Mission Statement: the eight-step craft
Why this matters
Businesses write mission statements because they don't survive without one. A man is the same. A mission statement is the standing answer to "why are you here, and where are you going?" Most men carry the answer in their heads, vague and shifting. The chapter asks you to put it on paper.
Covey's published definition: a personal mission statement is "the personal, moral and ethical guidelines within which you can most happily express and fulfill yourself." Frankl, who survived four concentration camps, said the same in starker words: a man with a why can bear almost any how. The eight-step method in this chapter is a worked example of how to write yours. Don't expect to finish it in one sitting. Most people refine theirs over weeks; some over years.
What this chapter is
Once values are named, a personal mission statement turns them into a written declaration of life direction. Covey calls it "the personal moral and ethical guidelines within which you can most happily express and fulfill yourself." The York Rite Leadership tradition teaches an eight-step method for writing one. The chapters before this gave you the lens (Values) and the awareness of choice (Be Proactive); this chapter gives you the document the rest of the V-R-G-T arc points at.
How to practise it
A lesson walks the same seven steps every time. Read the intro, study the material, then drill it through Quick Fire, Matchup, Sequence, Flashcards, and the Mix capstone. Each step opens to the next; no choices to make in the middle of the work.
What if · take it further ▸
Sit with this
- Start step 1 right now. Name two people you admire and the specific qualities you'd like to emulate from each. The list doesn't need to be polished; it needs to exist.
- Imagine a friend who knew you well being asked to write your mission statement on your behalf. What sentence would he write? Sit with whether it matches the one you'd write for yourself. The gap is the data.
Connect to
- Values: the lens you plan through
Values. The mission is the written form of the values; values must come first.
- Be Proactive: the choice is yours
Be Proactive. The act of writing a mission is itself a proactive choice; Habit 1 is the precondition.
- Roles: the hats you wear
Roles. Step 3 (legacy) names every role; the next chapter goes deeper on roles as a planning unit.
- Goals: SMART and meaningful
Goals. Step 6 turns the mission into SMART goals; the Goals chapter handles the goal-setting craft.