Big corporations have mission statements that crystallize the reason for their existence and the goals that they have set themselves into a few simple words. Little corporations also have mission statements to do the same thing. Now it's your turn. A personal mission statement can be both a simple and powerful tool to help define your direction and make the right decisions both at work and at home. It's like having your own success quote forecast for the future.

Simple, clear and relevant

To be useful and effective, a personal mission statement needs to be simple, clear and relevant. To get an idea of examples that measure up to this standard, try leafing through some annual reports for different businesses, all checking out their corporate web sites on the Internet. You are likely to come across their mission statements in one place of another. If the statement immediately conveys to you what the corporation is all about and what it expects to do, then you have probably found a good example. Make a note of it, as it can become a useful model for you to make your own as part of your personal image development program.

A tool for quick and effective decisions

By defining your personal mission statement in this way, it can serve as an excellent decision tool for you. Whenever you have a particular decision to make and the choice is not obvious between the different options, simply compare with your personal mission statement to see which option comes closest to who you are and what your objectives are. That option will then be the best choice for you. Carefully defining and sticking to your mission statement will be like charting your course over the ocean to safely arrive at your destination.

A statement that grows with you

You'll make your personal mission statement on the basis of what you want to do and what key wishes or passions you want to satisfy. It will also take into account any particular characteristics that you have and that may have set you apart compared to other people. Your statement will also grow and change with you as time passes, in order to maintain it has not only an objective but also an ambition.

Available for use in the blink of an eye

Making it memorable, giving it a “hook”, will also help you to take it with you where every you go and apply it whenever necessary. This is an important aspect of your personal goal planning through a personal mission statement. Any statement that you cannot easily remember is at an immediate disadvantage. You will often come across situations where you will not have time to go dig out your personal mission statement from the depths of your desk in your home. It needs to be lodged securely and conveniently in your brain. As long as you define it in clear and strong terms, such as “this is why I exist and this is what my reason for being here is”, then you'll find it a handy and even essential tool for all occasions.