Today is May 7th, which marks almost a quarter of the way through the month, and almost a quarter of the way through the 31 Day Reset Challenge! After a busy Friday and Saturday, I had to play catch-up with my last few assignments, but I'm back on track! So far, the exercises have been extremely insightful, and have really made me look at things and think about things differently.
The past few assignments have centred around personal values - the things in life that are important to us, and the things that we hold dear. The first step on Day 4 was to identify the things in life that we value - a few of mine were "optimal health and wellness", "traveling", "financial success & security", and "inspiring and empowering others". From the list of approximately 20 that I wrote down, the next step was to then create my Reset 10 list - selecting the top 10 values.
On Day 5, we took it a step further. First, I had to review my Reset 10 and rate myself on a scale from 1-10 on how well I was embracing or living up to that value. "Maintaining a happy marriage" rated a 9, "optimal health and wellness" rated a 4, and "owning a beautiful home" rated 1 (hey, we all gotta start somewhere!). It was at this point that I took an honest look at what was important to me, and just how well I was or wasn't doing at upholding that importance. It's quite easy to write a list of all the things we value in life, but it's much more difficult to hold that list up to real life and see how it compares. Not rating myself highly on owning a home wasn't a terrible thing, seeing as how I'm just starting out on the path to home ownership. However, other items that weren't rated so highly gave me the sads, and further reminded me that I was WELL overdue for a change.
Part 2 of Day 5 focused on values in action - for each value, we had to identify 3 things we would do to be actively engaged within them. For "optimal health and wellness" I wrote workout regularly, eat well, and de-stress. For "do fulfilling work" I wrote work somewhere that fits my values, build more as an entrepreneur, and find ways to help others. My sads started to fade away at this point - putting my values into action gave me a bit of a game plan on what to do in order to live up to my values. Items that were rated 1's or 2's weren't dead ends - it was just a starting point, and there was literally nowhere to go but up!
I patiently awaited my Day 6 email this morning, and wondered what we were going to do next with our values. I got my answer when the email arrived - the next task was to create a personal mission statement. A great definition of personal mission statement was provided by the personal development site Dumb Little Man:
Your personal mission statement should be a concise representation of what's most important to you, what you desire to focus on, what you want to achieve, and, ultimately, who you want to become. In its purest form, it's an approach to your life, one that allows you to identify a focus of energy, creativity, and vision in living a life in support of your inner-most beliefs and values. Also remember that your mission will change over time as you and your life change.
From there, I took my various values and drew up what I consider to be my personal mission statement:
My mission in life is to live the dream. In all areas, I plan to make my aspirations a reality, and live the type of life that I have always imagined. Above all, I value wellness, happiness, love, fulfillment, and success. I honour optimal holistic health & wellness in mind, body, and soul. I honour my marriage by maintaining open communication, honesty, support, laughter, love, and fun with my husband. I honour my family and friendships by maintaining closeness and always being there for each other. I honour the impact I will leave on the world by doing work that fulfills me, that inspires and empowers, and that allows me to use my skills and experiences to help others. I embrace my entrepreneurial spirit and my artistic spirit, and will create my own success. I embrace financial success & stability, traveling, and having the perfect home to return to after a long day. Positivity, prayer, faith, and breaking the rules when necessary - all of these things will help me to live the dream.
Yes, it's a mouthful, and no, I don't plan on memorizing it any time soon - but I could see how reading this first thing in the morning may help me to get the day started off right! After creating my personal mission statement, I'm more motivated than ever. Time to live up to my values!
If you're part of the 31 Day Reset Challenge, let me know! Are you enjoying it so far? Whether you're in the challenge or not, what do you think about creating a personal mission statement?
Don't forget my Bee-Day celebrations going down this Friday at Fashionably Late's Timeline party - Dazzling Lounge, 291 King Street W. is the location! The only gift I need is your presence!