Personal Mission: the Journey in Discovering the Meaning of Success and Fulfillment

What does it mean for one to have personal fulfillment? Practically, what does this look like in life? Personal fulfillment, success, and passion are areas people pursue and ponder for years and are lucky if they are able to achieve one. The journey in attempting to find my personal fulfillment is one not easily discovered. Searching for answers and praying for clarity have flooded my mind regarding this topic. How are we to understand the will God has for us? In personal mission statement essay I want to share how my experience with God has changed how I look at my life. 

After much consideration, research and contemplation, my personal mission statement is to glorify God in all that I do. To serve him, love those around me, and follow the path he has laid before me regardless of where I’m taken. It is impossible to perceive the precise calling God has, but it can be determined how he wants me to carry it out and that is with a submissive heart to him. Finding my personal fulfillment consists of many criteria, such as, applying scriptures to my life, and searching out my strengths.

In Ephesians 5:15-17, it says “Be careful, then, how you live- not as unwise but at wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Every day I have a choice whether I will bring glory to my creator. Will I take captive of every opportunity that is granted to me by God? My personal mission statement revolves around this scripture and it also provides the reasoning behind it. Understanding what the Lord’s will is for me personally has been a continuous struggle. Everywhere I turn there appears to be a different path, but the scripture in Ephesians supplies a sense of comfort. Gods calling for each of us are different although in it we have the same purpose: to glorify him. This is the measure of ultimate success. True success is found in the self-discipline to understand the plan God has mapped out. Allowing him control of our lives, giving him our whole-hearts, and obtaining a deep relationship with him, truly is the real definition of success.

Individual qualities and strengths must be discovered in order to fully understand personal fulfillment and success. In the book Strengthsfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath, it has a layout of what it means to uncover your talents and how to use them practically in life. The book provides an assessment and narrows down five out of thirty-four character traits that apply to you. It then delivers an explanation for each attribute and how they can assist in becoming a person of sensation. After completing the assessment, my results concluded with the following strengths: restorative, futuristic, achiever, responsibility, and focus.

Putting these qualities into action is not a simple task. Each one requires a certain plan of action. For example, one who obtains the trait of restoration commonly enjoys solving problems. Whether it’s one that is a daily task or a more drawn out issue. People with a restorative personality are most likely to thrive in an environment in which they can search out opportunities to practice their love for solving dilemmas. Additionally in my quest for searching out fulfillment, the restorative trait is of aid because I can use it to search out ways to help those around me whenever they are faced with an issue and may need assistance.

The second attribute I acquired through the assessment is futuristic. The futuristic attribute focus’ on the events of the coming times. Those who are futuristic become full of excitement at the thought of their visions for the future. With this quality, I find enjoyment in contemplating the plan and will God has for me. Allowing myself to focus on the days to come result in booming ideas of ways to glorify him. Thus, the trait of being future-focused concludes in fulfilling my personal mission by providing me the opportunities to grow in my passions for the future and discovering ways to honor God. The achiever is the third strength and it deeply connects with the scripture Luke 14: 23. It says “Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’” It is of extreme difficulty to constantly deny my sinful nature and allow myself to completely give myself to God every day. On the contrary, I have found it more motivating to apply myself with the quality of the achiever to continuously work at taking up my cross.

Not only is being an achiever helping me carry out personal fulfillment, but responsibility also ranks high in this category. Responsibility is described as people who take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. Being responsible is a key factor in keeping with success and personal fulfillment. In order to fully commit yourself to an important task, one must take ownership in keeping up with it. Having a mindset of responsibility will guide me in pursuing my mission statement of glorifying God. Stephen R. Covey addresses responsibility in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He communicates the actions of what a responsible person looks like. “Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling.” Responsibility is solely the commitment of strong morals. Keeping in-tact with them and following through on their word. That is responsibility.

My remaining attribute from the strengthfinder assessment is focus. A focus mind can reign-in on a project, bring it to completion, and take the essential measures to keep it on track. Using this quality in facilitating my goals of success keeps my mind where it needs to be rather than being easily distracted by Satan’s schemes. Additionally, focus also is beneficial for following through in my search for personal fulfillment and success. In the book The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, it is says “if you want to know why you were placed on this plant, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.” This statement goes hand-in-hand with having a focused mind. Understanding and knowing the reason why I was placed here serves the process for finding personal fulfillment. This can be more easily accomplished by being attentive to the purpose God has laid out. Thus being focused.

To conclude mission statement essay, the journey in discovering the meaning of success and personal fulfillment is not easily found. My personal mission statement reflects my values and my reasons behind everything I do. The qualities I uncovered about myself through the Strengthfinder assessment will greatly assist in the completion in my personal fulfillment. Benjamin Franklin is a great ambassador for what it means to complete the calling God has laid out. In his autobiography, he explains the way God has blessed him and thanks him for the way God filled his life with promises and purpose. “And now I speak of thanking God. I desire with all humility to acknowledge that I owe the mentioned happiness of my past life to His kind province, which lead me to the means I used and gave them success.” In my journey of pursuing my personal mission statement and acting in a way to glorify God, I admire the words written by Benjamin Franklin. His constant acknowledgement and admiration of God inspires me to drive my life in that direction. To honor God and glorify him in all that I do is the ultimate goal and to live out his definition of true success by applying my personal mission statement to discover the true way of life.