Welcome to the first part of Take a Chill Pill series! This is a series of blog posts designed to bring more mindfulness into your daily life as an online entrepreneur, so that you can experience a life of ease and flow (and more cash, duh).
I wanted to start my first post with a short introduction to mindfulness. The way I interpret it, mindfulness is an active awareness of yourself and should be practiced daily in order to improve yourself.
A FEW MINUTES FOR YOUR MIND
We often forget that our mind MUST be healthy, just like our physical body, in order for us to function at full capacity and achieve our goals. Just like you take the time to take a shower, brush your teeth, and eat every day, you should also take a few minutes every day to practice mindfulness. Even if it means that you will focus on your breath for a few seconds, a few times a day.
Today’s chill pill is about setting an intention and your mission statement. No, I don’t mean your business’ mission and vision statement. Your personal ones. Where are you going as a person?
THE DRIVER’S SEAT WITHOUT A WHEEL
If you think that having a personal mission statement is useless, think about driving a car without a steering wheel. You have a destination – your goal – and you have a machine – you – that pushes you forward. But what is going to keep you from driving into a tree or drifting off the road?
It’s you. In the driver’s seat. With a steering wheel. With an intention – a mission statement – you become in charge.
When you work on setting an intention in your life, you connect – or re-connect – to whatever is the most IMPORTANT in your life. This brings your conscious focus to how you ACTUALLY want to live your life.
It’s worth noting, though, that the intention you set does not have to be related to the big picture in your life. It can be just as simple and small as focusing on writing the next blog post. Or taking the next healthy bite.
A personal mission statement?
WHY DO YOU NEED TO SET AN INTENTION?
Making a mission statement for yourself will be useful to you for three reasons:
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you decide your own path and how you want to tackle the difficult areas in your life
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it reminds you that you are a being of free will, and nothing has the power over you, but you are also responsible for your own life
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it brings awareness to every situation in your life, which is the first step to changing things
I should mention, though, that intention setting and goal setting are not the same things. Your intention should represent something you want to achieve in life, but without specificity. Without the how you will do it.
HOW TO CRAFT A MISSION STATEMENT
Use the 3-step process to come up with a 3-4 sentence statement related to an area in your life that you would like to improve. This mission statement should and will be uniquely yours. Forget about what you “should” want, focus on your TRUE values.
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choose an area in your life that you would like to improve
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choose 3-5 values that feel important to you
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write your first draft:
My personal mission statement for {life area} is as follows:
After you have written the first draft of your mission statement, ask yourself these questions and edit the statement, if needed:
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How does it feel to have a mission statement? How can I commit to it to make a positive change for myself and others?
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What specific goals and/or actions can support this mission? Make sure these are small and simple!
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How can you develop a plan to accomplish your goals?
I would suggest writing your mission statement down on a piece of paper and either have it above your desk or always carry it with you. This will be one of the ways of practicing mindfulness every single day. It’s simple, isn’t it?
Download a printable worksheet from my VIP Vault with a BONUS list of values and examples, which will help you set your new mission statement in no time. It also includes a separate printable document for your amazing intention!
