Mission Statement

I recently co-facilitated an exercise with my team at work. We called it a "Mission and Values" exercise. The purpose of it was to come up with a Mission Statement that encompassed the values that our team was to operate by. The end result was a white-board and huge sheets of paper crowded with words such as "efficiency," "innovation" and "personal growth" all connected to each other by a series of intersecting lines, ultimately resulting in a one-liner Mission Statement for the team. These sheets of paper are currently taped to the walls of my office.

Somewhat ironic that I would help lead this exercise.

If you haven't seen the movie Jerry Maguire, go watch it. You may find that you can relate to it in the same way that I've been able to lately. I've been in California a little more than three years since my departure from Boston, and it's been a good three years. I've developed strong friendships, found moderate success in an industry I'm passionate about and I've achieved financial independence. To any reasonable outsider looking in, it would appear as though I've achieved success and as a direct result of this success, found happiness.

I welcome anyone to find two words in the English language more subjective than the words happiness or success (maybe my vocabulary isn't as robust as yours, but I tried and failed). Happiness can be driving with nothing but open road ahead of you, or maybe just enjoying a really good meal. Success can mean that long-awaited promotion. These events hold no guarantee of continued sustainability. Both of these are, at the end of a long hard day, small pieces of what will continue to be a work in progress.

This realization has been a critical point I've reached in my life.

Asking yourself the question of "what is most important, and why?" can be very revealing. This is what led me to draft my own Mission Statement, so to speak; not to accomplish a specific objective per se, but to serve as a guiding post for life in general. Here goes...

"Constantly surround yourself with people who can teach you new and interesting things, with whom you can also share your own knowledge. Engage in jobs and activities that give you the opportunity to influence and improve the way people live their lives, through technology or other mediums. Question every decision you make by asking the simple question of 'why?' If the answer deviates from the values herein, don't do it. Don't just speak the truth, live it. Go whole-heartedly, or don't go at all. Embrace your passions and share them openly with others."

I leave you with this as both a challenge and a reminder that the obviousness of success and happiness is almost never obvious, nor is one a mere byproduct of the other.