Mission (Statement) Impossible?

On the surface, it doesn't seem like it would be difficult to write a personal mission statement.

It's really freaking difficult.

Perhaps I'm making it more difficult than it needs to be, which would not unusual, as I do have a tendency to make decision making excessively more complicated than necessary.

But there's a lot of consider. At least, there's a lot of consider if you're taking it seriously. And if I'm going to write a personal mission statement, I might as well take it seriously and write one that truly reflects how I strive to live my life.

Sooo... it's not done yet.

But I'm working.

Braggity Brag Brag

This list (you know, the list of goals that this whole blog revolves around) was written at a time in which I didn't feel very good about myself. For that reason, one of the goals that I added to the overall list was making a list of things that I like about myself.

The end of the established time line for achieving all these goals is fast approaching, and I still haven't completed this task (until today, obviously). Why? There isn't a good reason - it should be an easy to task to complete, and doesn't take up a large amount of time. 

Better late than never, right?

Despite feeling confident, and knowing that I'm in a good place in my life at the moment, it was still difficult to make this list. Here are some things that I like about myself:

- I have pretty hair.
- I have nice eyes. 
- I am empathetic. 
- I am intelligent.
- I am kind and respectful.
- I am a caring and thoughtful wife.
- I am a caring and thoughtful daughter. 
- I am well informed about current events.
- I am open to opinions other than my own.
- I am willing to change my thoughts and opinions.
- I am able to be spontaneous. 
- I am (fairly) well-traveled and open to new experiences.
- I can run.
- I make wellness a priority in my life.
- I am a bookworm. 
- I am an introvert.
- I can have an intelligent conversation about soccer.
- I have successfully lost 67 lbs.
- I am a good instructor.
- I am willing to admit when I've made a mistake.
- I am candid (which is sometimes funny).

For the purposes of this blog, this list is extensive enough. Of course, I do plan to house this list elsewhere, and add things as they come to mind. 

I think that this is a good practice for anyone. If you're familiar with the premise behind StrengthsFinder, it suggests that we should focus on growing and developing our strengths. Usually, the message is that since we're already strong in those areas, it would make more sense to focus on improving our weakness in order to be more well-rounded individuals. StrengthsFinder rejects that line of thinking and instead argues that we should keep working on bettering our strengths.

My weaknesses are my weakness for a reason. There are some things that I'm just never going to be able to do well, and that's okay. So why focus on those things? Instead, we should focus on the things that we can do well in, and become even more skilled in those areas.

Of course, there are some things that can be changed and improved. For example, if I don't like my hair, I am able to change it quite easily.  I can't, however, make myself a better artist - I don't have the natural ability needed to draw or paint. It would be silly to invest in this weakness of mine, because it will always be a weakness despite my best efforts.

Instead of fretting over those weakness, I can work on cultivating my strengths and increasing my potential for growth in those areas. And isn't that a much better way to approach life?

Exploring Personal Core Values

One of the items on my grand to-do list revolves around exploring my own personal core values.

Why? Because I have never given dedicated, intentional thought to identifying my core values. Of course I've given thought to what I value and what I consider to be important in life, but I had yet to actually articulate those thoughts into a specific list of core values.

I didn't want to just come up with a list of values in a few minutes. Using that strategy would have functioned more like brainstorming session than real and intentional contemplation. Instead, while I did begin with a brainstorming session of sorts, I asked myself a few questions:

1) What qualities/characteristics do I admire in others?

2) What qualities/characteristics do I present when I'm being my best and most authentic self? (This shouldn't reflect the characteristics that I'd like the possess, but instead be a real, honest assessment of myself as an individual.)

3) What qualities/characteristics do I find frustratingly lacking in other people? (I didn't consider this because I think that all people should have these same core values. But if I get frustrated when someone doesn't have that trait, it's likely because it's something that I value highly.) 
 
After considering these questions, I had a fairly long list of values (about fifteen). Using online resources (thanks, Google), I browsed lists of core values to see if anything else caught my eye. No new values were added to the list, but some were changed to synonyms that I found more preferable to the words used in my original draft.

Once I was satisfied with the verbiage, it was time to narrow down the list of values to those that I truly considered to be core values. I examined each value individually, considering the both definition of the word and whether or not I would consider that particular value to be part of my best and most authentic self. There are some values (for example, ambition) that I admire in other people but don't quite describe me personally. Those were eliminated from the list.

In the end, here is the list of core values that I've identified:

Integrity
Accountability
Openness
Perseverance
Gratitude
Mindfulness
Adaptability
Learning
Wellness

And, according to the Barrett Values Center, here are some things my that my core values say about me as a person.

Your values show:

• You believe in looking for new opportunities to develop and grow, and give support and guidance to others in this regard.
• You make a conscious effort to hear others' contributions and demonstrate transparency through your actions and words.
• You seek harmony and balance in all aspects of your life.
• You take ownership of your actions and like others to do the same.
• Demonstrating determination and resolution to follow through ensure that you are able to fulfill your aims.
• You enjoy having the chance to improve your skills and experience in the work place and gain meaning from developing your abilities in this regard.
• You enjoy working with others and like to cooperate and share experiences.

The type of values you selected indicates that your individual capabilities and the connections you build with others are both important to you.

I found this exercise to be valuable because it caused me to examine my authentic self. It does take intentional thinking to be honest with yourself about your values, and more so about what things aren't included in your core values. For example, I didn't want to admit that I'm not all that ambitious. But when I'm honest with myself, it's the truth. I enjoy my work and take pride in my accomplishments, and there are times in which I display ambition, but it is not at the core of my best and most authentic self.

What values do you display when you are at your best and most authentic self?

Insanity

My last post (which was in February...oops) talked about how I'd recently completed my first 10k.

Well, a crazy thing happened over the weekend.

I ran a half marathon. You read that correctly, I ran my first half marathon! It still doesn't seem like it's possible. There are no words to describe my feelings upon completing this race.

In October, when I begin the Ease into 5k program, running for 90 seconds was a challenge. And here I am, 8 months later, running 13.1 miles and feeling great the entire race. Seriously - it was FUN! And that shocked me, especially because the last two weeks of training hadn't gone super well.

But since it was fun, and because I'm a crazy person, I'm going to begin training for a full marathon. That's right - a freakin marathon!

Now, I'm only committing to beginning the training at this point. It's a lot more difficult to train for a marathon, not just because of the increased distance (which is obviously harder) but also because of the increased time commitment and the extent to which it cuts into your personal life.

But, what better time than now? I'm in the best shape of my life, my running base is already built up, and we don't yet have kids. There will never be a better time in my life to give this a shot.

So, with hard work and a little luck, I hope to say that I'm a marathon in just 20 weeks from now.

I'll keep you posted! Maybe - I'm not very good at blogging.