Mission- Where failure is not an option.

Mission- we hear it at work, we hear it in movies, NASA coined the term, but have you ever constructed a Personal Mission? Why do companies have a Mission? Answers I hear from employees include to set direction, inspire people to a common goal, highlight the core values, and to send a message to those outside the company of its stance. A compelling mission can be a powerful driver of engagement, it sets the directional coordinate. When you think about it, wouldn't be powerful for us to have a clear Personal Mission for our lives. No doubt, we as human beings require a sense of purpose, or mission, in order to thrive. At times the compelling why of our life will have us also survive extraordinary circumstances. One great story of purpose and survival is Victor Frankl's manuscript, Man's Search for Meaning. As a psychiatrist incarcerated in Auschwitz during WWII, he had a unique lense of the human condition in those horrifying conditions. What he discovered was that it was a clarity of purpose, or mission, a mindset, that compelled people to survive much more than physical resilience. He developed Logo-therapy, or therapy of purpose based on his observations and experiences at Auschwitz. The practice of logo therapy for those who survived the camps was a driving purpose that he attributes to his survival.

What is your Mission? I've invested energy in answering that question for myself. I have developed a clear sense of Mission and find it to be a centering tool that helps me invest my best self where it is most important. It enables me to engage in the relationships, tasks and growth opportunities that matter most. It enables me to disengage, or not spend energy, in things that are not important. I no longer reside in anxiety or concerns that are out of my control. I may catch myself in that old habit, but my time in that negative space is limited by strategies I've developed to shift. My Mission provides direction when making any decision and provides a powerful purpose when I'm faced with pressures, trials, and adversity. When I am living my mission, no matter the challenges, I am at peace.

Throughout my years supporting people in crafting a Mission for their life I have seen many different formats, from a few words, unsinkable ship, to a full page eulogy. What I see is an empowering story behind every mission, where people are becoming the author of their story, and moving away from being characters in other people's stories. I watch as the mission takes a limiting belief or conversation and converts it into a resilient certainty that if mission is at stake then there are other possibilities because failure is not an option. Personal Mission is a gift that you give yourself that then transcends to those who are most important in your life. It can transcend at home, work and in your community.

My mission: I am a powerful, passionate, giving leader. I am a connected and optimistic wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend. I support others, every day, in becoming their best selves.

This is who I am at my best, it is not how I show up all the time! I strive to be this way when I am facilitating a training, coaching, interacting with those important people I love. It requires energy, and it requires me to recharge and take care of myself. It is the greatest gift I have ever given, not just to me, but to those who encounter me.