Life mission statement.

The importance of having direction in your life:


I'd been thinking for a long time about my life and it's purpose, (if any!), and came to understand that those who have a clear life purpose or clear goals in life, tend to be more likely to excel and achieve those goals (maybe because if a goal is clearly defined, then it's easier to figure out a way to achieve those goals?) I guess for a long time in my youth, my goals in life where kind of vague and not well-defined, and always shifting. I can put this down to not knowing enough about my self and my values due to lack of life experience - and it's very understandable really.  Only as I approached the ripe age of 30 did I think I knew enough about myself, my values and the world around to actually start and formulate some defined goals that have a good foundation, and it helped a lot in becoming clearer in my head about where i was going in my life. I consequently wrote those goals down - and as a result I was able to spend my relatively limited time focusing more in life on things which contributed to my goals and spend less time on things that I guess didn't really enrich my life in a meaningful way.



On recently listening to a podcast by Steve Pavlina, which is called Clarity (See http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2014/02/clarity/ ) - he describes very clearly what he calls his life mission statement - and encourages others to do the same.  So I did, below. I'd already had an idea about what my main goals in life were and what is important in my life, but by writing this down in a 'life mission statement' sort of way, it really helps to clarify just what your life is about!



My life mission:


Firstly I want to live (so mission achieved I guess ha :-), but seriously, in terms of a life mission - I want to try and Live BETTER. To improve is what gives my life meaning & direction, and any accomplishments towards this goal gives me a lot of satisfaction.

For me, to live better, means to focus on improving well-being. Both improving the well-being of myself, but also those around - including my family & friends. (And taking it to another, more ambitious level, (in whatever way I can) - trying to improving the well-being of the wider community/society, and sustaining the well-being of the planet)

On an individual level - this means: 
- firstly, constantly learning about what contributes to well-being (reading a lot around the area of positive psychology and the work of Martin Seligman) & then how I can bring this into my life
- focus on self-development, growth & developing the character traits that contribute to well-being
- focus on mental & physical health
- focus on developing & improving my personal relationships
- pursuing my passions & interests
- aligning my work with my passions to earn a living in an enjoyable way
- living in an enriching home & environment

On a general level:
- I want to to try and share what I have learned on myself and improve the well-being of others around me, including my daughter, my wife & family & friends.
- But I also want to improve the well-being of others in the wider community/society/world by what I can do in person, but also what I can do online (I have a lot of online projects)
- Underlying the well-being of us all is a healthy, thriving planet and I want to therefore help us live in a more sustainable way.

So there you go - a general overview of my life's mission statement. For every general point above they are quite complex (I hope to delve into things in more detail in future blog posts) and each point above involves lots of sub-goals - but for now I just wanted to get my general life mission statement down on paper. I really recommend having a think your self about your life's mission  - however simple or complex it may be - it's really useful to have one so your life has purpose!



Thanks for reading, Stuart!

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Stuart Hodgson is a freelance graphic designer with a passion & interest in health & well-being. His life's purpose is to simply try and Live Better. Stuart is also curator of a popular inspirational quotes website and if you like this blog then you'll probably enjoy the site - visit www.inspirational-quotes-about-life.net 

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