An 11 Minute Read.
Often times, we drift through life. Without ever meaning to. Or, more concerning to me, without ever believing that we are simply drifting. This is because we have two brains, as Zoe Chance Yale professor explains: the alligator and the judge. The alligator is subconscious, the judge is more deliberate, but even the judge uses the alligator to make decisions.
This is why we need systems in place to help us make decisions and move forward in our lives in the way we actually want to move forward in our lives. Otherwise, we are sitting on the couch eating cheddar powdered popcorn rewatching the entire Breaking Bad franchise for the fifteenth time. Okay, maybe that’s just me but you get the idea.
An essential part of creating your system is crafting a personal mission statement. Writing a personal mission statement is like creating a roadmap for your life.
- A personal mission statement helps you identify and articulate your core values, guiding principles, and ultimate goals. It provides clarity on why you do what you do, making decisions easier and more aligned with your true self.
- Life is full of distractions and competing demands. A mission statement keeps you focused on what matters most, helping you prioritize actions that move you toward your vision, rather than getting sidetracked by less important things.
- It acts as a decision-making compass. When faced with choices, you can measure options against your mission, ensuring you’re staying true to your values and long-term goals rather than making impulsive or externally driven decisions.
- A well-crafted mission statement encourages ongoing reflection and self-improvement. It challenges you to grow, evolve, and make intentional progress towards becoming the best version of yourself.
- Knowing your purpose and direction fuels motivation, especially during tough times. It serves as a reminder of why you’re pushing forward, boosting your confidence and resilience when obstacles arise.
- Your mission statement isn’t just about achieving personal success—it’s about defining the impact you want to have on the world. It helps you think beyond immediate goals and consider your broader contribution to society, relationships, or future generations.
- Crafting a mission statement forces you to reflect deeply on who you really are. It helps you live more authentically, acting in harmony with your beliefs and values rather than following societal expectations or others’ desires for you.
In essence, a personal mission statement ensures that you’re living intentionally, with purpose and direction, rather than drifting through life aimlessly or responding to external pressures. It’s a powerful tool for staying grounded and making your life choices meaningful.
The 411
Additionally, when you use your personal mission statement in conjunction with a tool such as the 411, you create a dynamic framework that aligns your daily actions with your core values and long-term goals. This synergy not only helps you prioritize your time and resources effectively but also fosters a sense of accountability, ensuring that each task you undertake brings you one step closer to fulfilling your mission and vision for your life.
The 411 Worksheet is a productivity tool designed to help you stay focused on your most important goals, aligning your daily tasks with your long-term objectives. In fact, the 411 asks you to begin with the end in mind.
The name “411” stands for 4 weeks, 1 month, 1 year, and it provides a structured way to break down your annual goals into monthly and weekly actions. The system is widely used in the context of The ONE Thing philosophy by Gary Keller, which emphasizes prioritizing the few key tasks that will yield the greatest results.
Key Components of the 411 Worksheet
- Annual Goals (1 Year): At the top of the worksheet, you list your primary goals for the year. These should be your big-picture objectives, both personal and professional. For real estate, this could be the number of deals you want to close, or in personal life, milestones like writing a novel or hitting a fitness goal.
- Monthly Goals (1 Month): For each annual goal, you break down the milestones you need to achieve each month. These monthly goals should move you closer to your yearly targets, making them more manageable and actionable.
- Weekly Tasks (4 Weeks): Next, you outline the specific tasks and actions for the week that will lead to the completion of your monthly goals. Each week’s tasks should directly contribute to your progress on the monthly and, ultimately, annual goals.
How to Use the 411 Worksheet
- Start with the End in Mind: Begin by identifying your long-term goals (your “ONE Thing”) and what success looks like at the end of the year.
- Break Down Goals by Month: Ask yourself, “What do I need to achieve this month to stay on track for my annual goals?” These monthly goals should be significant milestones that require strategic effort.
- Create Weekly Tasks: Each week, define the specific actions or tasks you must accomplish to reach your monthly goals. These are the practical, day-to-day steps that drive results.
Key Benefits
- Focus on the 20% That Matters: The 411 system encourages you to prioritize the small number of tasks (the 20%) that will produce the greatest impact (80% of results).
- Clarity and Alignment: By breaking down your long-term goals into smaller, time-bound actions, you gain clarity on what to focus on each week. This alignment ensures that your daily tasks contribute to your bigger objectives.
- Accountability: The worksheet is typically revisited weekly, keeping you accountable for staying on track with both your monthly and annual goals.
Example
If your annual goal is to close 24 real estate deals in a year:
- Annual Goal: Close 24 deals.
- Monthly Goal: Close 2 deals this month, and host 3 open houses.
- Weekly Task: Call 10 new leads, schedule 1 open house, follow up with existing clients, and post two marketing pieces.
Uhm, the 411 does not have to be real estate focused. For example, if your annual goal is to strengthen your relationship with your children:
- Annual Goal: Strengthen my relationship with my children and foster their emotional intelligence.
