MyMamaSaid.com

Almost all highly-successful businesses today at the very least have a mission statement that not only guides the company in a goal-oriented direction, but also assists the company owners in prioritizing short-term goals and tasks.

As a small business owner myself, I know how easy it is to get wrapped up in the minutia of everyday tasks, and often overlook the tasks that need my immediate attention. The attention-grabbing tasks, once completed, will keep me on track, according to my mission statement. The everyday menial task also should be done, but my time and energy should not be overtaken by it.

So, you’re saying, “OK, what is a mission statement, and why would I need one?” Let me explain.

A mission statement is a sentence or two basically stating a company’s purpose and market. A pet store’s mission statement might look something like this:

Acme Pet Store exists with the goal of providing high-quality pet products at competitive prices to pet owners living in the north Sacramento, CA area. By offering superior customer service and personal attention to each customer, APS will grow in the market through word of mouth, and through its community philanthropy projects.

Now, for the second part of your question: Why in the world would a mom need a mission statement. To answer that, let’s take a look at my rather hectic spring schedule, which I am sure is very similar to yours.

All three of my children are in school (the youngest goes to preschool everyday). My oldest is a cub scout and is playing minor A Little League. My middle child is a daisy girl scout and is playing minor B Little League softball. My youngest is my lazy lima bean, with no Little League and officially a Daisy tagalong.

In addition to running a few websites, I am a certified Jazzercise instructor with 3-6 weekly classes on my plate. My mom runs her own business selling park models, and when winter hits, she runs off to Mexico, leaving me to assist customers and show park models. I also volunteer at my church, and run the media every other month.

My husband is a sports writer for a local newspaper and usually works early afternoon to late evening. In other words, I’m it.

Are you catching my drift? Sound familiar? I knew I wasn’t alone.

The solution to the chaos (and I didn’t even touch the household duties) is a mission statement. A simple sentence or two describing — and ultimately keeping you focused on — your core priorities as a mom. I’ll get you started with mine:

As a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend and entrepreneur, my highest goal is to serve God and to follow the plan He has set for me as authentically as I can. In order to achieve this goal, I acknowledge I must daily address my physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, financial and relational health.

See? That wasn’t hard at all! Just by writing it down, I now can see clearly that when I have scheduling conflicts and to do’s are not getting done and I am completely stressing out, it’s because I am not focusing on my mission statement. The more I keep my eye on the prize, the more clearly I can see what tasks, errands, projects, meetings, etc, need to be dropped or delegated to someone else in favor of projects and items that will ultimately lead me to the goal in my mission statement! Refocusing my priorities and letting go of the menial leads to less stress and a happier mommy!

If you are also finding yourself too busy to breathe, give the mission statement a try. Just one sentence. Write it down. Revisit it when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

Warning: A side effect to living by your mission statement is the new-found ability to say “No.”

 Have you written a mom mission statement? If so, I’d love to see it! Post it here and help other moms find theirs!

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