Most companies whether for profit or not for profit have some type of corporate mission or vision statement. It is a document that provides and understanding of purpose and helps to provide direction for the company. In essence, it is something that answers the questions “What are we in business for?” It is the glue that holds the fabric of a company together and provides purpose for its employees.
So don’t you think that if it is this important for companies to have mission statements, that we should too. After all we are the CEO of ourselves. We are the employees that make ourselves go. We are the maintenance staff, support staff, and doings of company “Me.” So if we are serious about ourselves, then we need to be serious about putting together a mission statement to help define purpose for us, to provide direction and help us to harness out abilities to reach our goal.
For me, I started the process of developing my personal mission statement about 12 years ago. I did it at the behest of my FranklinCovey Planner, which had a section in it titled mission. I have spent most of the 12 years honing it, praying about it, refining it and changing it to get where it is today. I use it every day of my life. I read it each day before I look at the task that I need to do. I reflect on it each week when I plan for the following week and I spend time pouring over it and refining it once a year when I do long range planning for my life.
So how do you get started? There are some links to mission statement builders such as this one from FranklinCovey or this from Nightingale Conant. You can use these if you want, or you can consider the following steps to help you create your own person mission statement.
1. First, think about your passions in life. What is it that gets you up in the morning? What is it that makes you tick? What is it that when you do it time seems to fly by. Whatever it is that drives you, write that down because you will need it through the process of putting together your mission statement.
2. Also, Identify your Core Values. What is it that defines you? What are the core ideas or attributes that describe you? After you put your list together, consider talking to some close friends or a significant other or spouse and get their take on what values they see in you. You may come up with a lot, but I would try and keep it down to 5 to 7 values that are really important. When you get those, then consider writing a statement that expresses that value and how it functions in your life.
3. Next, consider the various roles that you play. What are the different hats you wear? For example, for me it is father, husband, disciple of Christ, worker, project leader, minister, me, family/friend and so forth. I suggest that you limit this to 7 at the most. Once we get past seven you start to get into analysis paralysis. When you have determined the roles, then put together a statement about what success looks like in the different roles.
4. Finally, what do you want said at your funeral? I know this sounds a little weird, but it is the best test to determine who you hope to achieve. Stephen Covey tells us that we have an innate desire to Live, Love, Learn and Leave a Legacy. The Leave a Legacy part is how we want people to remember us. So think about that and consider using that as part of the creation of your mission statement.
Take the answers to these four questions and started crafting your mission statement. It can be whatever format you want it to be because it is yours. It can be poetry, prose, bullet points, hymns, songs or paragraphs and just do it.
Consider these steps and put together your own personal mission statement. I believe that you will find that you will be more focused, it will be easier to say yes and no to request in your life and get more stuff done that you had before. A personal mission statement will provide clarity for your live. Couldn’t you use that?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Showing posts with label FranklinCovey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FranklinCovey. Show all posts
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Are you organized?
A friend of mine at work is trying to get their life organized. They have tried, unsuccessfully, to take a class that I teach on getting organized about 4 times. They have recently purchased an organizer by Franklin Covey to try and help too. I helped them put their planner together and reminded them of some of the tricks of the trade that we have talked about before. I also recommended reading the David Allen book that I posted a review about before.
As I think about this, I wanted to try and put together some best practices list that would help people based on the years that I have been trying to work on this. This is a melding of ideas and I will attempt to make sure that I give proper credit where credit is due.
1. I recommend that you have some type of organization system. It needs to be organic, that means it grows as you grow and changes as you change. I use a combination of Microsoft Outlook and a Franklin Covey planner.
2. Time management all starts with a deep seated understanding of who you are. I was introduced to this concept in the 7 Habits and through the Franklin Covey system. The concept is to have a personal mission statement. It took me about 10 years to get one done and in line with my beliefs, so do not get discouraged if you think that it is not coming along. It is similar to a mission statement of a company, but it is for you. The reason that this is so important is that you need to make sure that you have a basis for what you are going to do each and every day. With a mission statement you have a “true north” and Stephen Covey would put it. You can agree and not agree to do things based on that statement and you can feel good about it. It also reminds you what the important things are and the not so important things are as you start to plan you days each week.
