Quest for Personal Mission

Writing a personal mission statement is something I've been thinking about doing for about a year and a half now. During the summer of 2008, I interned with Montgomery County, Virginia and assisted Division Directors with thinking through and writing out their Division's mission statement, performance goals, and strategic plan for achieving them. I remember thinking that the skills I learned in my internship could be used in my own personal life as a way of casting vision for my future. I never got around to actually putting pen to paper on this topic, but the job search process has required me to put a lot of energy into considering identity questions - Who am I? Who do I want to be? What do I care about? What type of job would I like to have? Where do I want to live? What talents and skills do I have to offer? How has my past affected who I've become and who I'll be? What weaknesses inhibit me from realizing my dreams?...and the list goes on.

A friend of mine (Callie) posted an article on this blog a couple of weeks ago that reminded me of my goal to write a personal mission statement. I can totally relate to what the author says:

"Much of my early career was spent in frustration -- too much time spent worrying about my next step and a lot of floundering whenever I faced an important career decision. What I was missing was a core mission to refer back to, something to guide my decisions by tying them to my aspirations. I discovered that you gain inner strength when you define your deepest priorities. By writing them down, I was able to distinguish them from distractions that didn't contribute to fulfilling my life's mission. Clarifying your personal philosophy will help you in a similar way: If you know your life's goals, aspirations, and priorities and have a strong sense of what you stand for, these tenets will guide your career (and life) decisions. If you don't have a sense of your overall direction, you will get lost somewhere along the way...direction determines destination and it takes some reflection to find that major direction inside of you. I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they do their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change."

One of the benefits of being unemployed is that I have ample time to reflect on these things. I think it's finally time for me to follow through on writing out my personal mission statement. In the past, I've always just kind of taken things step by step; which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I've never felt like I had direction in my decision-making or an end destination in mind. I wouldn't say that I want that destination to be a certain job, location, or salary. I think the "destination" the author is referring to is larger than that - it's figuring out who you are and who you want to be. The "direction" is learning how to make life decisions that align with the destination you're pursuing.

For further reading, you can view the entire article Callie posted at: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2010_01_15/caredit.a1000007