Cheryl is in her third year at the college. She is an accounting major with straight “A”s. But, she doesn’t enjoy accounting as a focus of study at all and she asks “why?” After all, she’s so good at detail. But she hasn’t stopped to think about how much of an extrovert she is and how much she enjoyed her semester studying and volunteering with the poor in the Middle East. Is it possible that she isn’t asking or being asked the right questions?

Sometimes “why?” may be the wrong question. “What?” may be better.

I have changed the names, but these are real life stories. I have spent more than eighteen years counseling students and recent college graduates about their goals and life plans. My solution for Bob and Cheryl was to ask the question “what?” instead of “why?” Those of us who wish to be fully alive go through life asking questions like:

Why are we here?
Why am I lonely?
Why do people have to die?
Why do I feel dead?
Why do I feel trapped?

One of the major solutions to answering these questions of meaning, relationship, death, aliveness and freedom is coming to grips with our sense of calling and purpose. In other words, coming to understand what God would have us to do with our lives. Writing a mission statement and a resulting strategy can make all the difference in answering this issue. Businesses have mission statements and strategic plans, and so can you. I have helped hundreds of students and recent college graduates write their own mission statement and have yet to find anyone who doesn’t have a sense of mission and purpose on their hearts. They just need a little outside help organizing their thoughts and articulating their deepest “heart-cry.” Being able to state your mission is the “what?” So, let’s get started.

Know Who You Are
First, God wants you to take your sense of identity and calling TO what you do, instead of receiving your identity FROM what you do. If you can do this, you are ahead of the game. Culture encourages you to define yourself by your job. Usually, when asked who we are, we respond by naming our profession. But, God is more interested in who we are as His son or daughter, our character and personhood, than in what we accomplish professionally. When we take our sense of identity … that is, what makes us unique—that we are loved by God and others, that we have our own sense of reason and purpose to what we do, then we are secure and poised for significant things. No one can rob you of your identity. Even if I can only find a job working as a street cleaner, if it’s rooted in who I am in God, my identity doesn’t change!

Know What Motivates You
Our culture tells us that if we do what we love to do, we will be happy and fulfilled. Why is it then that I meet so many people who are using their gifts in a field that they thought they would find fulfilling and yet are so unhappy? It is because doing what we love is only half of the equation. It is very helpful to do some work on assessment in your campus career counseling office. I heartily recommend knowing your gifting, your motivated skills, your work values, your natural personality preferences and your strongest areas of career interest (tests for assessing them are available in most university placement or counseling offices). This is an excellent place to start. Yet I have people come to me on a regular basis saying, “Now, what do I do with this information?” It’s important information. It gives us a good aerial view of what makes us unique, but we must ask, “what?”

I have a quote in calligraphy on the wall of my study. It is a wonderful quote from Frederick Buechner, from his book, Wishful Thinking – A Theological ABC (Harper Collins, New York), and a birthday gift from one of God’s greatest blessings to me, my wife. It states:

“Calling. That place where your deepest gladness and the world’s deepest hunger meet.”

Now we see the second half of the equation? We need to not only be aware of our uniqueness, but we must exercise it in a broken world. Does this mean that we all become social workers? It’s a great profession, but absolutely not. I have seen people live out this quote in scores of professions. For example, I had the privilege of speaking to service clubs in a small city in Kansas several years ago. As I talked to dozens of students, I discovered that the person who had the greatest influence in town was not the mayor, a minister, or a leading business executive. It was the owner of a gas station! I went to meet him. This man was shy, and not very stylish. He was not an intellectual or a gifted counselor. He just loved working on auto engines, doing it honestly and cheaply, and making people happy. Consequently he had plenty of work to do. But he also had dozens of teenagers who found his station a place where they were welcome and accepted, a place where they were loved by a simple man through their pain and struggle, and where they were taught to understand car engines! This man’s gas station was a beacon of hope and light. Here they were shown the love of Jesus and their lives were transformed.

Know What Makes You Unique
We all share a common starting point of mission. It is summarized very simply in the great commandments to love god and our neighbor. Just trying to look at the world through the eyes of Jesus sets us apart! However, we have a specific, personal mission as well. Richard N. Boles, author of What Color is Your Parachute? (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, California) explains his chapter “How to Find Your Mission in Life,” your unique mission is:

a. to exercise that Talent which you particularly came to Earth to use,
b. in those place(s) or setting(s) which God has caused to appeal to you the most,
c. and for those purposes which God most needs done in the world.

