Personal Mission Statement

A Personal Mission Statement: Charting Career Success

Fortune 500 companies, and even little mom and pop shops, compose mission statements to express what their organization does. Once completed, it can enable the organization to make decisions that will help them accomplish their vision and be a good measure of company success. For example, Universal Accounting Center’s mission statement is “to equip students with the education, skills and confidence needed to enjoy a successful career in full-charge accounting, bookkeeping and tax.” UAC uses this mission statement to measure their success; when their students succeed (“equip[ing] students…to enjoy a successful career…), so do they.Like any organization, you would like to enjoy success. A clear mission statement can help you express what you hope to become, enabling you to make choices that will get you there, and measure your success once you do.

What is a personal mission statement?

A personal mission statement is a concise and specific declaration of your career goals. It should be no longer than 2 sentences and no more than 30 words. Begin with “My career mission is…” Here are some examples:My career mission is to become competent in small business accounting in order to help local businesses succeed.My career mission is to become an accountant specializing in not-for-profit business accounting so I can ensure the success of volunteer organizations.My career mission is to start my own business as a full-service financial provider to help small businesses thrive and spend more quality time with my family.

Writing a mission statement

It’s one thing to look at a few examples, but how do you compose your own personal career mission statement? First, ask yourself a few questions (and take notes):

• What natural talents and abilities do I possess?
• What am I passionate about?
• What do I want to do?
• What do I value (integrity, passion, relationships, family, etc.)
• What do I want to contribute?
• Who do I want to influence?

Once you’ve answered these questions, look over your answers and see what connections you can make between your values, your passions, your talents, and who you would like to impact. Then write a few mission statements and see which appeals to you most. When you’ve decided upon your mission statement, put it somewhere you can read often, and consider how you’re measuring up.

Mission statements should continually evolve

Just because you’ve written it down on paper (even if you’ve embossed it with gold ink), doesn’t mean you can’t continually change your mission statement to reflect your growth and maturity as a person. Perhaps as you begin advancing in your career, you’ll realize that your initial mission statement needed to be influenced by job experience; you may choose to alter your career path because of what you experience on the job.Regardless of how much it changes, a personal mission statement can help you chart your career path and be more successful.

How Universal Accounting Center can help you realize your mission

If any of the sample mission statements above appeal to you, UAC offers an amazing opportunity to help you realize your career goals. Since 1979, Universal Accounting Center has been teaching students the proper method of small business accounting. While a university education may take years and will not give you the practical experience necessary to manager small business finances, UAC has programs that only take weeks of your time and provide you with years of success. If you’re interested in doing small business accounting and would like to receive the designation of Professional Bookkeeper, take a tour of Universal Accounting Center today.