vision and mission

Climb Your Mountain: How to Develop Your Own Vision and Mission

I’ve been having a lot of meaningful conversations with new members of the Junto. And it seems like a lot of us who ARE mission driven are because at some point in our working career we asked “Is this all there is to life? Working in the same cubical each day? The same factory? Same ol’ town?”

The truth is that it doesn’t have to be this way.

 This post (originally posted on July 20th, 2012) answers this specific question. I felt it needed a good polish!


So guys, I saw this post submitted by svrtngr on reddit

“Long story short, I got a full time job through a temp agency. The contract is for six months with the option to be kept on beyond that. At first I was really happy to have a job, but now I feel weird. Odd.

Is this it? Work full-time in a cubicle for long hours and get home too tired to do anything else for fifty/sixty years until you can “retire”?Because I’m not sure if I can handle it. Where does the fun and excitement come from? What else is there?”

Your Mission is Everything

Originally, this post made me upset. The one thing about reddit is that it’s completely anonymous. The advice that he was getting was generalized stuff we’ve all heard before. “You need to get out more and find out what makes you come alive and do that.”

That’s… helpful. But it’s pretty vague.

I personally thought he needed more help. Specifically he needed to work on finding his vision by working on his clarity.

Your Vision leads to Your Mission

I remember when I was in grad school, I realized that not everyone wants to be on top of the same mountain that I wanted to be on top of. At that same time, I realized that not everyone has the desire to climb their own mountain in the first place.

This realization blew me away.

From early on in life, I always knew that I wanted to do something that made an impact for other people through technology.

I just wasn’t sure how I was going to do that. That’s what I hoping to learn in college.

What I learned there, however, is what I didn’t want to do! I wasn’t going to make it as a typical 9 to 5’er. My internal clock doesn’t work that way and I always found my mind wandering anytime I was in a job.

Likewise, svrtngr needed to start from the beginning too.

His first step should be figuring out what he likes to do and learn about. After which, he can build his life and work around the life he sees for himself.

In short, he needs to assess what his Passions and Purpose are. From there, he can devise a Plan and Process.

Our vision is derived from our passion (interests) and purpose (where we fit in the world). We can determine our vision once we figure these other two things out.

From there, you devise a some early goals and and take dumb action. During this initial action sequence, it’s your job to find out what works and what doesn’t.

After repetitive attempts,  that’s where you can start to systematize and define your process!

Don’t Forget About Generational Patterns and the First Agreement

In previous writings, I wrote about the millennial generation being called the “lost generation”. If you believe in the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory, then you’d believe that this generation is the next Hero Generation.

Here’s a bit of an explanation of this theory:

Kind of a disconnect there between those two names, right? One name sounds pretty passive while the other one is getting to work and does what needs to be done.

The reason that many people become part of this particular lost generation is that they’ve been told what they need to do with their lives from day 1. They have allowed the world to program them. They’ve never programmed themselves.

A good part of one of my all time favorite books, The Four Agreements, talks about being yourself. Actually it says, Be Impeccable With Your Word. Essentially, what it’s saying is we need to learn how to be ourselves.

Any actions we are doing is because of who we are. Not because of what the world programs us to be.

What does this mean in real talk?

It means that if we are constantly playing any sort of victim card – from “Oh, I live in a small town so I can’t do big business” to “I’m a certain color of skin, the world is against me.” then you’re probably right.

With that mentality, David Anderson says while it make us feel good in the moment, it will never allow us to amount to much. This mentality will keep us down as long as we continue to let it to.

So let it out and let it go.


Action Steps

So, guys. In essence, how can you get started on your way of doing what you’re supposed to be doing?

First thing – give yourself permission to be great. Cause if you can’t do that, you won’t be. Next, figure out what you like to do in this world. Figure out how you can use it to add value to others.

Next, plan on how you’re going to do that. For me, I really love pulling people out of the Matrix and helping them become better at helping others. How are you going to help people with your skills and interests? (If you think your skills and interests aren’t monetizable – they are. Remember that some of the biggest YouTubers are video game players!)

And then from there, just fine tune what you offer to what the market wants. Not what you’re about – but if there’s a pain, solve the pain for people if you can.

If you guys need additional help with any of this process, I’m going to be releasing an upcoming resource in the Junto: Finding Your Personal Mission: A Quick Guide to Inner Fulfillment. At least right now that’s the running title. In it, I’ll have 27 questions to help you find your passions, purpose, and a potential process – 9 questions for each.

When it’s done, I’ll have it in there as a resource.

Also, as you might know I’m a John Maxwell fan. He wrote a book called Put Your Dream to the Test: 10 Questions to Help You See It and Seize It. I can’t recommend this book enough. I always suggest this to all my past students and clients struggling with connecting their dreams and businesses.

Anyhow, I hope this helps! You got this guys!

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