From Perseverance Day 5, Page 314, Action Step: "I will write a life mission statement."

Why have a mission statement?
A properly crafted mission statement can help formulate your specific life purpose, give you the language to communicate that purpose, provide a value grid through which you run all your life decisions, and give you a pathway to follow to stay true to your goals.

What should a mission statement say?
A personal mission statement should be short enough to fit on a tee shirt, and a 12-year-old should be able to recite it. A complete personal mission statement succinctly summarizes:

• what kind of person you want to be (your characteristics)
• what you want to do (your purpose)
• the kind of impact you want to have (your influence)
• the source of your power to accomplish this (God).

How do you write a mission statement?
Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you arrive at your mission statement. Answer these questions, then use the answers as the starting point for drafting, reducing and refining your mission statement. Revisit it a few times to allow yourself time to process it and validate it.

1. What difference do I hope to make before I die? What contribution do I want to make to the world, and in my different roles in life?
2. What achievements would I be most proud to accomplish?
3. When I come to the end of my life, what do I want to be able to say on my deathbed? What would I tell people is worth all my time, energy and money in the days I have on earth?
4. Why has God put me on earth? What would honor Him as the creator of me? How did He design me to work? What makes me feel His pleasure?
5. What are my top five personal strengths?
6. What do others affirm in me?
7. What do I love getting involved in? What do I dread doing?
8. What are my core values in life? What do I despise?
9. What excites me about the world? What makes me cry? Get angry?
10. What is my ideal day? What activities, hobbies, relaxation, work, people, and fulfillment does it include?

Sample mission statements
The following sample life mission statements come from different sources, including several of our Life Purpose Coaches ©.

I exist to inspire women to discover and live out their unique life purpose; to live balanced, healthy, and thriving lives; and to become passionate in their personal relationship with God.

I am passionate about helping people improve physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

My passion is to empower Funny, Imaginative, Smart, Holy℠ women to discover God’s purpose for their life through the use of life plans, seminars, retreats, and grief facilitations.

My purpose is to make an eternal difference in the lives of children, through the empowering of the significant adults who “coach” children, to identify God’s purpose for their lives.

My life calling is to bring hope and healing to other Christian women who have experienced difficult events in their lives.

My mission is to equip and encourage women to live with passion for Christ, and soar with victory in God’s glorious purpose for their lives, so Jesus will shine through them to draw all men to Him.

My mission is to bring servant leadership to my family, my church, my profession, and the world.

I live my life as a solution to all nations and races, giving hope and future to the hopeless, the poor and the oppressed in and through Christ.

My purpose each day for the rest of my life is to grow spiritually and serve as a vessel of God's will. I will strive to make a positive difference in every person I interact with and always continue to improve my body, mind, emotions and spirit with truth and love. I remain teachable and grateful.

I want to teach my children and others to love and laugh, to learn and grow beyond their current bounds.

I am a responsible wife and mother; I give priority to these roles. I value differences and view them as strengths. I seek to build mutually beneficial relationships with family, friends, and co-workers. To keep these relationships healthy and to maintain a high level of trust, I make daily deposits in the emotional bank accounts of others.