The New York Times just published a piece which advocates for mission statements over resolutions.
While it is common for businesses to define goals and values with mission statements, most people never take the time to identify their individual senses of purpose. Most focus on single acts of self-improvement — exercising more, eating more healthfully, spending more time with family — rather than examining the underlying reasons for the behavior, says Jack Groppel, co-founder of the Human Performance Institute, an Orlando-based coaching firm.
“A resolution is a well-intended action plan, but because a person hasn’t really connected to the ‘why’ behind it, the old way of life, the chaos, comes back into play and they can’t really sustain it,” says Dr. Groppel, who created the “Corporate Athlete,” program that uses the training concepts of elite athletes to improve personal and business performance.
This sounds right to me. One of my favourite activities in the Precision Nutrition lean eating for women program I completed was drafting a fitness mission statement.
If I were adding to it now I think I’d say something about environmental values, “living lightly on the earth,” and a few words about friends, family, love, moving with others, and dancing, especially dancing.
I like the idea of a new year mission statement rather than a list of restrictive resolutions.
What would your fitness mission statement look like?