A Page from My Mission Statement Diary

Recently, I was reading up on financial advice and they suggest creating a mission statement for your finances.  My husband and I have never formally done this--and the exercise may be worthwhile--but we discuss it a lot and I feel we have a non-formal version of it.

Since I read that article, I have been thinking that I should really create a health and fitness mission statement for myself.  I googled "Fitness Mission Statement" and got a lot of Gym mission statements.  Not *quite* the goal of the google.  But then, hidden among the results was this gem from FitBlogger.

Tangent: I had never been to FitBlogger before, but my good friend, Lyn, goes to the FitBloggin' Conference every year and I have been meaning to check it out.  I really should do that soon since this page is great!  I don't even know if the two are the same thing, but in my head they are...

So, I've decided to write a Health & Fitness Mission Statement for Erin in 2013.  And I will talk it out right here.  This particular glimpse into my crazy mind is free.  This time.

There are 10 Steps.

1. What are you passionate about? If you lose track of time doing something, what are you usually doing?
   
   I hate this question (starting off great, I know).  I have a hard time picking things.  I default to 'watching TV' and then immediately feel lazy and too shamed to put that down as an answer.  So I will think for a moment.  (Go grab a snack, I'll be here).  OK.  I've got it:
   
   Creating things.  I lose time the most making something.  Usually a scrapbook, handwritten/handmade card, the framework for an organizational scheme (think taking a blank Excel document and making Excel magic out of it!), handmade wedding or baby shower favors, plans and lists for a vacation.  I could keep listing things, but this is the gist. 
   
   It's not limited to crafts.  It's creation.  I once spent something ridiculous like 10 consecutive hours one Saturday creating a lifting database based on my personal trainer's routines.
   
2. On days you can’t wait to get out of bed, what is usually going on in your life?
   Something I have prepared for far in advance and am proud of the work I have put into it.
   
3. What do you want people to say about you after you die?
   
   That I loved.
   
4. List your values. Then consider them 2 at a time, then keep the most important one and cross the other one out. Use this method to narrow down your core values to 5 most important ones.  You can test them by thinking about how you feel if other people violate these values.  If they are truly the most important ones, the idea of that should be very upsetting.
   
   This is hard.  Googling has led me to this.  I will select 1014 from there.  And modify/add if I want to.  Then I will narrow it to 5.
   
   Achievement
   Adventure
   Close Relationships
   Creativity
   Decisiveness
   Economic Security
   Efficiency
   Excellence
   Helping Other People
   Honesty
   Independence Self-Respect
   Stability
   
   I didn't use their method because it was fundamentally flawed.  Unless you are choosing one, you are always left with a good value...and the final 4 on the list.  FAIL.  (If you don't see it, go ahead and think through it again.  I'll wait...)  Instead, I talked it through with my husband.  His defense of certain values being higher or lower was eye-opening.  :)
   
5. What amount of your day/week reflects your key governing values.  Such as is one value is family, how much time do you spend with/on family time, etc.
   
   I don't know how to answer this.  I'll break it out by value.
   
   Close Relationships: I spend a lot of time nurturing the relationship with my husband.  With my close friends, I try very hard to be intentional about making time for them. 
   
   Efficiency: I probably am considering the efficiency of my actions during the majority of my waking hours.
   
   Helping Other People: Sigh.  Not enough.  When I have an opportunity, I try to do it.
   
   Honesty:  When I was 22 and moved away from home to be a grown-up, I made a conscious decision to be truthful.  I am not perfect, but think I do a decent job.  So I spend a lot of time with this one too.
   
   Self-Respect:  Again, it is interwoven into my decisions throughout the day.
   
6. Return to your answers from the previous questions and highlight what stands out as your true passions, what you get excited about and your core personal values.
   
   The Act of Creation
   Realizing the Fruits of my Labor
   Maintaining and Growing Relationships
   Being Proud of Who I Am
   
7. Some additional questions to help focus.
   
   Who has been/is most influential in your life?
   I can't make a list.  I am constantly looking to better myself and in that I am influenced by someone any time they live their life in a way I would like to.
   
   What qualities of theirs do you admire?
   
   Usually it involves integrity, compassion, creativity, determination.  Anything that would make a better me.
   
   What have you gained from knowing them?
   
   So much.  How to be a better friend and member of society.  How to be proud of who I am because of the choices I make. 
   
   What would you like to be?
   
   Someone that people leave feeling better than when the arrived.
   
   What would you like to do?
   
   Anything that brings me happiness.
   
8. Again highlight anything from those questions that stand out from the list.
   
   Personal Growth
   Happiness
   
9. You should now have a nice scribbly piece(s) of paper that have you most important values on it.
   
   Gasp!  I do not!  But I do have a blog post...  :)
   
10. Using that list, draft of your mission statement.
    
    Um...Uh...  This is hard.  I'll use the example one as a template.  :)  Here goes:

Striving daily to expand my abilities at being a healthier person through being intentional about health and fitness and realizing the fruits of my preparations.  To inspire others through leadership and example to achieve their greatest possible health in an environment of integrity and respect.