Discovering My Personal Mission Statement

What an odd question. Is it normal for people to have missions? I mean, perhaps in a video game or in the military, sure. But does the average person have a mission? Do they have a mission statement, like a business? Hmm. I had never really thought about having a personal mission before. Sure, I have a value system and morals, but a mission… Let me think about this for a bit.

So, I asked ChatGPT to give me some examples of personal mission statements. It didn’t look at me like I am nuts, so apparently this is a thing? Well, here’s it’s response:

Certainly! Personal mission statements are a great way to define your goals and values. Here are seven examples:

1. Growth and Learning Focused: “To continuously grow and learn, both personally and professionally, and to apply my skills and knowledge to empower others, making a positive impact in their lives.”
2. Community and Service Oriented: “To dedicate my life to serving my community, striving to create positive change and provide support to those in need, always acting with compassion and integrity.”
3. Creativity and Innovation Driven: “To lead a life filled with creativity and innovation, constantly seeking new ways to express myself and inspire others, while maintaining a commitment to personal and professional excellence.”
4. Family-Centric: “To be a loving and supportive family member and friend, prioritizing relationships and cherishing every moment spent with loved ones, while striving to set a positive example for future generations.”
5. Career and Success Oriented: “To achieve professional excellence in my field, making significant contributions to my industry, while maintaining a healthy work-life balance and continuously seeking opportunities for growth.”
6. Health and Well-being Focused: “To maintain a lifestyle that prioritizes physical and mental health, inspiring others to do the same, and using my experiences to contribute to the well-being of my community.”
7. Environmental and Sustainability Advocate: “To live a life that actively contributes to environmental sustainability, advocating for responsible and eco-friendly practices, and educating others about the importance of protecting our planet.”

Each of these statements reflects different priorities and values, and can be tailored to fit individual aspirations and life paths.

I like 1 and 3. Maybe 4, but definitely 1 and 3. I’m certainly not health and well-being focused, I’m sitting in a recliner drinking a Vanilla Coca-Cola and typing on a laptop in front of a TV airing a show about ghosts and being locked down in a house. I’m not exactly living a healthy lifestyle.

I would like to say that I am career and success-oriented, but if you know me personally you would laugh at that. I mean, I can be successful with some things that I do, but overall I’m not exactly a model of a “successful person.”

As for environmental and sustainability… I’ve put a lot of thought into this before and in the US in today’s day and age, while you can strive to be more sustainable today than you were yesterday, I think it’s impossible to achieve a near-perfect sustainable lifestyle. I know, there are those extreme people who can manage, especially in a larger city or in a rural area to live a relatively sustainable lifestyle. However, where I live it isn’t that easy.

As for number 2, while I think it’s a noble cause I don’t think it’s one that I’m interested in. Most of my jobs have been in the service industry and I used to get a lot of satisfaction from that. But, it’s important to consider I was also being paid and it’s an industry someone can get into without any formal training or education.

I think if I had to choose a mission statement right now, it would probably be #1. “To continuously grow and learn, both personally and professionally, and to apply my skills and knowledge to empower others, making a positive impact in their lives.” This is something that I have valued my whole life. I’m a very curious person by nature. For example, when I was a child the doctor would have to set aside two back-to-back timeslots for my appointments because I would have so many questions for him.

Well, what started out as a weird question that took me half the day to think about turned out to be a rather rewarding blog post. I guess I now have a mission statement. All right folks, I think that’s enough for now. I may write another blog post tonight, not sure. I’m going to see about dinner and some TV. There are some free shows and movies I found that I’d really like to get a start on! Two of which are about aliens/UFOs (fiction & non-fiction). So, I’m going to switch the TV from ghosts to aliens. In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment with what your personal mission statement is, I’m curious to hear them!

Take care.