How to Write a Personal Mission Statement Over Lunch

Why do we do what we do?

Oddly, it’s a hard question to answer as many of us don’t have a response at the ready despite the question touching on how we spend our most precious resource: our time.

It was the fall of 2008 and I was seated in my office at the non-profit I served in the Pioneer Square neighborhood in Seattle. While snacking on two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a diet Dr. Pepper I attempted to define my life mission. That was at least my goal before my 30-minute break ended.

Step 1: Explore What You’re Passionate About

My hope was to draft a consistent personal mission that would make sense of what I’d done over the past 28 years of life, what I was currently doing for my work, and what I hoped to do in the coming years. My process started with brainstorming phrases that hit at the center of my passions.

Art.

Coffee.

Technology.

Communications.

Running.

Volunteering.

Start-ups.

I also saw how a personal mission could help me make choices easier in life, work, how I used my personal time, and where I investing my energies in the future. If a formal mission worked for a corporation or government agency, it would also work for a 20-something who was trying to figure his path out. ‘

Step 2: Brainstorm

After a few false starts I penned something that seemed to hang on the page. My mission in life is to…

Help people help others

Help people start businesses

Help people stay active

It sounded simple, but this did seem to touch on each part of my life I cared about. I have always been passionate about serving so the "helping others” part just made sense. As for starting businesses, I had been involved with a few startups and loved the ethos of creators: to make. The last part of my mission touched on my passion for being active. This has been a lifelong pursuit and something I knew made people better and more human.

Step 3: Test Your Mission Statement

In the decade since I’ve used the life mission countless times: to organize donations drives with friends and neighbors, to serve as Washington DECA project judge, and to begin my career as a trail running filmmaker. Over the years this simple mission statement has acted as an excellent screening tool. I simply ask myself “how does this fit with where I want to go?” If something doesn’t fit, I don’t do it. Easy.

I know the mission statement is working for me when I feel fulfilled in my life and when I grow and learn through the choices I make.

My hope is that this mission will continue to guide me in the next decade of life. And if it doesn’t, I guess I’ll have to have another peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunch.