The Goal of this course is to help you to create a Personal Mission Statement to guide your career. A Personal Mission Statement is the first step in the ongoing process of taking ownership of your professional career development. Through this course you will find out what a personal mission statement is and how it can guide you in career decision-making and draft your personal mission statement.

1. Lesson
1:
What
is
a
Personal
Mission
Statement?
Quote
to
Ponder
“Let
your
life
speak.”
—
Old
Quaker
saying
Created
by
Vantage
HRS
for
the
Centers
of
Medicare
and
Medicaid
Services
1

2. Insight
1:
A
Personal
Mission
Statement
is
Personal.
If
your
personal
mission
statement
is
going
to
have
value
for
you,
you
need
to
make
it
personal.
This
is
not
something
that
you
are
doing
for
your
boss,
your
friends,
or
even
for
your
family.
This
is
your
chance
to
explore
what
you
really
want
to
do
with
your
life
and
then
figure
out
how
to
get
there.
Key
consideraFons:
Keep
an
open
mind.
Mission
statements
can
sound
corny,
grandiose,
and
flowery,
but
the
words
you
choose
can
also
moFvate
you
tremendously.
This
is
an
inside-­‐out
job.
Don’t
waste
Fme
comparing
yourself
to
others.
Exercise
pa?ence.
It
can
take
years
for
you
to
clarify
your
mission,
quest,
or
purpose.
Created
by
Vantage
HRS
for
the
Centers
of
Medicare
and
Medicaid
Services
2

3. Listening
To
Your
Inner
Voice
Quotes
to
Ponder
“Before
you
tell
your
life
what
you
intend
to
do
with
it,
listen
for
what
it
intends
to
do
with
you…”
“I
must
listen
to
my
life
telling
me
who
I
am.
I
must
listen
for
the
truths
and
values
at
the
heart
of
my
own
idenFty,
not
the
standards
by
which
I
MUST
live
–
but
the
standards
by
which
I
cannot
help
but
live
if
I
am
living
my
own
life…”
“There
is
a
great
gulf
between
the
way
my
ego
wants
to
idenFfy
me,
with
its
protecFve
masks
and
self-­‐serving
ficFons,
and
my
true
self.”
Parker
Palmer,
Let
Your
Life
Speak:
Listening
for
the
Voice
of
VocaFon
Created
by
Vantage
HRS
for
the
Centers
of
Medicare
and
Medicaid
Services
3

4. Insight
2:
A
Personal
Mission
Statement
is
a
Mission.
The
dicFonary
defines
a
mission
in
two
ways:
“An
assigned
task…given
to
a
person
or
group
to
carry
out;”
and
“A
calling…an
objecFve
or
task
that
somebody
believes
is
his
or
her
duty
to
carry
out.”
As
you
consider
your
Personal
Mission
Statement,
think
of
it
as
an
objecFve
or
duty
that
is
unique
to
you
and
you
alone.
Created
by
Vantage
HRS
for
the
Centers
of
Medicare
and
Medicaid
Services
4

5. What
is
your
Mission
in
Life?
Your
Personal
Mission
Statement
should
be
based
in
what
maTers
most
to
you,
what
you
want
to
do
with
your
life.
Consider
the
following
quotes
from
well-­‐respected
life
coaches.
What
is
your
life
purpose?
Life
purpose
is
the
reason
we
are
on
this
planet.
It
is
the
thing
we
are
meant
to
accomplish,
the
giQ
we
are
meant
to
bring.
Co-­‐acFve
Coaching,
page
241
“Some
parts
of
our
mission
here
on
Earth
are
shared
by
all
human
beings:
e.g.,
we
were
all
sent
here
to
bring
more
graFtude,
more
kindness,
more
forgiveness,
and
more
love,
into
the
world.
We
share
this
mission
because
the
task
is
too
large
to
be
accomplished
by
just
one
individual…”
Excerpt
from
How
to
Find
Your
Mission
in
Life
“We
need
to
also
unlearn
the
idea
that
our
unique
mission
must
consist
of
some
achievement
which
all
the
world
will
see…neither
we
nor
those
who
watch
our
life
will
always
know
what
we
have
achieved.”
Richard
N.
Bolles,
author
of
What
Color
is
Your
Parachute?
Created
by
Vantage
HRS
for
the
Centers
of
Medicare
and
Medicaid
Services
5

6. Exercise
1:
What
Are
You
Most
Passionate
About?
Your
Personal
Mission
Statement
needs
to
come
from
inside.
It
should
be
Fed
into
what
maTers
most
deeply
to
you.
For
instance,
perhaps
you
care
deeply
about
your
community,
or
your
family.
For
this
first
exercise,
take
a
piece
of
paper
and
write
down
what
you
are
most
passionate
about
in
life.
Think
about
why
you
are
drawn
to
it.
It
doesn’t
have
to
be
something
big
or
even
something
that
others
would
consider
important.
It
just
has
to
be
important
to
you.
Once
your
wriTen
down
your
passion
statement,
you
are
ready
to
move
on
to
Lesson
2:
Clues
from
the
Past.
Created
by
Vantage
HRS
for
the
Centers
of
Medicare
and
Medicaid
Services
6