Life of Matt

A mission statement is a verbal expression of your innermost values.  It’s a living document that says THIS IS WHAT I AM, and reminds you of it, should you by chance forget…

What’s Your Mission Statement?

I am my own final authority. All my choices and actions are based on my own logic, instinct, and feelings.

I will continually challenge myself and expand my abilities to meet my challenges.

I will follow my dreams, I will take action on them, and I will do what it takes to see them through.

I will admire both excellence and courage, in myself and others.

I will strive to never lose my childlike wonder.

I will accept responsibility for myself and my actions. I will step up to meet challenges and do what is required.

I will take time to Enjoy life, appreciate the little things, and relax.

I will accept the present moment, when action is required, I will not question myself.

I will strive to be extraordinary, I will not settle for ordinary.

I will cultivate Joy, and spread it wherever I go.

I will look at myself as a role model, and accept that every action I take will have an impact on every person I meet.

I will accept others for who they are, I will recognize their core.

I will treat every action as an expression of my inner core.

When facing temptation, I will look to my values.

Why Create a Mission Statement?

It seems silly to verbalize your core into a written statement… after all, you can express your core better than any words can.  However, there are several benefits that come just from creating and writing a mission statement, and several more benefits that come from having a mission statement.

Benefits of Writing a Mission Statement

The great thing about writing a mission statement is that it provides you an opportunity to critically examine your innermost beliefs.  Are your emotions, thoughts, and conscience in sync?  Do you have any learned beliefs that are at odds with your deeper values and feelings?  Do you even know what your beliefs are?

The writing of the mission statement gives you a chance to examine all these questions,  and more.  It gives clarity to your direction and purpose in life, and congruency to your actions.

Benefits of Having a Mission Statement

The mission statement is an expression of your innermost values and desires.  When you’re at your highest state, you really don’t have to think about these values, they’re apparent in everything you do, they’re your default response.  However, the problem I have, and I think most people have, is that we’re not ALWAYS in our highest state.  We have bad days, we get inside our head, we act out inneffective scripts learned in our childhood, which aren’t congruent with our deepest values.

And often, because we’re coming from a lower place in ourselves,  we don’t even REALIZE that we’re doing anything wrong. We feel justified in yelling at loved ones, because at that moment we feel they deserve it.  We think it’s ok to procrastinate, because we worked really hard yesterday.  We think it’s ok to lie for our own gain, because in that moment it seems there’s no other option.  We rationalize, justify, and deceive ourselves into believing our own bullshit… we simply don’t have that higher frame of reference to see the truth.

But what if we had a stand-in for that higher frame of reference.  What if we had a set of rules that allowed us to ACT from that higher frame of reference, even if we weren’t currently seeing things from that perspective?  That’s what the mission statement does.  It’s a set of rule or guidelines for our actions, that allow us to approximate our actions and decisions when in that higher state. Furthermore, you’ll find that simply by acting in accordance with your highest values, even if initially in a lower state, you’ll be moved into that higher state.

How do I Write a Mission Statement?

Creating an initial rough draft of a mission statement can be completed in a matter of minutes, or may take several weeks to get to a satisfactory point… it all depends on how self aware you are.  The process of writing a mission statement is a process of self discovery, of expanding self awareness.  The first resource I’d recommend to aid you in this process is the free Covey Mission Statement Builder, it includes a number of questions and scenarios to creatively “jog your conscience”, getting to your deepest values by asking questions which force you to consider them.  It’s a great tool to come up with a very rough idea of where you’re headed with your mission statement.

Next, I’d recommend  take some aptitude and personality tests, to get a better idea of your natural strengths and weaknesses.  These include tests such as the Myer-Briggs Personality Test, the Strengthsfinder 2.0 Test, or the FIRO B Relational Assesment (free online test code available in This Book).  It can also be helpful to talk to friends and family about their assessment of your strengths and weaknesses… but don’t ask if you can’t take honest answers.

It may also be helpful to look at books centered around career placement or finding your purpose… I haven’t gotten a chance to look at any of these so I can’t make any recommendations (but let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions!).It can also help to take a look at your own choices and decisions, and ask yourself WHY you made these decisions.  Often deeper values can be at play.  Look especially at those decisions you made when you’re in that “highest state” mentioned earlier.

Note that your mission statement does not have to be constructed like mine is.  It can be a paragraph like this mission statement, a list of foundational values like Ben Franklin’s mission statement, a song or poem, or anything else.

The mission statement is not something that you ever finish writing.  It’s a constant process of finding better ways to express your values, as well as updating as you get more life experience and your values change.  It’s a living document that changes as you do.

What Now?

