Detecting your legacy

This is the part where it all comes together: your roles and responsablities and what was important about them for you, the core values you have detected by using any/all of the questions we mentionned 2 weeks ago, and what insights arose from the "beginning with the end in mind" exercise of last week. This is the red thread, where all of the above is condensed in a few words, or a few sentences or maybe more than that in what represents YOUR mission statement: your constitution. So what is your mark on the world? What do you want to be remembered for? A Personal mission statement should have the following qualities: - it is not invented, but detected - it is unique to you - it represents the best in you - it is higher than yourself - it covers all significant roles - it is to inspire and not to impress. It is worth the time and effort as this mission statement becomes your constitution: the criterion by which you measure everything else in your life. The beauty of it is that this is by no means " lost time" the time it takes you to detect it and word it, because in effect, the process itself, the inner journey you take, is just as important as the product. It makes you question your priorities and align your behaviour with your beliefs. Knowing what is important to you, knowing what you need to do, and doing it. I agree with Stephen Covey when he says: " A mission statement is not something that you write overnight. It takes deep introspection, careful analysis, thoughtful expression and often many re-writes to produce its final form." But when you do get it, and everything sort of clicks into place it is such an emotional and grounding feeling: yopu come together as a whole! I admit to having gotten quite emotional when I finally got that far! But just as our life is " work in progress", we need to regularly review and fine tune it over the years. Find your mission, cultivate it, integrate it, live it, review it! With thanks to Stephen Covey and his book on " The 7 principles of highly effective people". Final quotation from Robin Sharma (from the book: The Monk who sold his Ferrari): " The purpose of life, is a life of purpose." have fun! Let's make it happen!