Habit 2 - Personal Mission Statement

Before I proceed with Habit 3, I want to have a ‘first draft’ of my personal mission statement. When I started working with the exercises discussed in my last entry I realized this was no easy task that you whip out in half an hour. So I decided to give myself some time and read the chapter on Habit 2 in the “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People” book.

Covey confirms what I quickly realized:

A mission statement is not something you write overnight. It takes deep introspection, careful analysis, thoughtful expression, and often many rewrites to produce it in it’s final form. It may take you several weeks or even months before you feel really comfortable with it…

So, I’ve gotten started, and intend to spend a bit of time on this project each day, taking notes about ideas, thinking about my roles in life and what I want to achieve, and what I value most.

Covey discusses some things in the book that are not discussed on the audio tapes. He talks about ‘right brain’ thinking, and it’s importance in discovering our mission and values, and expanding our perspective. To me, when thinking about a complex problem, this kind of thinking is where the logic ends, and part of our brain is able to synthesize all the parts into a whole that captures the essence. He also discusses the visualization and affirmation as ways to instill new behaviors in ourselves, and notes that peak performers in sports and other fields are visualizers – they imagine the results, and often their actions, beforehand.

In the book he also spends a lot of time discussing the different ‘centers’ we can be driven by: family centered, work centered, money centered, pleasure centered, self-centered, friend centered. Most people are dominated by just a few of these centers, and it determines how they react to life. Then there is principle centered living, which leads to the highest degree of personal integrity, the most resilience to change, and the greatest potential for effectiveness in all areas of life. This is where a personal mission statement comes in.

Covey encourages you to begin by thinking about your roles in life, and to think about what your 2 or 3 most important goals (contributions and achievements) are in those roles, and what values should guide you. It may take time to discover the overarching principles and mission that guide and prioritize all the roles in your life. He also recommends starting a collection of notes, quotes, and ideas that we may want to use in your personal mission statement. And of course, most importantly, he recommends that you set aside some time to work on your personal mission statement.