3. A combination of things that I have learned from my experience with Covey and with Allen is the importance of scheduling/reviewing weekly. You need to take time each week to look at what you did, see if there is anything new you need to add into the system and then plan for the following week. It is important to set aside this time each week to do this.
4. One of the best rules that I learn from David Allen is the “2 Minute Rule.” Anything that you encounter through the day (or as David Allen puts it the “stuff” that you encounter) you need to look at it and ask if it can be done it 2 minutes or less. If it can be done then you need to go ahead and do it since it would cost you more time to look at it now, put it in the system and retrieve it and do it. This is a great bit of advice for dealing with e-mail and snail mail as well.
5. David Allen also tells us of the importance of the 3 Ds. That means you need to either do it, delegate it of defer it. I think the important part is about deferring it. It needs to be considered when you have things that have gone undone or that you have not been able to get it. By doing one of the three Ds you allow yourself to help clear things out of your head and you start to think clearly.
6. Speaking of getting things out of your head, another David Allen topic, it is important to keep paper and pen close by all the time. This allows you to write down anything that comes to mind that you need to get out of your head. In essence, this provides you a way to get the mess out of your brain and clear up some of the space between your ears that you can use to be more creative and focus on the things you really need to focus on.
7. When you are planning, plan the “big rocks” first and then the “little rocks” next. I learned this in Franklin Covey training. Big rocks are the things that are most important in your life and need to be addressed and put into the calendar first. Once those are in your calendar or system, then you can start scheduling less that are of lesser importance.
8. I learned this helpful tip from David Allen. Group similar tasks together and get them done at the same time. Take the time to schedule and make all your phone call that you need to make. If you have a variety of work that needs to be done with the use of a computer or the internet, schedule them together and make sure you are at your desk. Taking time to group things makes it easier to get them done and helps you to compartmentalize things in your brain so you are not worrying about calls when you are working on your computer and vice versa.
9. I used to get bogged down the massive tasks in my life. It seems like I would just stare and big things and never get them done. It was only when I started to realize that I need to not look at how big the task was, but break them down to smaller levels that I was able to get things done. It also allowed for me to celebrate successes on the way to getting it done and I was able to help build momentum for the larger task at hand.
10. Sometimes I think that by nature we are intense people. Because of that I could get started of something and then get burned out quickly or start to lose focus the longer I was at it. So I had to realize that something I needed to step back and take a small break and then make sure I was not to focused and missing things. It allows for recharging the batteries and making sure that I am able to get the most out of my abilities.
11. Another tip I got from David Allen is to have things available for down time. Often we do not sue our downtime wisely. We have free time that just slips by us when we could be using it to get things done. You can listen to books on tape during commutes to and from work or if you are picking the kids up. You can have articles and books available that you can read during the wait for the doctor or while you are waiting for soccer practice to end. Having things with you that you can do when you find yourself with extra time is important for getting things done.
12. Finally, I would suggest knowing when your peak times are. What I mean is that we all have different times of the day when we are in the zone versus out of the zone. When our energy is higher than other times of the day. Remembering this will help you to understand how to schedule work based on your energy cycle and will help with concentration too.
These are just a few of the tips that I use to help me stay organized through the week. Doing these things help me to live a life that is easier, look at a e-mail box that is almost always at zero and to free up my mind to think about the important things in life. I hope that they will help you too.
God bless
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
As I think about this, I wanted to try and put together some best practices list that would help people based on the years that I have been trying to work on this. This is a melding of ideas and I will attempt to make sure that I give proper credit where credit is due.
1. I recommend that you have some type of organization system. It needs to be organic, that means it grows as you grow and changes as you change. I use a combination of Microsoft Outlook and a Franklin Covey planner.
