In his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey talks about creating a personal mission statement.  It’s been awhile since I read the book, but my remembering was that this is what is core to you.  It is helpful because you can evaluate all possible activities and actions against your statement.  Does it further your mission statement?  Great, move forward.  No, move on.

I’ve been puzzling over this.  Here is my current bare bones mission statement:

1. To enjoy time with my family and go on many adventures with them.
2. To be a thoughtful and considerate friend.
3. To take steps to improve my writing.

This is a little light, I know.  There are other concepts I’ll have to capture with a more developed statement (faith, charity, etc.), but this is my start.  I thought about putting something on learning Italian, but this feels like more of a temporary goal and I’m not sure how much I want to focus on that overall.  Yes, I want to get better, but I’m not sure it will be a big focus.  More on this later.

This start is why I recently embarked on a whole30 and am committing to exercise and more sleep.  I know it doesn’t say anything about this in my statement; however, I’ve realized I need to take better care of myself to make the mission work.  If I’m tired, I could miss out on something fun with the kids.  I’m not as patient as I’d like to be.  I probably won’t send that email to a friend.  And I may nap instead of focusing on writing.

Hopefully this helps.  The whole30 may turn into a whole14 or even a whole7.  (Because, I mean, PIZZA.)  But I’m looking for a reset.  I’ve been spending too much time in “vacation mode.”  Sure, sure, you can stay up and read.  There’s only a little bit of wine left in that bottle.  Why not have gelato every day?  You get the drift.

Much of this mindset is because it really hasn’t sunk in that I live here now. I live in a foreign country.  I live in Rome.  James and I turn to each other almost every other day and ask “can you believe we live here?”  The other day–just for a moment–I thought about driving to Annapolis on Saturday.

I’m sure this will wear off at some point.  Probably sooner than I think.  I do plan to enjoy everything this country has to offer–including plenty of pizza, cheese, and gelato.  Maybe just every other day.

Do you have a mission statement?  What does it cover?