Why Everyone needs Vision, Value and Mission statements

By Shazad

Most Companies, countries and even some families have them. We see them written on walls and websites as well as slide decks. I’m talking about Vision, Values and Mission statements. These are 3 different but related things. We should have all 3 of these for our personal lives to transform how we think, act and speak.

A Vision is something to strive for that pulls us toward SOMETHING GREATER. A vision is something that is always out of our grasp but the seeking of which drives a person, nation or company towards every constant improvement.

Values define HOW we behave as we move forward towards our Vision. We need Values to articulate what our core beliefs are and the code of conduct we live by. Writing down 2 to 5 Values and reviewing them on regular basis can be enough to make sure our thoughts, words and actions are aligned with our authentic self.

A Mission is a time-stamped challenging goal we hope to achieve. It can take many months or years to achieve and is aligned with our Vision. Missions can be determined by external factors as well as originating from our internal Values. Mission Statements help a person or a company organize its resources to concentrate efforts towards something significant that you can be proud of when it is achieved. Having Missions ensures there is movement in life towards the achievement of something worth doing. Missions can be very motivating and inspire growth in individuals and nations such as the race to land a person on the Moon and safely return them to Earth.

If you want to truly be inspired and live according to your true principles, you also need to define your Vision, Value and Mission statements.

Action Steps:

  1. Define what your personal VISION is for your life and write it down. Review it often and refine it as needed each year.

  2. Define what your VALUES are and why they are important to you. Have 3-5 core values and write them out. Review these every week if not daily, to remind you to align your actions with those values.

  3. Create at least one MISSION statement for the next 6-12 Months and write out some details on the major steps to achieving this Mission. Review your Mission Statement every day and refine it as needed to get you closer to achieving it.