I was recently facilitating a session with a client on the vision, missions and values of their company and I had the thought about the vision, mission and values of my life. What are they? Do I have them? Are they different from my purpose, and is this something I now need to think about? And then I wondered if anyone else has thoughts like this when wandering the seawall or in the shower.
From my experience with my consulting & advisory clients, people nowadays are less willing than ever to give discretionary effort at work, and a Gallup poll recently (November 2022) reported that (in the US) only 33% of employees agree that the mission or purpose of their company makes them feel like their job is important, which is the lowest it’s been since 2011. Curiosity begs then does my mission or purpose in life make me feel like I am important?
I don’t know the percentage of people who have their mission or purpose in life outlined, and Gallup doesn’t appear to have a poll for that, but in late 2021 I started studying neuroscience, a program that assigned determining my purpose as pre-work. Purpose is the reason you exist - which for some can feel way too big, so let’s start with what might feel more familiar or accessible. (But if interested in purpose work, there are many tools that support this such as Ikigai, meditation, deep self exploration through books, yoga, or retreats, and I think simply asking yourself “what lights my freaking hair on fire when I’m doing it?”)
What does this have to do with vision, mission and values you ask? A vision in life is typically something that we aspire to which is bigger than ourselves, like wanting to change the world (which I do). The mission is what you do with that from a day to day objectives standpoint, and your values are how you differentiate what is right or wrong for you in how you go about your life in that day to day, whether it be in your community, with your loved ones or when you are in solitude. Our behaviours are informed by our values, and when we betray our values we often find ourselves out of alignment and potentially in a state of depression, anxiety or fear.
Figuring out what your life vision, mission and values are provides the opportunity to design your life around them. When we figure out what we aspire to, what our daily life is for and what we truly believe in, we can be more intentional and more purposeful in those lives. When we are more purposeful in our lives we attract more of what we truly want such as time with our loved ones, and the ordinary nuances of life start to feel extraordinary. Life IS extraordinary, but how many of us are just going through life on autopilot or flailing about hoping to do our best and never actually asking ourselves what that best is?
Returning to the client workshop facilitation, I realized that we look to organizations to outline these things and provide an inspiring mission statement or vision for us to consider - their why. I dare say we are critical of those organizations whose vision or values don't inspire. We assess organizations through this criteria to decide is this the place I want to work? But, what about who I want to be? What am I aligning the values assessment of that organization to if I haven’t taken a look at that part of myself or really investigated what is of most value to me and how I spend my most precious resource, my time.
I spent many years letting life happen without a discerning eye. Now that I have intentionally gotten into the driver’s seat, evaluated what is most important to me, my aspirations, and what I am willing to spend my time doing, life has exponentially improved. I can say with my whole heart that I am truly the happiest I have ever been, I feel that with my whole body, and know that there is still more to come. My mind is now programmed towards pleasure and joy and seeking it in everything I do, celebrating it, paying attention to it.
I invite you, nay, challenge you to stop and think about it. Pay attention to it closely and ask yourself questions about what you let slide by on autopilot versus intentionally designing for yourself. You’re worth considering these things.
What I wish for you is to deeply love your time here, to see it clearly and completely, and learn what brings you the most joy in this wild and precious life. What do you wish for?
Comments