I thought I'd share one more idea from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen Covey, and that is the family mission statement. Now, when I first heard this idea a few years ago, I was thinking what you may be thinking right now: "Ugh! Who would voluntarily write a mission statement? It takes so much time! It is impossible to find just the right words! And so many times the statement is meaningless blabber anyway! What a chore!"
However, since giving it a bit more thought, I have come around to the idea. In most areas of life, we would never consider working without a shared vision. When we board a plane, we expect that everyone in the cockpit is operating with the same flight plan and destination in mind. When constructing a house, we expect that the builders have a blueprint and everyone is following the same guidelines. However, with our families, we often don't take the time to collaboratively decide what the purpose of our family is and how we'll put that into action each day. A thought that struck a chord with me personally is that, in today's world, if our families do not set up a strong "north star" to guide our children and ourselves, we run the risk that the bright, shiny light of society or media or whatever you want to call it will step into that role and happily take over the job of guiding for us.
A family mission statement needn't be long or complicated, it is just a mutually agreed-upon "constitution" for your family, a statement of your destination or purpose. Every day you aim to live with that end in mind. Sure, everyone is going to be off track quite often, but the idea is that you have a shared vision to keep coming back to and adjust your flight plan toward. It might even be a simple sentence you hang by your front door so you see it every day and keep it in the back of your mind.
Covey offers these steps to writing a family mission statement:
However, since giving it a bit more thought, I have come around to the idea. In most areas of life, we would never consider working without a shared vision. When we board a plane, we expect that everyone in the cockpit is operating with the same flight plan and destination in mind. When constructing a house, we expect that the builders have a blueprint and everyone is following the same guidelines. However, with our families, we often don't take the time to collaboratively decide what the purpose of our family is and how we'll put that into action each day. A thought that struck a chord with me personally is that, in today's world, if our families do not set up a strong "north star" to guide our children and ourselves, we run the risk that the bright, shiny light of society or media or whatever you want to call it will step into that role and happily take over the job of guiding for us.
A family mission statement needn't be long or complicated, it is just a mutually agreed-upon "constitution" for your family, a statement of your destination or purpose. Every day you aim to live with that end in mind. Sure, everyone is going to be off track quite often, but the idea is that you have a shared vision to keep coming back to and adjust your flight plan toward. It might even be a simple sentence you hang by your front door so you see it every day and keep it in the back of your mind.
Covey offers these steps to writing a family mission statement:
1. Explore all family members' feelings and ideas about what your family is about.
2. Write it down. Refine the ideas into an expression that reflects the collective feelings of all contributors.
3. Put it into action. Use it to stay on track. Live it.
Covey also advises that you do not:
Covey also advises that you do not:
1. Write the statement yourself and "announce it" to the rest of the family- it works better if it truly represents everyone.
2. Rush it- the process is as important as the finished product.
3. Ignore it- writing it is just the beginning, it is translating the mission statement into daily living that is really the point.
If you would like more information on family mission statements, Covey's book has more detailed guidelines, examples, and inspiring stories, and it is available at the public library.
If you would like more information on family mission statements, Covey's book has more detailed guidelines, examples, and inspiring stories, and it is available at the public library.
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