2. Time management all starts with a deep seated understanding of who you are. I was introduced to this concept in the 7 Habits and through the Franklin Covey system. The concept is to have a personal mission statement. It took me about 10 years to get one done and in line with my beliefs, so do not get discouraged if you think that it is not coming along. It is similar to a mission statement of a company, but it is for you. The reason that this is so important is that you need to make sure that you have a basis for what you are going to do each and every day. With a mission statement you have a “true north” and Stephen Covey would put it. You can agree and not agree to do things based on that statement and you can feel good about it. It also reminds you what the important things are and the not so important things are as you start to plan you days each week.
3. A combination of things that I have learned from my experience with Covey and with Allen is the importance of scheduling/reviewing weekly. You need to take time each week to look at what you did, see if there is anything new you need to add into the system and then plan for the following week. It is important to set aside this time each week to do this.
4. One of the best rules that I learn from David Allen is the “2 Minute Rule.” Anything that you encounter through the day (or as David Allen puts it the “stuff” that you encounter) you need to look at it and ask if it can be done it 2 minutes or less. If it can be done then you need to go ahead and do it since it would cost you more time to look at it now, put it in the system and retrieve it and do it. This is a great bit of advice for dealing with e-mail and snail mail as well.
5. David Allen also tells us of the importance of the 3 Ds. That means you need to either do it, delegate it of defer it. I think the important part is about deferring it. It needs to be considered when you have things that have gone undone or that you have not been able to get it. By doing one of the three Ds you allow yourself to help clear things out of your head and you start to think clearly.
6. Speaking of getting things out of your head, another David Allen topic, it is important to keep paper and pen close by all the time. This allows you to write down anything that comes to mind that you need to get out of your head. In essence, this provides you a way to get the mess out of your brain and clear up some of the space between your ears that you can use to be more creative and focus on the things you really need to focus on.
7. When you are planning, plan the “big rocks” first and then the “little rocks” next. I learned this in Franklin Covey training. Big rocks are the things that are most important in your life and need to be addressed and put into the calendar first. Once those are in your calendar or system, then you can start scheduling less that are of lesser importance.
8. I learned this helpful tip from David Allen. Group similar tasks together and get them done at the same time. Take the time to schedule and make all your phone call that you need to make. If you have a variety of work that needs to be done with the use of a computer or the internet, schedule them together and make sure you are at your desk. Taking time to group things makes it easier to get them done and helps you to compartmentalize things in your brain so you are not worrying about calls when you are working on your computer and vice versa.
9. I used to get bogged down the massive tasks in my life. It seems like I would just stare and big things and never get them done. It was only when I started to realize that I need to not look at how big the task was, but break them down to smaller levels that I was able to get things done. It also allowed for me to celebrate successes on the way to getting it done and I was able to help build momentum for the larger task at hand.
10. Sometimes I think that by nature we are intense people. Because of that I could get started of something and then get burned out quickly or start to lose focus the longer I was at it. So I had to realize that something I needed to step back and take a small break and then make sure I was not to focused and missing things. It allows for recharging the batteries and making sure that I am able to get the most out of my abilities.
11. Another tip I got from David Allen is to have things available for down time. Often we do not sue our downtime wisely. We have free time that just slips by us when we could be using it to get things done. You can listen to books on tape during commutes to and from work or if you are picking the kids up. You can have articles and books available that you can read during the wait for the doctor or while you are waiting for soccer practice to end. Having things with you that you can do when you find yourself with extra time is important for getting things done.
12. Finally, I would suggest knowing when your peak times are. What I mean is that we all have different times of the day when we are in the zone versus out of the zone. When our energy is higher than other times of the day. Remembering this will help you to understand how to schedule work based on your energy cycle and will help with concentration too.
These are just a few of the tips that I use to help me stay organized through the week. Doing these things help me to live a life that is easier, look at a e-mail box that is almost always at zero and to free up my mind to think about the important things in life. I hope that they will help you too.
God bless
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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