Why You Need a Simple Mission

Say you’re starting a new business or creative project based on content you’ll be creating for your personal brand.

It can be tempting to spend hours word-smithing on the perfect personal mission statement for this new venture that lives up to your lofty vision. The problem is, often when attempting to make our mission “bigger” and more inspiring (to ourselves), we end up doing exactly the opposite: Stripping it of it’s meaning entirely.

If you’ve run into this challenge or you’re currently contemplating a personal mission for your creative work – let me offer a suggestion:

Eschew a lofty mission statement for a radically simple mission, what I like to call, a “simple purpose.”

Something short, general, but unmistakable in its intention and the direction it provides.

For example, say you’re starting a fitness YouTube channel and blog to build an audience and eventually sell digital products to change peoples lives.

After much thought, you come up with the personal mission to:

Create content that inspires people to dream big, set the right goals, transform their body and mind, and live happier and more confident lives.

Now, that’s certainly a noble mission, however, is it more effective and motivating to you than the following?

Help people reach their fitness goals and live happier lives.

There may be merits to both phrasings, however, the more we can simplify our mission to the bare minimum, the more direction, and motivation it has the potential to provide us.

After all, one of the key values of a personal mission statement in any creative endeavor is to remind you why you are doing this when the going gets tough.

Yes, your vision should be big, but your mission should be as simple as possible. How do you expect your mission to be able to get you out of bed at 5:00 AM (metaphorically, as well as literally) if you it’s verbose to the point that you can recall it and recite it in an instant?

We think we need a bigger mission to motivate us, to wake us up energized, to ensure we stop procrastinating… But the reality is, most of us artists, entrepreneurs and creatives don’t need a bigger mission…. What we need is a simpler one.

How simple can you make your mission? How plain, unassuming, and direct? You might be surprised how inspiring it becomes in this form.

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” -Albert Einstein