The Difference Between Your "Why" And Your "Mission"

Full transparency.  The vision I have on my heart feels quite ginormous that the ONLY way it will be filled is through miracles.  I call it a "God-sized hole on my heart" type of dream.  A dream stated out loud to my "then bestie, now husband" back in college.  

And it's the purpose or the mission behind my business. 

If we have ever had an in-person conversation lasting over 5 minutes, then you probably already KNOW what this mission is... and why it's important.  And if you don't, we'll get to it in a wee bit.  

01 // MISSION STATEMENT 

First, how about we talk on the importance of having a mission or even a mission statement for your business.  And I think it can vary from the WHY of your business... you can have a "WHY" factor plus a "MISSION" for your business. 

The WHY is what you love... how you want to serve... who you want to help. For instance, I absolutely love serving women entrepreneurs particularly moms in creating the impact they desire within their business without sacrificing their family time, their energy or their sanity.  We are proving that mama-hood and entrepreneurship can co-exist!

Yet there's a MISSION behind it... the DRIVING force which doesn't just encompass your business but also your connections, your day-to-day decisions, your life! 

Jenna Kutcher blogged about it saying:

"It’s a statement that wraps up all the values that are important to you into a sentence that dictates the direction you and your business are heading. Your personal mission encompasses your goals, purpose, and pursuits in life. It affects business, relationships, and personal decisions, and it’s something you can hold literally every aspect of your life up against to make sure everything is in alignment with your greater purpose." 

Isn't that beautiful.  And can you see the DIFFERENCE between your WHY + the MISSION!  Your mission or mission statement is the force behind your WHY... behind the connections you make... behind the podcasts you listen to... behind the habits you form... all the things. 

Your mission (should you choose to accept it!  HA!  very James Bondesque)... is unique to you, love.  And sometimes, we get tripped up on what exactly is it.  How do we find it?  What ways do we identify what exactly is this God-sized dream on our hearts? 

Well. For me, it was quite simple (don't hate); however, as I said before... to make it come to fruition will take a miracle.  And if you are like me, you believe in miracles.  Heck, I am living with two miracles right now - the Gillies.

02 // FINDING YOUR MISSION 

However, that doesn't help YOU now does it?  So, I'll share with you something I have learned from another brilliant women entrepreneur, Sara Blakely.  Three questions to ask oneself when trying to identify your mission... 

1. What do you like to do? 
2. What are you good at doing? 
3. What breaks your heart?

And the part where they all connect... well, it just may be your mission!  For me, I absolutely LOVE being in nature, with animals (hello, veterinarian here) and one thing which breaks my heart is how growing up, I couldn't truly share that love for animals with my sisters.  

So, at the age of nineteen, I knew in my heart... I would one day own and operate an equine therapy ranch for families with special needs.  It would be a place where the whole family could come and kids would be able to bond with the horses, receive equine therapy (hippotherapy) and at the end of the day it would be a sort of family vacation, ranch style.

That's my mission... that's my God-sized dream.  The equine therapy ranch is my driving force to serving women, mom entrepreneurs to create the impact THEY desire.

03 // WHAT HELPED ME

Now here's the thing.  It's quite easy to get distracted and to go OFF the path from your vision.  Lord knows I have once or twice.  And it's also okay to feel lost or even terrified of the mission... and it's even MORE okay for the mission not to make sense to anyone else, but you. 

What has helped me is to realize these few things: 

• I don't have all the answers - all I know is WHAT the mission is but all the details are not known. 
• I don't need everyone to understand the mission - but I do need my person to support my mission.  For me, that's the hubster.  Maybe for you it's a parent, a sibling, a best friend, your spouse, etc.  Find someone you trust to support YOU!
• It will most likely NOT happen on my timeline which frustrates the fire out of me, but it will happen on God's timeline.  And that's the best.
• On days when it's challenging to stay motivated, visualizing the first family to stay at the ranch + reading their "amazing review" in our guest book keeps me focused.
• Not everything available to me serves the mission - and if it doesn't serve the mission, it's a Hell No!  *this was a lesson learned many, many times*

The why is important, yet I feel it's the mission... the God-sized dream on the heart which is the driving force behind all the decisions.  Not all missions look alike, and that's a beautiful thing. 

Cheers to finding YOUR mission + keeping it on your heart and in your sights at all time. I'd love to continue this conversation and hear all about your mission, so plug into our community + share on our thread here... what is YOUR MISSION and just maybe you'll discover support and even collaborations to make it possible!

Grit + Gumption,

Langley.

Biohacker Babe