Creating a mission statement is one of the biggest things you can do to enhance your personal effectiveness on a macro level.  If you don’t have one, creating one should be among your top priorities.  I’ve given you the tools and know how to write one of your own, so go do it! Then, set a Daily Renewal Habit to read over it every morning

Once you’ve written it, go ahead and post it in the comments, I’ll be really interested to see what you guys (and gals) come up with.

Cheers,

Matt

Am I okay with what I’m doing right now?

Do I feel good about the consequences of what I’m doing?

Is there something else I could be doing that I’d feel better about?

With the recent Eckhart Tolle craze, being in the moment, or “flow”, has become somewhat of a fad.  Scientific, spiritual, and self improvement ideas are all being bandied about, resulting in loads of bullshit.

If you’ve ever experienced flow, you’ll know that it is very real, and an amazing experience. But it’s hard to separate the theory from the technique, the useful from the bullshit.  This article is going to change all that.

The Three Stages to Getting Into The Moment

Based on everything I’ve read, and all my experience, I’ve managed to break down the whole “in the moment” thing into three discreet stages.  Any of the three stages simply by themselves can be enough to push you into the moment,  but when all three are combined, the state is all but inevitable.  The stages break down as follows:

1.Empty Your Head

2.Engage Your Action Mind

3. Narrow Your Focus

Now I’ll go into more depth, giving specific techniques to aid you in each stage of the process.

Stage 1: Empty Your Head

Thoughts are poison to being in the moment.  The first stage if you want to be in the moment is to get rid of all those persistent, recurring thoughts that seem to occupy a large portion of your psyche.

There are three techinques I have found to work for this:

Have a conversation

Ever had a thought that just seemed to weigh down on you, an invisible burden?  Ever had a conversation which seemed to remove that burden?  I’ve found that if I can make a habit of talking out any such overburdening thoughts, it makes it exponentially easier to get into the moment.

Make a Decision

One common type of recurring thought is an indecision.  The solution is simple, though not easy: Make the Decision.  I may write a post about making decisions in the future; just  know this is a key part of living in the moment.

For now, if you’re chronically indecisive, you’ll want to check it this awesome post by Steve Pavlina on How to Make a Smart Decision in Less Than 60 Seconds.

Make a List

Another stubborn thought type is the self-reminder.  A self-reminder is that voice that tells you to get new AA batteries at the oddest times, or that nagging feeling that you were supposed to do something for someone, or even that exciting idea that you can’t stop thinking about.  Your brain is trying to help, by keeping them in your mind so you won’t forget them.

The solution is to take the burden from your brain, and transfer it to a list.  There are all sorts of self-reminders that are better handled by lists.  Some of my personal favorites include:

• Errands list
• Books to buy list (via amazon wishlist)
• Things I might want to do at some point list
• Blog post ideas list

Integrity in reviewing and updating the lists is vital.  When the list becomes incomplete, it no longer functions as a psychological saftey net.  If you’re like me, and you’re allergic to pen and paper, you can check out mashables 40 great resources for making lists.

When you start the habit of making lists and reviewing them,  your brain chatter will drop dramatically.

Stage 2: Engage Your Action Mind

With the long term thoughts out of the way, the next step is to rid your mind of the more short term chatter.  This includes worrying, labeling, second guessing, and all other forms of self talk.    In the previous step, I focused on long terms solutions, eliminating thoughts at their source.  However, the source of short term thoughts are much more complicated, and involve talks on judging, pain bodies, self-deception, or other complicated ideas.

I promised to keep this article actionable and bullshit free, so I’ll sidestep the issue of dealing with the root of the thinking, and instead focus on how to engage your short term/action mind.

Engage in Free Flow

Free flow is an exercise that mimics the actions of the instinctual mind.  It is my favorite technique  in this article.

Free flow has two simple rules:

1. If you think about doing something, do it immediately.
2. If you any other thought, say it out loud immediately.

This exercise can be less awkward with company, as you don’t have to talk to yourself, but it will work regardless.  The trick to this exercise is momentum.  If you can do one action, the next will be easier.  Likewise, if you censor or second guess even one time, you’ll do it again.

Unfortunately, this exercise doesn’t seem to work for those people who think using pictures instead of words.  If any visual thinkers out there have a parralel technique they use, please let me know in the comments.

Exercise

Smart evolutionary programming means that rigorous physical activity will engage our instinctual mind.  If you don’t have time for a full workout, try any sort of quick powerful movements, such as jumping jacks or pushups.

Shock Your System

This method is about doing something so unexpected that two things happen:

1. Your instinctual mind gets engaged to deal with “danger”.
2. Your mind stops thinking because it literally doesn’t know what to think.

