Mission. Most people have no idea what their mission in life is. They may have an thought of what they’d like to do with their life, but mission is something that eludes most people.
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I often wonder if mission is simply delusions of grandeur. A few years ago I talked about delusions of grandeur to a Bible study group. I said that to avoid this idea that we are better than everyone else, simply because we’re Christians, we have to first understand what our mission is.
When I walk around a graveyard, I see untapped potential. I see unwritten books. Unspoken knowledge and wisdom. So many people today live without vision. But how do we discover what our mission in life is?
What is mission?
Mission keeps us focused. It allows us to know where we’re going. Think about driving in a car. If you don’t plug in your GPS settings, you’ll wander around hoping you’ll end up at your destination. Mission plots our course, much like a GPS computer does in the car.
Stop worrying about tomorrow.
Jesus said it best, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” Matthew [6:34].
We to often worry and are anxious about what life has in-store for us. I get it. I run into the same issue myself. But is it worth worrying about what’s going to happen when we don’t know what tomorrow truly holds? No!
Jesus isn’t saying, don’t have a plan. Jesus is saying, don’t be anxious. No amount of anxiety brings clarity. In order to truly be at peace with tomorrow is to have a plan. Knowing where we desire to end up is what should keep us moving forward, while taking care of the things today.
Think, think, think.
As a new dad, to keep Amelia entertained while I”m working, I’ll throw on Winnie the Pooh. One of my favorite things he does when he encounters a problem he sits down, taps his head and says; “Think, think, think…”
When you encounter struggles and frustration in life, do you stop and think or try and power through?
When we lack vision our life is prone to lose track and stray into a life without integrity. When we begin to think through where it is we desire to end up, something happens within our spirit. We’re giving our inner self the power needed to plot a course through a treacherous life.
What does thinking about the future do for you?
- It gives you clarity for tomorrow. Even though Jesus said don’t worry about tomorrow, he’s saying don’t fear tomorrow. But having clarity gives you permission to move forward with your life.
- It gives you power to say ‘no.’ So many of us tend to be ‘yes’ people. I know I’ve been guilty of that. But if you want to go further in your life than the next person you must remain clear and say no to the things that don’t propel you forward.
- It gives you permission to live on purpose. It’s time for people to take control of their destiny. When we sit and do nothing, we lose focus. But when we begin to think through our mission in life, we gain insight into our true purpose. That is enough to keep use moving toward our future goal.
Write down your mission.
It’s great to have a mission in life. But for a lot of people it’s nothing more than, ‘this is what i want to or could do with my life’ instead of, ‘this is where my life is headed.‘
A personal mission statement is what you need to truly be clear on what you want your life to be. It’s a brief description of what you want to accomplish in a particular area of your life. I talked about this in last week’s podcast.
How do you craft a mission statement?
- Start with a template. When I began thinking about the mission of this blog, I knew I had to write down my mission and vision statements.
- My mission: Helping overwhelmed leaders and writers find their voice so they can succeed in life.
- My vision: Equipping with tools to see lives transformed so they can reach the world with their message.
But how did I get there? I started with a template. - I am… simply write down who you are.
- I dream/desire… write down your dream.
- to do… What do you want your dream to do?
- so that… write down the desired outcome of your dream/mission.
Here’s mine: I am a pastor, blogger, author. I help overwhelmed, worn-out leaders and writers stay motivated with clarity and tools so they can find their voice and succeed in their family, ministry and life.
- Attach SMART goals to your life mission.
- SPECIFIC – What do you want to accomplish? Write it down and make it specific.
- MEASURABLE – Make sure you can track it’s progress. Write down how you plan to accomplish your goal.
- ATTAINABLE/ACTIONABLE – Is it something you feel you are able to accomplish in time?
- REALISTIC – Are you shooting the breeze, or do you believe you can accomplish and reach your goal. Another way of saying it… is it relevant to you?
- TIMELY – There should be a sense of urgency to reaching your goal. Once you accomplish your goal, you can begin setting new goals to reach your mission in life.
When you begin to craft your mission statements you’ll discover that even though life is hard, it’s even harder when you’re not seeing where you’re headed in life. Stop drifting through life, write down your goals, know your mission and discover your purpose. Knowing your mission isn’t the endgame–it’s just the beginning.
If you truly want to know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ll end up. Begin plotting the course of your life. Know your priorities and begin living life on-purpose. When you do, you’ll have clarity for tomorrow and that anxiety will no longer be a problem.
[reminder]Do you have a mission statement for your life? Do you think you can use this template to create your own mission for life?[/reminder]
Jason (J.B.) Sisam. Best-selling Amazon author of the Christian Early Reader book, 
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