Personal mission statement

As part of the excellent course APS501 Leadership & Leading for Groups & Organizations, we were offered leading (ha) questions and guidelines for writing a personal mission statement. Before you scream "Flake!" you should know our professor did more or less the same in his mid-20s, and considered it instrumental in attaining his eventual position as president, CEO & chairman of DuPont Canada.

That's not easily dismissed.

Here's what I came up with:

To become a balanced, thoughtful & serene person, so that I may always approach life and people with care and respect, and through doing so become a model of goodwill for those around me. I will do this by:

• focusing on the timeless joys of friends, family, food, music and literature, rather than modern distractions,
• living a healthy, active life and maintaining a high level of personal fitness,
• appreciating the enlightening & liberating value of hard work, instead of working for compensation & recognition, and
• sharing experiences through listening, leadership and honest discussion.

While much accessory thought was involved, exegesis of one's own writing is the height of vanity, so it must stand for itself.