What do you want to do with your life?

My first assignment for Mass Media class: Create your personal mission/vision statement about what you want to do and how you will get there. Due next week. Easy enough- that's something people always ask. It's more like a life plan than a personal statement. For inspiration, I began "Googling" personal mission statements and was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. I ran across a website, Franklin Covey (http://www.franklincovey.com/msb/), where I built my own statement in a matter of 15 minutes or so. It wasn't the kind of statement the professor asked for, so this was just some exploratory research of my own : ). Going through the open-ended sentences and questions really made me reflect on my life and my goals.

Last night in Principles of Public Relations, a guest speaker discussed the importance of plans (strategic, business, communication, annual, etc….too many to discuss!). She said plans are basically a statement of "How can we measure success? What do we want to do, and how will we know when we have achieved those goals?" And since I'm a weird college student, I began taking the lecture personally. How do I measure success? What am I doing each day to contribute to my ultimate goal? What is my ultimate goal? I mean, I am so used to answering the question, "What do you want to do?" that I forget that there's so much more to that than a simple profession. When I answered the questions she asked, I thought- there's gotta be more. I can't dilute my whole life down to a profession and the means to get there. That's not what I want. My ultimate goal is to reach as many people for Christ, however He chooses to use me, all the while giving Him the glory so that He can become more and I can become less. I want my time here on earth to positively impact the lives of others, leaving a lasting legacy that is more than a laundry list of my accomplishments as a student or professional. Is that it? If you were to look at my day to day life right now, yes- that's it...me trying to create a laundry list of accomplishments to check off as I go. The actions I am taking today seem to say that my ultimate goal in life is to become the best communications professional I can be by studying trends, gaining knowledge, and networking with others who are like-minded (not a bad thing in and of itself, but it is when it's higher on the priority list than Christ).

Is what I'm doing day to day contributing to my success, as I define it? No, no, and no. Since I have been at Nova this year, I have not reached out to one person regarding my Christianity. I have not gone out of my way to serve those less fortunate, in an effort to demonstrate the love of Christ. I have not made an intense effort to be totally absorbed in God's Word, more so than my class studies. Yes, I have been reading and studying for hours on end, but only for my classes- to get good grades and learn about the profession. So I have to ask, is this it? Is this really what I want to do with my life? I know the answer deep down, but living that conviction out every day is much harder than you think.

What about you? Is this it? Are you living each day to achieve that ultimate goal you have set for yourself? I would love to hear input. You can even shoot me an email with your Mission Statement from the website I mentioned earlier. Who knows…you could be my newest inspiration : ).