Expand your Values into Life Purpose Statements
Businesses often decide on the shared values of their companies.
(Bear with, I’m going somewhere with this).
These are the moral, personal, and ethical standards by which they want to do business.
Mission Statements.
These are sentences encapsulating the special sauce of the company.
What sets them apart – often around their present goals.
They are typically focused on the customers.
Examples:
PayPal’s Mission Statement:
“To be the most convenient, secure, cost-effective payment solution.”
ASOS’ Mission Statement:
“To be the number 1 fashion destination for 20-somethings globally.”
Vision Statements.
These are typically focussed on the culture, the future, the bigger picture, the why.
Examples:
Amazon’s:
“To be the world’s most customer-centric company.”
IKEA’s:
“To create a better everyday life for many people.”
Purpose Statements
Some companies squish the two into a Purpose Statement.
It helps crystalise what the organisation is all about, for the customers AND employees.
We’ve been a little theoretical about it so far – thinking about values almost as abstract islands.
So let’s turn your shortlisted value words – into tangible:
Life Purpose Statements.
How you want to live your life, as a human, alongside other humans, while you’re here on the planet.
A top tip here is to look at the values you grouped together.
They can give you the perfect vocabulary to build your Life Purpose Statements with.
Other tips:
It’s NOT a time to avoid being cheesy.
Run straight towards that sh^t in this case.
It’s only for you.
Use inspiring words and vocabulary.
Our brains easily ignore tepid, blander words.
Try to include emotions and personal details.
This will make your statements more powerful.
Capitalise on what you’re good at.
This will make you bolder.
Make your value statements rich and meaningful.
This way they’ll inspire you to uphold them.
For example, you might have ‘Adventure’ as one of your final values.
Other values in the group might have been ‘fun’, ‘nature’, ‘friendship’ ‘challenge’.
So someone’s Life Purpose Statements might be:
Adventure: I will continually challenge myself whilst sharing fun and camaraderie in the nature I love so much.
Calmness: I will live life gently and mindfully, serenely savouring my moments.
Kindness: I will live a life of compassion, service and contribution to my fellow human.
Learning: I will live a life of expanding my knowledge; seeking out and sharing the truth.
Action:
Have a look at your top few values
(I don’t want to tell you how many – enough so it seems to cover who you are about, but not so many that its super-broad and gets dilutes – usually between 3 and 7 for most people)
and have a go at writing some Purpose Statements for each of them.