Creating Your Mission Statement
Stephen Covey in his book, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People says that creating a mission statement you “should begin with the end in mind. He suggests that people visualize yourself going to Your funeral and visualize all of the details -who is there, what they are saying and what you would like to be remembered for.
Just the thought of visualizing my own funeral is daunting and hard to image but he says that when you start thinking like that it really puts you in touch with your inner guidance system - what others call your true self.
By doing this you can start to see what really matters to you and create a mission statement based on that. A mission statement will guide you when the going gets tough and to help keep you on track. You will know what clients you want to work with and which clients to turn away….yes imagine that - turn people away.
When you stay true to your values and build a values based practice it will make a stronger framework for you to build a practice that will last longer and beat the odds of being one of those 50,000 (ABMP metrics) massage therapists a year who leave the profession.
He further goes on to talk about how creating a business based on values and principles it is really just taking responsibility for ourselves instead of letting others run our lives. “When you have a sense of your mission, you have the essence of your own proactivity. You have the vision and the values which direct your life.” The proactivity he refers to is in his Habit #1 - which is about taking personal responsibility for your feelings and actions. Until we take personal responsibility and become more aware of ourselves, we will just be projecting our feelings onto others.
While there are lots of things you can DO to build a practice - what things will take you closer to what it is that you want?
For more information on mission statements at www.massagepracticebuilder.com
November 11th, 2006 at 11:05 am
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