In Vicksburg, Mississippi, there is a large park on the old Civil War battleground. One late summer morning at the start of my senior year in college, my cross country teammates and I met at that park for a “medium distance” run. It was a warm, sticky morning typical of that time of year, and my training group (four of us including me) had the furthest to go that day, so we were eager to get started. In hindsight, we should have been more eager to review the map, because eight miles in, we found ourselves rather lost. We ended up wandering out of the park and had to stop for directions twice, once at a person’s home and once at a gas station, before we finally made it back to the parking lot via a definitely-not-safe-for-running sort of road. We were drenched in sweat and had run a few more miles than intended, but were very happy to have found our way back.
When you find yourself in unfamiliar territory, what do you do? What guidance do you look for when deciding which way to go? While interviewing Dr. Shah about the San Antonio Food Bank, she mentioned that she had a personal mission statement, which has helped her make decisions at various points during her career. The idea of writing a mission statement immediately struck me as very creative, and on further reflection, I realized how helpful such a guiding statement could be.
As a medical student, the possibilities for the future in terms of life and career can seem rather wide open. That can be a blessing, but it sometimes feels like quite the opposite. On one hand, you are free to choose among many different specialties, many different residency programs, and many different post-residency options. On the other hand, too many choices can feel overwhelming, and choosing between them can cause quite a bit of trepidation. A personal mission statement can help allay some of that anxiety by providing direction, allowing you to make choices based on what is most important to you.
Most resources available online about writing a mission statement are directed toward businesses, but a lot of the same principles apply with only slight alteration. The following can serve as the “building blocks” for a mission statement:
- What are the things that you do with your life now or plan to do in the future?
- What are your core values? What things are most important to you?
- How do you/ will you put your core values into practice?
- Why is your mission worth pursuing?
The last step can be challenging: take these elements and try to fit them together in a way that is succinct and helpful to you. In contrast to a company’s mission statement, you don’t have to impress anyone or try to attract customers, so be honest with yourself and try to make something that is meaningful to you, and that you are willing to follow. I can speak for myself that taking the time to think about what matters to me and putting it in writing has already helped a great deal, especially with the final year of medical school starting to peek over the horizon.
Life happens, and your mission statement may need to change over time. That’s okay. The important thing is to know that you have something to give you direction, and hopefully avoid ending up lost on a metaphorical Mississippi highway, far from where you intended to go.
Reference: steps to making a mission statement outlined above adapted from How To Write a Mission Statement for Your Business, available here.
Author: Will Young