As a young graduate, you may have come across requests for personal mission statements for most part of your job and post graduate application requirements. Having a clearly defined and well written personal mission statement puts you ahead of the lot and secures you the job, business or career you desire. Let’s get right into some tips on how to write actionable personal mission statements.

Ask questions
To begin with, you would have to ask yourself certain questions with which will guide you throughout your personal mission statement writing. Below are some questions to ponder on. These questions can guide you in finding answers to the real you and what things matter most to you.

What is important to me?
Where do I want to go?
What kind of legacy do I want to leave?
What is the best life for me?
How do I want to act in life?

After answering these questions, I bet you will be on the path the self discovery. You will know what to write in your mission statement.

Keep it short
Keep your sentence or mission statement short. You do not want to bore potential employers and clients with a whole page of what you are capable of doing. Your mission statement should be simple, clear, meaningful and concise. It must primarily consist of at most fifty to hundred words and be between two and four sentences.

Always edit it and ask professionals to guide you through writing it if you a bit lost. Remember that it must carry your exact message across and not be long and winding.

The important part
The important thing about writing a mission statement is that it answers the questions of who you are and what you are working to become. If you are a compassionate person then perhaps you are a philanthropist in the making. Part of your life’s purpose is answered at this stage. For instance you may write something like this:

A communications person who specializes in writing, marketing and connecting with people and brands.

Use a ‘life wheel’ as a guide at this stage as it helps you answer how you’re faring in life. You can find samples on the internet. The wheel has sections for personal growth, spirituality, health and fitness, wealth and finance.

This will guide you to find your traits and interests which you can use in formulating a simple mission statement as seen above. Also refer to stage two in order to keep your missy statement clear and concise.