Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Our Family Mission Statement Makes Me S.M.I.L.E.

With the New Year underway, my mind has been predictably reverting to that of the Organizing-Me. I’ve been thinking goals, goals, goals:

Has our family met ones we set before? What are our current goals? What is our game plan for reaching them? Do we have a MISSION? A PURPOSE? A TRUE NORTH? Might we finally come up with a concise statement to check in with when making choices? Something to guide us in big decisions and small. A statement that encapsulates what we value and how we aim to prioritize our principles.

Good news for me! After years of waffling, I don’t need to wait any longer for such a touchstone to materialize:


These words will soon appear in our living room, both textually and as a vision board of sorts, as a constant reminder of our family's purpose.

I could not be more excited.

Now, I know it may seem silly that I am bursting with pleasure over such a simple statement. Indulge me, though.  I like words. I like direction. I like having a summit in sight and a plan for reaching it. Plus, I love living on purpose. Our family’s S.M.I.L.E statement not only provides all this, but it also symbolizes something our family has sought after: Unity!

For years now, my husband and I have hashed over a family mission statement. Sometimes, we talked about it. (Okay, even bickered.) At other times, we quizzed each other with questions, which we found online and in print about living purpose-driven lives. (Okay, I usually badgered Mike with these.) Periodically, we tried encapsulate our big ideas in a concise statement. (Am I ever concise?) Occasionally, we even included the kids in our efforts.  And this year, we did it! We synthesized words to describe our mutual purpose as a family.

We penned a purpose statement that speaks to us and about us one that defines our principles and pursuits. It is broad enough for flexibility, but specific enough to offer direction and accountability. Moreover, if makes me SMILE!

Big thanks to my husband for indulging me through completing this seemingly simple, but years-in-the-making task.  Now that the to-do of writing it is done, the satisfaction of consciously living it has begun.

Do you have a family mission or purpose statement?  What process did you use for creating it?  How has it helped center your family?  How do you display it and check-in with it?  Do share!

If you don't have a purpose statement, but would like to  get started on one, here are some resources that have inspired us in the process at one point or another:

5 comments:

Holly Gomez said...

Love the ideas! On sunday i gave a talk to Engaged couples and two of the suggestions was to set family goals and a mission statement. My husband and I revisit these goals on our anniversary every year.

Martianne said...

I think that's awesome, Holly. Revisiting goals and missions is probabaly more important than creating them in the first place. I know Mike and I have always set and revisited goals, but now our goals feel like they even more meaning and honed purpose with our mission agreed upon more.

Polly said...

Love it! I really like how you used an acronym to help you create it. Wishing you all the best in living it out!

Martianne said...

Thank you, Polly!

Heather said...

This is a great post! We recently wrote our own family mission statement as well. You can read about it here http://www.townsend-house.com/2012/02/organized-simplicity-part-2-mission.html I am your newest follower, would love it if you would follow me back!

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