- Monthly Goal: Establish a weekly family game night.
- Weekly Task: Choose and schedule a game for family game night.
The 411 Worksheet helps simplify complex goals by chunking them into actionable weekly and monthly tasks. It’s an essential tool for anyone looking to align their daily actions with their broader goals, keeping you on track and focused on the most impactful tasks.
You can download the 411 worksheet here.
What I Learned From Developing a Teaching Philosphy
Back when I was an undergraduate taking education courses, we had to develop a teaching philosophy. And again we did this in a professionalism class in grad school. Having two masters, I’d become somewhat the pro at writing teaching philosophies.
Maybe the hardest aspect of writing these very brief on paragraph at most statements is that the philosophy had to be based firmly within a pedagogy theory along with concrete examples of how that pedagogy played out in your classroom.
I was a pretty big Constructivist. Still am really. The Constructivism learning theory is based on the idea that students actually create their own learning based on their previous experiences. Students take what they’re being taught and add it to their previous knowledge and experiences, creating a reality that’s unique to them. Pretty cool, right?
I was also a part of the ungrading movement. Man, I just hate grades. Especially since in college the student became so grade-focused that the assignments turned into not learning experiences but what hoops what activities do I as the student have to perform to receive the grade I want. In other words, their focus centered on the grade and not the learning. But I wanted students to make mistakes, because that’s one of the ways learning happens. In fact, if you tried a brand-new writing technique in class that you had never attempted before, and the assignment turned out terrible, a complete utter trash, you didn’t get an F in my class. You got an A. Why? Because you tried something new! Even if the new technique didn’t work out for you in the way you had hoped, the attempt created a unique experience for you as a student, and that’s what mattered.
So how did those two ideas, constructionism and ungrading actually show up in my classroom? Well one, I employed scaffolding within a lecture-workshop-feedback-revision framework. I taught the technique, then we did the technique in the classroom. Then students shared the assignment in class with each other and me for feedback, then we revised. And often, we revised in the classroom. Additionally, students graded their own essays.
Scaffolding by the way is an instructional practice where a teacher gradually removes guidance and support as students learn and become more competent. Having students grade their own essays was me removing all of the scaffolding.
I wish I had copies of the teaching philosophies I’ve written over the years. My most recent philosophy was from 2021 and you can read it here if you’re interested.
I say I wish I had copies of the philosophies I’ve written because one my of my most important lessons I learned is that the philosophies grow and change and evolve the longer you teach. When I first thought about teaching, when I was first asked to write a philosophy, it was the hardest, most difficult thing I’d ever written. I was under the false assumption that the philosophy I wrote would be static and unchanging, that I’d be stuck with whatever philosophy I wrote. The task seemed, well, daunting.
I believe that the same is true for a personal mission statement. The statement you create is not static, but should be revisited and revised as you move through life.
10 Steps to Develop Your Personal Mission Statement
- Reflect on Your Values: Identify what matters most to you. Consider aspects like integrity, creativity, community, or family. Write down your top five values.
- Consider Your Passions: Think about what you love to do. What activities bring you joy and fulfillment? Make a list of your passions.
- Identify Your Strengths: Recognize your skills and strengths. What are you naturally good at? How can you leverage these strengths in your life and career?
- Visualize Your Future: Imagine your ideal life in five to ten years. What do you want to achieve? Where do you want to be? Visualize this future clearly.
- Write Your Draft: Combine your values, passions, and strengths into a draft statement. Start with phrases like “I am committed to…” or “My purpose is…” and keep it concise.
- Seek Feedback: Share your draft with trusted friends, mentors, or family members. Ask for their input on whether your statement resonates with them and reflects your true self.
- Revise and Refine: Use the feedback to revise your statement. Focus on clarity and ensure it aligns with your core values and vision for the future.
- Make It Personal: Use language that feels authentic to you. Avoid jargon and ensure the statement resonates with your personality and style.
- Test Your Statement: Live with your mission statement for a week. See how it feels in your daily life. Does it inspire you? Adjust it as needed.
- Finalize and Commit: Once you’re satisfied, write it down clearly. Consider framing it or placing it somewhere visible to remind yourself of your mission regularly.
By thoughtfully articulating our values and aspirations, we equip ourselves with a powerful tool to navigate life’s complexities. Whether it’s through everyday decisions, career choices, or personal growth, a mission statement fosters clarity and alignment in our actions and allows us to escape our alligator brain.
Crafting a personal mission is not merely an exercise in self-discovery; it’s a commitment to living authentically and with intention. I encourage you to take the time to develop your mission statement, to embrace it, and to let it shape your future. In doing so, you’ll not only cultivate a more meaningful existence for yourself but also inspire those around you to embark on their paths of purposeful living.
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Here are the four other posts:
- What’s Spookier: Hurrican Milton or Halloween Spending?
- The Whale and the DoorDasher: Discovering Purpose in the Daily Grind
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- Toilet Paper Economics: A Crash Course in Supply and Demand
