Thursday, January 12, 2012

A Personal Mission


I start my day at 3 a.m. 

I start out each day with a clear purpose, knowing exactly what I want to accomplish in that first critical, creative hour. I set out with coffee in hand and then plow into my determined project for that day. Once 4 a.m. strikes, I’ve made a tangible dent into one of my many life affirming projects.  Then, I relax into a fun romp through my social networking sites as a reward. 

The rest of my day follows suit. I tackle those projects that I deem most life affirming first, then drift for a few deserved minutes into surfing the net for fun. By the end of a week, I’ve accomplished my weekly goals. By the end of the month, I’ve accomplished my monthly goals. And by the end of a year, I’ve accomplished my yearly goals.  

This is strict to some, but it works for me. And, that is what is most important. Find what works and stick to it. 


For me, the only way to clearly reach my goals is if I know what they are and become intimately familiar with them. I do this by writing a personal mission statement at the start of every year. In it I detail what I’d like the end result to be. Then, I set out to create it.  

“"The best way to predict your future is to create it." - Stephen Covey

Many people stumble when it comes to writing a mission statement because to write one takes time and clarity. I found if I start with the end in mind, I am more successful in deciding exactly what it is I want out of life. You might find it helpful to imagine your 80th birthday celebration. What would you like to have accomplished in your life by that point? What would you like for people to say to you as they hug you and eat a slice of cake alongside of you? The answers you come up with are the things you should be focusing on in your present life. Write them down. Create action steps to achieving them by setting up daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals that point to their completion. 

It’s never too late to start living your dreams. Just don’t wait too long because life is speeding by every second of the day! 



Wishing you success along the way,

Suzie

I feel it's critical to support the community, and so I've committed to donate a portion of my book sale proceeds to Chely Wright's LikeMe foundation (http://likeme.org/) to help provide support, resources and education to LGBT individuals, and their families and friends. 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, gawd! I am in awe of this approach and your ability to stick at it. It's inspirational but also makes me think I am not even trying! I think I lost sight of goals and direction a long time ago. I have found it again in a small very recently but this makes me realise that I am simply not doing enough at all to achieve anything like what I would hope for my 80th birthday.

Great post Suzie. Keep rockin' it my friend!

Shannon Lindsey (@sunnshyn333) said...

I love this. I once wrote a list of my personality traits which I hated about myself and hurt others. I took more than a year, but I crossed of each trait as I changed it. Maybe it is time to make a new one to get back on track physically and mentally. Thank you for sharing and inspiring.

Subhash Nair said...

Well you don have to start your day by 3am to accomplish certain things..."Rise with the sun" is what suggested,is it not??? As all other things in this world,even a sound 8 hours sleep is also important.So another 2 hours of sleep will increase your chances of accomplishing your dreams...what you say???

Regards,
Subhash Nair
http://nani-waybeyond.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

@Shannon: Thanks for sharing and helping to inspire others with your comment. I wish you continued success!

Suzie

Unknown said...

@Subhash: Thank you for leaving a comment. I believe we all have to find what works best with our situation. For me, 3 am works. I get my 8 hours sleep. My day and my choices demand I start earlier than most. For you, sunrise works best. For others maybe it's sundown. Everyone is different. That's why I was careful in saying: "Find what works and stick to it."

Much success to you!
Suzie

Brandon Harrison said...

I did this as well at the beginning of this year. Of course, you know I have my site. But I also have private writings. I write my goals and what I want to accomplish in those books and I don't share them with anyone. They're for me to know and to accomplish. This year, they happen to be emotional goals, but goals nonetheless. This is a wonderful message that people could really glean from. Great job, once again! :)

Anonymous said...

Hello Suzie. I am so happy I started to read your blogs. They are very, very inspirational to me. I think I am going to work on a similiar approach to meeting my goals I set for the year. My goals this year for me are very challenging, but will be very rewarding to me if I accomplish them all. Thank You for the great blogs!! Reading them has started me to enjoy life more. Thank You for being a true inspiration and mentor to me.
Hugs!! Cindy Lou Kuz 15