School Nurse-Open Forum) created by Dr. Martha Dewey-Bergren. I was hooked! Soon thereafter joining the NJ platform, I joined the SCHLRN-L listserv providing responses on the national level to school nurses. I knew I really found the platforms to educate nurses and fulfill part of my purpose, which I actually call “my ministry”. I knew I had a gift and dove in headfirst…a gift! There was no limit to the time I would take to provide responses. Yes, it is a gift that I came to realize my ability to read and research information to share with you. This is just the beginning snippet of the ‘educating nurses’ purpose I am sharing with you.
In reviewing the 15 questions today, I can see how the basic personal mission statement that I wrote when in the JJSHLP lead me to one of my purposes. Thank you, John Kriger, for sharing this exercise and Dr. Chewey and Dr. Dewey-Bergren, who had the platforms available. Giving you all flowers for being a part of my purpose journey. I just wanted to share one of the many examples of how I am fulfilling and still working on “my purposes”.
I do hope that you will consider completing this exercise. I posted it above and you can find out your personal mission statement and purpose. It will help to give you clarity if you really are not sure about these. Whether, like me, it is about educating nursing colleagues or a project that you determine to undertake in your school district, know that there is something out there that you have a “purpose” to address.
All of the information related to the 15 questions and creation of the personal mission statement is from the article by Su. You can go to the link in the reference to see it.
Have a great second half of your school year.
I do hope that if you feel comfortable enough to share information related to your personal mission statement, purpose, goals, or aspirations that you will add to the conversation as a comment. We can always learn from each other and might find similarities.
Happy 2025!
Reference
Su, T. (n.d). Life on purpose: 15 questions to discover your personal mission. Think Simple Now. https://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/life-on-purpose-15-questions-to-discover-your-personal-mission/.