My Mind's Ink

The lofty statements you hear preceding the company’s financial report are not inspiring. They were created by a committee of people you do not know and reflect views and values which you may only partially share.

A personal mission statement is created by a committee of one. No executive groups meet to discuss it and no voting is required. I wrote a mission statement this week, as part of The Project, because unlike its corporate equivalent, a personal statement has value to you and I.

I first designed a criteria I wanted the statement to fulfill:

A statement that has been distilled down to it’s essence. Nothing can be take away and nothing need be added.

The mission statement I eventually settled on was:

Create quality, beauty, and happiness.

Writing about the process of personal discovery is inherently arrogant. Emphatic statements about things you discovered five short minutes ago can sound egotistic and minimize the struggle that was required.

Writing those five words was not at all easy. What follows is all that came before them. I am presenting it here for a couple of reasons:

1. I am figuring out how The Project unfolds as I do it. I am not claiming to have any right answers, but you may discover your own approach by watching me muddle around.
2. I am happy with the five words I have chosen, but what led up to them was as revealing to me as the statement I created.

I am a fan of mixing and matching approaches to create something that appeals to me. The method that eventually brought me to my goal was a mixture of two processes.

Step One

I answered the 15 questions from this article.

1. What makes you smile?

Friends, drinks, patios, my girl, creating, building, love, making people smile, dogs, babies, someone else’s belly laugh, beauty, seeing someone I know achieve something

2. What are your favorite things to do in the past? What about now?

Past: Circus, patios with friends, environmental manager job, building new software, big projects, thinking, puzzles, major challenges, west coast trail, triathlon training, rock climbing
Now: Working on variety of things, writing, websites, construction projects

3. What activities make you lose track of time?

(In answering question two I wrote about a tangential thought for about a page. When I returned from my meandering the next thing I read was question 3.) Writing, programming, problem solving, puzzles, building, wood shop, crafts, researching, staring at a whiteboard (designing, project management, problem solving)

4. What makes you feel great about yourself?

Doing something worthwhile, seeing friends and family smile, my girl, my friends, I get along with almost everyone (I’m vanilla. no one hates vanilla)

5. Who inspires you most? Which qualities inspire you, in each person?

This one was interesting. I think it will eventually become the subject of it’s own post. I found everything that inspires me in people close to me. Some of the qualities were (in no order): smart, hard working, friendly, personable, calm, happy, funny, easy to laugh, supportive, kind hearted, easy going, capable, values friends and family, practical, tough, always looking for a good time.

6. What are you naturally good at? (Skills, abilities, gifts etc.)

Problem solving, listening, investigating, analysis, step by step processes like coding, thinking under pressure, fitting in / having fun anywhere, visualizing spatially (maps, plans, designs), planning and organizing

7. What do people typically ask you for help in?

Decisions or problems with multiple options or many aspects – distilling complex problems down.

8. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?

Physics, Computer Programming, carpentry / wood working

9. What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?

Traveling more, building a house. I was concerned at not being able to come up with more, until I realized what a good thing it was to live without regrets.

10. You are now 90 years old. Looking back at your life and all that you’ve achieved and acquired, all the relationships you’ve developed; what matters to you most?

My family and friends, doing something well and lasting, a happy life, my health (mental and physical)

11. What are your deepest values?

Happiness, friendship / love, kindness / forgiveness, knowledge / wisdom, activity, prosperity

12. What were some challenges, difficulties and hardships you’ve overcome or are in the process of overcoming? How did you do it?

Student loans was the only thing I could come up with, then it occurred to me that I had also been mugged, divorced, and fired. That none of these things struck me as hardships or difficulties probably says as much as the original answer.

13. What causes do you strongly believe in? Connect with?

Human rights, children, women, environment

14. If you could get a message across to a large group of people. Who would those people be? What would your message be?

The fundamental problems of the human race can only be addressed by applying our intellect with compassion, wisdom, kindness, and understanding.

15. Given your talents, passions and values. How could you use these resources to serve, to help, to contribute?

Building things: houses, websites, systems, designs
Communicating ideas and knowledge: writing, speaking, teaching

Step Two

List verbs you connect with: create, build, enjoy, inspire, write, share

Step Three

List everything and everyone that you believe you can help: Family and friends (family business?), people out to enjoy themselves (holidays, tourists, seeking entertainment), people or organizations with problems (troubled projects), people or organizations that need to communicate something, technology companies

Step Four

I now changed gears. I used all of the above as feedstock for this process, which simply gets you to write various iterations to the question What is my true purpose in life? until the answer brings tears to your eyes.

I started with five statements:

1. To get involved with a business or organization that benefits my family, friends, or community.
2. Create something of lasting value (quality and beauty?) – anything well designed and built I think is beautiful
3. To use the best of my body, mind, and spirit into the point above.
4. To have fun.
5. To bring others joy.

Then I began to write answers to the question.

1

To use the best of my spirit, body and mind to create something of lasting quality and beauty that benefits myself, my family, friends, or community and increases our brings us more happiness, enjoyments, and quality of life.

2

To use the best of my spirit, body, and mind to create something of lasting quality and beauty that benefits myself, my family, friends , or community [those I love (that's plenty big enough scope), humanity, those who know me (too limiting)] and brings us more happiness, enjoyment, and quality of life (improves our lives, makes us happier).

3

To use the best of my spirit, body, and mind (myself!) to create something of lasting quality and beauty⁺ that improves the lives of myself and my family, friends, and those I love.

⁺create something of beauty (it has to be quality to be beautiful), create beauty, create what?, create something of value lasting value, create things of value, participate in something of value (better expression for that!)

4

To use the best of myself to improve my life and that of those I love.

5

To use the best of myself to improve the lives of myself and those I love. (Great, but completely non-specific. I have removed to much?)

6

To use the best of myself to create something of quality and beauty (there has to be one word that means both of these) that improves the live of myself and those I love.

7

Do my best (this is weak) to contribute quality, beauty, and happiness in everything I do. (to the world?)

8

To use the best of myself (dedicate, my best?) to create something of (quality & beauty, value, excellence, worth?) that improves my life the lives of myself and those I love.

9

Contribute value Create work (should go beyond work) of value (too small) that improves contributes happiness to my life and those I love.

10

Put my heart into what I do. Be happy. Create things of quality and beauty. Contribute happiness to those I love through my labors.

11

Contribute (Create?) quality, beauty, and happiness to the lives of myself and those I love through the application of the best of my labor (terrible wording).

12

Contribute quality and beauty to the world (people’s lives) through my labors.

13

Create quality, beauty, and happiness

Epilogue

I knew I had reached the end of my quest for a mission statement when I wrote it down and felt that nothing needed to be changed.

If you have a statement of your own you would like to share please feel free to leave it in the comments.

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