Much of the Zen tradition is based around this method,  with zen masters using deliberate illogicality to “wake up” their students.  In the NLP world, this is known as a “Pattern Interupt”. Some other good examples include:

• Taking a cold shower
• Breaking the quiet with a loud noise
• Making animal noises in the center of a crowded room
• The Bizareness

Use Triggers

This is a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Concept.  In NLP, it’s known as “anchoring”, and Frued liked to talk about it as well.  Triggers are specific stimuli that bring you into a certain state (in this case, an action state).  To figure these out, it can be useful to keep a log for a little bit of when you get into this action state, and what happened immediately prior to it… oftentimes you’ll find that these triggers are actually examples of exercise or shocking your system, but sometimes you’ll find a unique trigger.  Some of my favorites include:

• Listening to “Wall of Sound” type music such as Bruce Springsteens Born To Run or Energetic Punk Music
• Getting dressed in my exercise clothes.
• Sunlight.

Stage Three: Narrow Your Focus

This step is the hardest for me.  Getting into go mode for me is easy, but taming and focusing it is a whole nother matter.  It’s been translated to english variously as “relaxed alertness” and “controlled spontaneity”.  It’s devoting every fiber of your being to one thing, and basking in the sheer joy that comes from that.  Eckhart Tolle calls this “Rising Above Thought”, instead of falling below (the previous step).

I’ve found that for things which I’m very passionate about, this is not a problem at all… it’s almost an afterthought of the first two steps.  However, for most things, it takes some effort to focus in.  I’ve found four techniques for this.  The first two deal with eliminating other things that may widen your focus, the second two with directing and controlling your focus.

Minimize Distractions

One of the big things you can do to help narrow your focus is to minimize other distractions.  This meanns things that could interrupt you and throw you out of your flow state.  Some of my favorite ways to minimize distractions:

• Turn of the cellphone, unplug the phone, and close outlook.
• Setting “do not disturb” times with my family.
• Keeping my workspace uncluttered and functional
• Closing every application on the computer except what I currently need.

For more on minimizing distractions, check out the Zen Habits post on 72 ways to simplify your life.

Unschedule

This is a method for those of you who tend to get sidetracked when trying to focus, and pulled into other activities like watching TV, surfing the internet, or talking to friends.  Credit goes to Neil Fiore, although I haven’t actually read his book yet (it’s on the way).

The idea here is to plan all those seemingly unimportant tasks first.  For instance, I’m scheduled from 6 – 7 oclock today to veg out and watch tv… this gets just as much weight as a doctors appointment.  The psychology behind this method is similar to that of making lists… your brain knows that the activities have a time and place, so it doesn’t need to think about them until then.

This technique is also very effective when applied on the micro scale.  For instance, Merlin Mann’s ‘(10+2) * 5′ Hack.

Just as with lists, your integrity with keeping to your unschedules is very important.  The moment you don’t honor an unschedule (even if you’re on a role and you don’t feel like taking a break), they lose their power.

Relax

A relaxed state can go a long way towards narrowing a scattered focus.  My favorite relaxation technique involves taking a series of deep breaths, each time focusing on a different muscle to relax as I exhale.  There are several other good relaxation techniques, but all share four common traits(credit Jame s Prochaska):

• A Comfortable Position
• A quiet environment
• an internal focus
• a “letting go”

If you can get those four things, the specific technique you use is inconsequential.

Meditate

There are many types of meditation.  The thing that they all share in common is the concept of single focus, the practice of focusing on one thing at the exclusion of all else.  What’s great about meditation is that if performed regularly, it acts as a form of deliberate practice for the skill of narrowing your focus.  By performing meditation in a controlled relaxed environment like mentioned above, it increases your ability to single focus when there are other distractions present.

I’ve unfortunatley been out of the habit of meditation for a while, so I asked some of my friends and readers what techniques worked best for them.  The most universally recommended technique seemed to be mindful breathing.  This is the practice of taking deep breaths, in a controlled manner, single focusing on only the breathing and the sensations it produces.

Meditating regularly is perhaps the biggest thing you can do to enhance your ability to narrow your focus.  For a more comprehensive treatment of meditaiton, you can check out Pick the Brains article: 4 Reasons You Should Meditate, and How to Get Started.

What Works For You?

The process I’ve outlined above is something that works.  The patterns and techinques  I’ve given you here for each stage are things you can implement immediately, to have a clearer, more action oriented, more focused mind.  And to do it without wading through piles of bullshit.

But these are just things that have worked for me.  I’d be very interested to hear what techniques have worked for you, the reader.  Drop a comment and let me know.

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