All of us have become proficient at doing all the major components of the business plan at work. We know how to define goals, create plans, execute priorities and evaluate success.
However, very few of us use these same disciplines to help lead our personal lives. Research shows that approximately 95% of us have never written out our personal goals in life, but of the 5% who have, 95% have achieved them.
Steven Covey popularized the phrase Personal Mission Statement in his bestselling book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He makes the point that ultimately all professional success flows out of our ability to lead ourselves first.
Every day we must say no to something because there is simply too much to do when you include the personal, family, career and civic responsibilities of our lives. If we do not take the time to define what we want our legacy to be for the people and things we care about the most they will by default usually end up on the no list.
What the annual plan does for your corporate productivity and performance your personal mission statement will do for the rest of your life. It will help define the core values for you personally and your family and set realistic goals with strategies that will help you to write your own script for the totality of your entire life.
It should never be acceptable to succeed in one area of our lives only to fail in all the others. Take the time to write down what is personally and professionally important to you in this life because in the end that is all that will really matter.