Where are you going in life? Where do you need to be in the next 5 years to get there?
Have you ever travelled on an airplane? The precision of the flight and accuracy is amazing! Or so one would think!
The reality is during the majority of the flight, up to 90% of the time, the plane will deviate from the planned path and fly off course. There are so many factors that have to be taken in to consideration. Most of the time, this has to be done on the spot. There are changes in weather, turbulence, delays with boarding, and even changes in allowed flight paths.
With so many different things being changed and not according to plan, how does the plane get there on time and safely?
You can thank the pilot, whole crew, airport staff, and even the airline. Their work and communication led to the success. It’s simple.
Or is it?
If you’ve ever heard of the game telephone, you know that communication from one person to the next can vary and alter the message.
With all these other factors in place and now human communication as well, how on earth does the plane get there? And safely? And successfully?
There was a plan!
Thanks to constant communication and feedback to the pilot, the plane is able to get back on track each time it got of course. Often, the plane arrives on time and safely thanks to this flow of communication and planning.
If we apply the same concept and approach to our lives and purpose, we are able to ensure we still get there in the end. To start with the end in mind is the best way to ensure you are successful in attaining the life you wish to have.
If you were able to grasp the concept of the flight plan and it’s purpose, then you can understand a personal mission statement and it’s purpose.
It’s a statement and declaration of where you want to end up in life. This is how you innovate your life! This is what Structure Innovations is all about. We want to help you structure and sort through all the chaos, as well as all the good in your life. We want to help guide you and show you how to innovate the life you want. It is possible, but you have to take the first step.
Most individuals do not have a clear purpose or end vision in mind. They let life happen or they go with the flow of things.
If you are guilty of this, it’s okay! But ask yourself now, do you think you need a plan now?
My Story
As mentioned before, I am ADHD and Bipolar I. I am the queen of planning everything and then getting completely off track!
Ever walk into the pantry and forget what you went in there for?
While I love my pantry, it’s a bit of an added pain because the laundry room and pantry are both in the same area. On a typical morning, I will walk downstairs to do my daily habit of washing on load of laundry a day. In the process, I’ll walk into the pantry and start looking for breakfast.
It’s not even 5 seconds later that I notice my son ate all my Pop Tarts and now I need to go to the store. I run into the other room to announce to Alexa that I need to add Pop Tarts to my shopping list. I do this to make sure I don’t forget anything.
Feeling accomplished, I walk out the room and head on upstairs to make sure I didn’t forget anything. As I hear my knees cracking as I walk back up the stairs, I realize I just wasted 5 minutes! I got off track again!
I went to start laundry and didn’t do it. I end up adding to my shopping list.
I’ll return downstairs to start the load. As I proceed to the laundry room, I successfully start the load. Or so I think, I often realize later (at least once a week) that I forgot to press start and will find out in about 2 more hours.
Whew!
Now, time to get started with my next task.
People in my inner circle are often amazed by this because they see it and can’t figure out how I still get things done.
But just like the airlines, I have a mission statement and vision for my life. I have been able to innovate my life to fit my needs, as well as those of my loved ones.
I am human and so far from perfect. I make mistakes all the time. I struggle with major depression, anxiety, and panic attacks.
I forget things left and right. When in manic and depressive states, my mood swings can throw an entire week off.
So how did I still get to where I’m at?
I just get back on course.
I’ve had a vision of who I wanted to be ever since I was a little girl. If someone asked 7 year old Melissa what she was going to be when she grew up, she’d start a lecture and ask you to take a seat and listen.
She’d then say she’d be financially independent one day.
She’d say she would guarantee this with an education (I never played wedding dress up…I pretended I was going into a college lecture hall), raising children in a home with their own bedrooms, with a large walk in pantry/butler’s pantry.
She’d finally top it by saying, she’d be a doctor one day (and her brother would be required to call her doctor moving forward) and she idolized Martha Stewart.
To end the lecture, she’d declare she would be the adult she needed as a kid. She would never let anything stand in the way of a child’s education.
Did my journey and path change? Absolutely!
In the end, the vision for my life remains the same. I have my education. I have my house with the large pantry. My children each have their own rooms and I even have a large home office.
I’m currently working on my PhD. My brother will still call me Doctor one day.
My mission statement helped me continue to stay true to the vision I had for my life.
When I first started trying to lost weight, I approached it as a project. The overachiever in my would become upset every time I didn’t accomplish my goals as quickly as possible. I kept forgetting that it took quite some time to put on all the weight in the first place.
It’s a lifestyle design and I can’t help but suggest it to every person who ever asks me where they need to start on getting their life together.
I always say, “Okay, great! Let’s great started. Who do you want to be before you die?”
<<CRICKETS>>
“Hmm, okay…what do you want to accomplish before you die?”
<<BLANK STARE…CRICKETS ARE LOUDER…SMILES ARE NOW AWKWARD>>
“Okay, do you want kids in life? Would you like a life partner?”
If a person can’t tell themselves these basics, we usually do one-to-one coaching to start developing these visions. This begins to make the process easier for people.
Once the vision is in their minds, their values and principles can really be set. This is the first step in the process to ensuring you are successful in life.
Your Life & Your Structure
If you’re still reading this, I just want to congratulate you on getting that much closer to creating the life you dream of. You are still reading because deep down inside, there is a part of you that wants to know more.
You know you deserve better. You know things need to change. You just don’t know where to start.
Just like me, you’re probably guilty of making a ton of mistakes too and would like help cleaning it up.
By beginning with the end in mind, you are approaching things understanding you are creating things twice. The first way is in your mind. This a spiritual, mental, intellectual creation.
The second is in physical creation.
Before you hesitate and change you mind, think of what is the opposite of beginning with the end in mind means.
Remember letting life happen or they go with the flow of things will not ensure you get to your destination. Instead, it will allow society’s values and social trends without any sense of direction.
You basically allow others to write your own mission statement. It’s how some people become attached to a job title or career. When they retire, they no longer no who they are without the job. The lived their whole life for someone else.
Wake up!
You’re not really living! You’re being lived!
Ready for a change? Are you ready to live the life you dream of? The life that makes you happy, and doesn’t just make others happy.
You must start by beginning with the end in mind. Take the first step and print the free template for visualizing your best life.
After you’re done, we have to start determining your core values. Click the button below for your next template.
Finally, check out the post next week on how to create your own personal mission statement and get started on yours.
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And stay tuned for my future posts on maintaining my life balance up and focusing on the chaos that makes me happiest.
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