Day 3: Write a Mission Haiku

Stephen Covey says, “The first principle of ethical power is Purpose. By purpose, I don't mean your objective or intention- something toward which you are always striving. Purpose is something bigger. It is the picture you have of yourself-the kind of person you want to be or the kind of life you want to lead.”

Purpose and mission statements are popular with organizations, but they are also useful for individuals. I'm using Purpose to mean your overarching idea of who you are and what you want to contribute, and Missions as your various big projects or directions in life.

After all the work you've done in the last weeks, you probably have an inkling of your purpose in life, and some ideas of missions. Today I ask you to choose one mission or leading to examine closer, and write it as a haiku that gets to the core of your mission, and gives you a framework for your actions. You might be surprised by what surfaces in this process, so give it a try!

• Start by ranking your missions in life: If you discovered today that you had just six months to live, what would you focus on? How would you rank your goals by priority so that they would be accomplished before you die?
• Which project or goal has risen or is rising to the top right now? (If it's something new and vague, you don't have to commit to it just yet, but go ahead and explore it.) Write a brief, evocative sentence or two describing this top mission in life, and the core issues surrounding it.

For example: I chose finishing and discerning a way to publish this book, because completion and release is always the hard part for me! If I had six months to live, I'd want to try to get this book out into the world. The core issues are How and also Fear.

• List the most exciting or pleasing verbs that describe what you want to do with this mission (Create? Build? Teach?)

-My verbs: Discern, complete, share, release 

• Next, list some of your core values that go with your top mission.

-My values: Purpose, witness, integrity 

• Turn these sentences, verbs, and values into a haiku, an unrhymed poetic form consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (or you could try a cinquain, which is five lines, with 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables, or a more free form poem of any meter), that gets to the core of your mission, and gives you a framework for your actions. My haiku:

Ducks are in a row.

Find the courage to release.

Aren't they meant to fly?

Extra Effort: Try writing a haiku purpose statement that encompasses and describes your true purpose in life, and the true work you are here to do to make the world better; make it a framework for your day-to-day priorities and choices, and an expression of who you are when you are reaching your full potential.