Writing Your Mission Statement
Step One: Seek wise counsel and assessment
The career counseling office at your college or university can help you with testing. This testing should include:

1. Natural Personality Preferences: Some of us are introverts, others are extroverts. Some of us are highly logical in our decision making, others are more relational. Some of us are more organized, while others are more flexible. Some of us are more detailed and “hands-on” oriented, while others are more theoretical. None of these are right or wrong, just different, and these preferences play off one another.

2. Motivated Skills: There are skills that we are good at, like Cheryl and her accounting, but these skills don’t motivate us. There are usually patterns of skills that do jazz us, such as Bob’s love of art.

3. Work Values: We all have natural preferences about the kind of work setting that works for us. Some of us like pressure and a busy setting. Others like a quiet setting. Again, not a matter of right or wrong, just different.

4. Key Interests: We have natural patterns of interest that really motivate us. Some of us are physically oriented and like worked with our hands. Others have stronger social or entrepreneurial interest. Others have interest in the artistic world. Yet others are highly scientific or intellectually oriented. The variety goes on.

5. Aptitudes: There are aptitude tests out there. There are abilities that come more easily to some than others. Being an astronaut might sound like fun, but do you have the natural aptitude for it?

6. Spiritual Gifts: Help on this may be harder to find. Try your pastor. God spreads his spiritual gifts around (see the book of Romans, Chapter 12 in the Bible). Get some help on figuring out what your functional gifts are. Examples are service, caring deeply for others, teaching, stewardship of resources (giving), leadership/administration, encouragement and others.

Step Two: Try these questions
I have some reflection questions for you. You will probably want someone you trust to help you with the observations that come out of this exercise.

Journaling — a Question to Ponder
Picture yourself resting in the bosom of Jesus Christ. You are in conversation together and He is giving you the ability to look at the world through His eyes. In this context, what are the matters that uniquely stir your heart? What are the issues and concerns that stir your passions, get you excited, make you angry or motivate you? Please allow yourself some time for prayer before answering.

Thinking About the Future
Write down the date of exactly ten years from now:

A. Where would you like to be living?
B. How would you like to be spending your time?
C. What will your relationships be like: Which people will be more important to you?
D. What will your lifestyle be?

Looking Back
Picture the people gathered sixty-two years from now at your memorial service. What would you like them to be saying about you and your life? Please be specific. Skip the “glittering generalities.”

Good Times
A “good time” is an activity where you feel that you did something well and enjoyed doing it. These experiences may have occurred during any period of your life and in a variety of arenas such as school, play, work, family and relationships.

Please outline several of your “good experiences” in a few words. Do not evaluate your experiences on the basis of how our culture would give them value. Try to list ten “good experiences” and then place a “star” by the ones that you would view as most significant. Feel free to use the reverse side of this page, if needed. Your childhood experiences are important, by the way. Consider the Foreign Service officer who states that it all started with a fourth grade class trip to the United Nations!

Three Times and You Win
1. List three times in your life when you felt exhilarated
2. List your favorite three vacations
3. List three recent accomplishments that made you feel satisfied
4. List three qualities for which you are most often complimented
5. List three activities which you used to enjoy but think that you have outgrown

Step Three: Issues to consider
Ponder those places and issues that break your heart. They are good windows into your mission. Some examples are:

1. The technical revolution
2. Environmental stewardship
3. The shift to a multipolar world
4. Massive public and private debt
5. The emergence of the Two-Thirds World Church
6. Increasing cultural diversity and pluralism
7. The view of Government as an adversary vs. a partner
8. Decreasing Biblical knowledge among the general population
9. The health care revolution and morass
10. The breakdown of the family
11. The breakdown of public education
12. Urbanization
13. Anti-intellectualism

Step Four: The Mission Statement Formula
You are now ready to write your mission statement. Here’s the three-step formula:

1. What are the unique gifts and skills that I possess and that motivate me?
2. How, where, when, and with whom do I wish to exercise them?
3. For what outcomes?

Ned some examples? Bob’s mission statement might look like this:

To use my creativity and love for the outdoors to communicate the beauty of God’s Creation to people who have no hope or joy.

Cheryl’s might look like this:

To use my practical gifts of service and organization to alleviate suffering in the world.

With your mission statement in hand, you will know when to say “no” and which battles to fight. You will have focus instead of running in many directions.

Step Five: Write your strategy
Now, in light of your mission statement, write out how you want to live it out … intellectually, spiritually, socially, etc. How do you want to grow to accomplish your mission? Think about how you wish to keep growing. There are four areas that I particularly encourage you to address. They are technical ability, communications (verbal and written), cross-cultural ability and relational ability.