Defining my mission statement has turned out to be quite an interesting adventure, one that I'm eager to share with you.
It all started with defining what my purpose in life should be—a task both daunting and profoundly personal.
My purpose - This was my first time formally defining my purpose, though I've come to realize this will not be the last version I write. Not only because it has sparked numerous thoughts but also because the exercise underscored the importance of having a well-defined purpose. Honestly speaking, there were moments during the process when I wondered how it's possible that we don't learn to do something like this in school. It seems so fundamental to reflect on your purpose. The process gently but firmly pushes you to consider what truly matters to you, what your aims are, what you want to contribute, and what values you as a person want to uphold. Reflecting on these questions, documenting your thoughts, discussing them with others to gather feedback, and revisiting your purpose statement with every new insight provides invaluable guidance in situations that are ambiguous and challenging.
Reflections and Relearning Along My Journey - Let's delve into a few key lessons, relearned and newly discovered, that I encountered along the way, starting with the notion of core values.
For the longest time, all through my professional life, I have believed that my core value is tied to simplicity. This was influenced by Albert Einstein's perspective on simplicity: "If you cannot explain it in simple words, then you have not understood it well enough." This principle guided me for over two decades. I was driven by a desire to understand concepts deeply so that I could explain them simply. This quest for simplicity brought me immense satisfaction, until I was prompted to reevaluate my core values. I was introduced to this challenge through various exercises derived from literature like The Hedgehog Concept from Good to Great by Jim Collins ( all books mentioned below), and the Life Line technique, which involves mapping the highs and lows of your life from birth to the present. Both tools were effective, though their effectiveness lay in how they stirred confusion and provoked new questions more than providing answers.
The simple questions posed—What excites and drives me? What am I really good at? What does the world need and what will it pay for?—shook the foundation of my long-held belief in simplicity. Over the following days, I reflected, drew numerous life lines (nine in total), and found myself increasingly frustrated by the lack of clear answers. In desperation, I even turned to AI through ChatGPT, hoping for clarity, but this only multiplied my questions, leading me to abandon that approach.
After several days of solitary reflection, I decided it was time to reach out and not keep the dialogue internal. I invited over twenty people who know me well—family, friends, and long-time colleagues—to share their views on my strengths. The response was overwhelming. Contrary to my expectation of receiving feedback from maybe five people, nearly everyone responded. Some continue to send their thoughts to this day. I was absolutely surprised by the volume and quality of feedback.
The magic unfolded as I received feedback—not only did I get numerous positive responses, as expected when asking about strengths, but the consistency in the feedback was striking. While the exact words varied, the more responses I gathered, the clearer the image of my strengths became. It was an eye-opening experience, highlighting talents and aspects of my personality that I had taken for granted or not recognized as strengths. Words like cosmopolitan, open to discussions, receptive to new ideas, willingness to explore, and openness to others' opinions painted a picture of who I am in the eyes of those who know me best.
As I reflected on this feedback, it became increasingly strange that I hadn't recognized 'openness' as a core value when I first embarked on this journey. Everything pointed towards this, which perfectly matched the insights shared by my peers. Thus, the revelation of my core value as 'Openness' initially seemed disappointing. It felt too ordinary, neither bold nor magical. Yet, it was profound in its simplicity and truth.
Curious, I researched whether openness was even considered a significant value. To my astonishment, I found that it is indeed valued, especially in methodologies like Scrum, where openness fosters a supportive and transparent organizational culture, ensuring that all team members are heard and both successes and failures are openly addressed.
This realization gradually made sense. Openness might seem ordinary, but for me, it's foundational—it underpins how I interact with the world and is seen by others as one of my strengths, even labeled a "superpower" by one colleague.
This value has shaped my interactions and the way others perceive me. Furthermore, it's a quality I see in myself more clearly after reflecting on the feedback I gathered.
Throughout my life, I've struggled with the common question: What do you want to do with your life? What are your specialization areas? While many seem to have clear answers, I've always adored their certainty. For me, the world is filled with an overwhelming array of interesting subjects, making it impossible to choose just one path. Now, this realization has clarified why I feel this way—I am naturally open and curious about numerous topics, which fosters what many call my unconventional thinking.
As I continue to embrace this core value of openness, I see its impact not just on my professional path but in my personal growth as well. It's not just about being receptive to new ideas; it's about integrating this openness into every aspect of my life, allowing it to guide my decisions and shape my interactions. This journey of defining my purpose and core values has not only taught me about myself but has also equipped me with the tools to navigate future uncertainties with more confidence and clarity.
This has been an interesting path that I have been following over the last few weeks, and it has also sparked the interest to dig deeper into the topic and to make it a regular task to revisit and possibly adjust my purpose statement. For me, this has been a starting point. In the Bachelor course that I am currently undertaking at Tomorrow University, creating your purpose and consequently your mission statement is the starting point of the studies, and I think it is a very good choice to start this way. It brings you right into the questions of why you are here and what you want to do.
As mentioned before, I guess this is only the starting point, and already now I have started to read the books that were recommended in the course (to be found below) and am investigating even more—so for me, this is the start of a great journey.
My Purpose: Build a brighter future—one innovation at a time!
Cheers
Uwe
Links to books used:
and here one additional as it is a classic and one of my favorite once is well:
Note: The link to the book is an affiliate link. If you purchase through this link, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
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