WELCOME BACK TO RAISING LUMINARIES! 

Right now, a lot of you are going through transitions in your family: kids going back to school or you’re kicking off homeschool again; and I felt like it was really important to ground us in this week’s episode around the idea of having a mission as a family. 

We are entrepreneurs so it’s really common for us to create a mission for our business, to know where we’re going and why we’re going there and what it looks like. But what about for your family? And what could it look like and how could it shift the needle in your life? How could it help you quell some of the chaos if you knew your purpose as a family, and how you were working as a team the same way you work with your business teams? 

So, today we’re talking all about writing your family mission statement.

Let’s raise them up right!

IN THIS EPISODE, WE COVER:

[1:55] What Is A Mission Statement? 

Let’s start by talking about what it means to have a mission statement. 

When you create a mission statement for your company, it’s usually defined by being the company’s purpose and it’s generally answering the questions like: What does the business do? How do they do it and why do they do it? 

Why is it important to think through these things? Because part of seeing opportunities in the world around you and thinking about how you could help or serve someone, will ultimately be a skill you can use when deciding what work to do in the future. And the mission statement is the answer to those things. So for something as important as our family, something that we often take for granted, why wouldn’t we also want to discuss and establish these same things and make sure everyone’s working towards the same goal, the same values and same priorities in mind and working as a team for the betterment of the team and towards the mission.

Your family mission statement should become a NorthStar for your company mission statement. They shouldn’t be the same, but they should be in harmony. 

[4:40] Having the Right Discussions 

Step one is to start having the right discussions. These can be scattered throughout the month. You don’t have to rush the process. You can have one in the carpool lane with the kids. You can have another at dinner with your family or on a date night with your spouse. Start to write down the common threads, phrases and ideas that are brought up and record them on paper so that you start to take note of these things. 

Then, in those discussions try to see what makes each of you tick individually. Why were you brought together as a family? Start to take note of the gifts that are brought together into your family through each person. What is their unique gift? And if you have trouble discovering that we have a tool for free that will help you discover your kids’ spark and even your own at luminaryleadershipco.com/spark.

[7:14] Core Values 

Step two is listing out your core values. 

If you don’t have these yet, we have another free tool to help you with this as well at luminaryleadershipco.com/truenorth. The True North tool is going to help you identify your family’s core values and priorities. Note that a family mission statement takes things a step further and it combines those core values that you identify in the True North exercise with a common purpose. It outlines a family’s reason for existing and defines your goals and standards and purpose in a simplified way so that it’s easy to remember, to refer back to and so that your kids can resonate with it.

[8:06] Writing Out The Most Important Pieces 

Now that you have this big list of priorities, values, talents and ideas that could be included in the family mission it’s time for step three – looking for common threads and writing out the most important pieces, because not everything has to exist in the mission statement. So, start to highlight your favorite phrases or words and combine ones that are similar and that can be captured in one idea. What are the top ones that are reflective of what’s most important to the family as a whole?

[8:55] Write The Mission Statement 

And the final step is to write the mission statement. 

This should be short and concise so that everyone can refer to it. There’s not one right way to write a mission statement. So, don’t overthink it. Make it your own. Being entrepreneurial families, we’re more likely to include service or purposes of family into our mission statement, so be sure not to leave that part out. What do we value? What do we want to do? Who do we want to serve? It’s all in a concise statement for everyone to agree to use as their North Star.

Also, you can edit it and refine it as much as you need over time. This doesn’t have to be perfect. Families, just like businesses, evolve and change and it’s important to refresh this exercise every year. For some people, this might be a one liner. For other people, it might be a paragraph. Just roll with it.

I hope this episode helps you create your own family mission statement so you and your family will know where you’re going and why you’re going there and what it looks like. And if it did, make sure you share it with us! 

We would love it if you would subscribe and leave us a review! And come connect with me on Instagram at @elizhartke and if there’s a topic, a question or a guest you want to hear on the show or an idea you have for us, just reach out and share that.

We do this for you so the more you tell us the more we can serve!

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Discover your kids’ spark and even your own: Raising Luminaries Spark Workbook 
• Identify your family’s core values and priorities: Raising Luminaries True North Workbook
• Did this episode resonate with you? Help spread the message by rating and leaving a review for the show here!
• Connect with me on Instagram!