This blog is one in a series I’m sharing this month, themed around mission-inspired visibility, with different approaches to help you to connect with your mission as a way to inspire you to get out there and be more visible.
There are two core elements to tune into when you’re developing your mission:
- your strengths (the things which you are good at)
- your values (the things which are important to you)
With these two elements as your foundation your mission, and the difference you can make in the world start to become clearer.
But the question of what’s important to you can sometimes feel challenging – how do you know? How do you put it into words?
I find the words on this image a fantastic starting point. These are common values that people hold around their life and specific elements of their life.
Have a go at identifying your values.
- Take a look at the image below and write down the words which resonate most with you when you think about what’s most important to you in your career.
- Once you’ve picked your words, narrow them down to your top 6.
If you find it hard to prioritise:
- look for those that group together and pick one which also captures the others in the group.
- describe what each value means to you, and notice which descriptions are most important.
- put it to one side for the day, come back to it tomorrow and see what’s changed.
You don’t need to get this perfect or figure out your values exactly to benefit from it. Just getting curious about the things that really matter to you can bring more clarity, and help you to get new insights about what you might want to include in your mission.
How do you use this information in your mission?
Your values give you the why of your mission, and your strengths give you the how.
When you look at these two elements together you can start to ask “what can I do that builds on my strengths and honours those things that are important to me?”.
The answers that emerge are the ideas for what your mission could be…
Over this series of blog posts, I’m sharing ideas, exercises, and stories to get you thinking about your mission, with the aim of helping you get more clarity on what your mission might be.
Check out the previous blog post on What’s Your Offering To The World? to connect with your strengths, and then once you’ve captured your values, check out the next post on Fitting All The Pieces Together.
If you want to get into more depth in discovering your mission my Whats Your Why programme is a one-month, self-directed online programme designed to connect you with what’s important to you and the things that motivate you, and turn these into a mission and vision. It also includes practical steps to help you to take your mission into the world to increase your visibility, influence, impact and authenticity. Or you can get direct, personalised support from me by booking a one-hour one-to-one Uncover Your Mission session.
And if you’d like to get these blogs delivered directly to your inbox on a weekly basis, sign up for my email newsletter here.
