Mission Possible

Wow, I am inspired!

This morning I attended a professional women's networking breakfast hosted by the Women's Business Exchange. It is a wonderful, supportive and awe-inspiring group of women whose mission is to create a community of compassionate leaders. I always leave with a few new contacts, a few good ideas and lots of positive energy. It is a very helpful part of the soul-searching endeavor I'm on right now.

And, I just got off the phone with a dear friend who does "save the world" work. Actually she advises celebrities on their philanthropy and community investment strategies. Pretty cool job, huh?

Yesterday I had a call with a friend who is the founder and CEO of a company that makes natural skincare products for children. Her personal mission statement is: "To help people find true beauty everywhere and in everything, especially in the mirror. We all have gifts... and when we share them with each other we can move mountains." Wow, I love this!

During what I am dubbing "my mini sabbatical" since I left Starbucks, I have been reading books such as The Happiness Project (love it, look for another blog post on the topic soon), Callings - Finding and Following an Authentic Life, 10-10-10, the Complete Writings of Florence Scovel Sinn for Women (her ageless wisdom for today) and 5 - Where will you be in five years from today? And this week while at the library with Sofia I picked up Throw Out 50 Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life (I'm really excited about this one. Look for a blog post on my de-cluttering project soon).

I have also been writing lists of my passions and interests, establishing my priorities, assessing my strengths, networking with all kinds of interesting people, learning about cool companies, making time for regular walks outside (this is actually where I get my best thinking done) and even seeing a coach. I also love reading Whole Living magazine, InStyle and occasionally US Weekly (my guilty pleasure!). And, yes, spending lots of time with my wonderful three-year-old, the best and hardest job I've ever had!

One of the exercises in 5 is to write your own personal mission statement. At first this seemed like a daunting asssignment, but since I was already doing all of this reflection and work on myself, it actually came quite naturally and seemingly out of nowhere. It was easy. It flowed. It felt just right. So here it is:

My mission is to live a beautiful and balanced life - inside and out -

inspired by color and creativity.

I have several more exercises to do and I will use this as my guidepost, along with my personal values and priorities, to find what I'm looking for out of life and work.

Next step? A personal tagline? Maybe. I have a personal mission statement and a mark I am using for my personal brand (see below), so why not?! I read an interesting article in Whole Living that provides three easy steps to creating your own tagline. It sounds kind of fun, but harder than a mission statement for some reason. I'll let you know if I come up with something catchy and authentic.

In the meantime, I leave you with this quote from the back cover of 5:

"What is life for? It is for you." - Abraham Maslow

And to that I say: "Make it matter!"

After I posted this, my mom suggested "Make it matter" should be my tagline. I like it. What do you think?