I look at a personal vision statement as a concise description of the kind of person I want to become written as if I have already achieved my goals for growth. The mission statement gives us a guiding hand of what kind of person you want to become. The vision statement helps us visualize who we want to be.

The second step, after developing a personal mission statement is to get in touch with your spiritual center, and verify that you really want to become the person you hope to become. Reading of scripture, books, prayer, and meditation are all tools which can be used to get in touch with your spiritual self.

The third step in creating a vision statement is to compress your verified goals, hopes, dreams, and desires into a few targeted sentences, written from the perspective of having achieved them.

An example of a vision statement would be, “I am a person who listens to the spirit, is loving, and seeks to build others up.”

Creating a vision statement becomes a way to remember who you want to be. You can keep it in your head, and use it to help guide your actions, and decisions. You are well on your way to establishing your personal identity.

Like the mission statement is a work in progress which changes as you grow and learn, a vision statement should grow and change as you do. Remember to review your mission statement regularly to keep it in your mind. Give yourself time to ponder changes. Use it in your weekly and daily planning activities.

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1. Developing a Personal Mission Statement – Personal Identity
2. Me, Myself and I: Visually Speaking That is, Creating a Personal Logo – Personal Identity

Many people wonder at the expense of time in developing a mission statement for themselves. After all life moves fast, and there is so much to do. The minutia of life, the endless things which need to be done scream for attention, and if left unchecked will consume our lives.

One way to keep what is important to ourselves is to create a mission statement, which is a summary of our values, goals, relationships, and what we would like to accomplish with our lives. I believe that life is like a jar full of rocks, pebbles, sand, and water. If the rocks do not go in first, then they will never fit. If the pebbles do not go in next then they will never fit. If the sand does not go in last, then it will never fit. If the water goes in first it will be displaced as other things call for our attention. Finding balance is the key to finding success.

A mission statement is composed of values. A value is a personality trait which you posses or you desire to cultivate. One way to discover values that are important to you are to meditate or pray. Tapping into your spiritual core is a great way to discover what is important to you. Listen to your inner voice which inspires you. Some common values which lead to mission statements are honesty, integrity, inspiration, and hard work.

The next step in developing a mission statement is to take your values, and write out a sentence defining clearly what your values mean to you.

Now that your values are clearly defined put them together in a mission statement. As every person is unique, every mission statement should be unique as well. I suggest that if you feel like you are copying someone else’s mission statement, that you need to go back and connect with yourself to have a mission statement which will drive and motivate you.

Mission statements should never be considered finished. As you discover new things about yourself, your mission statement should change and develop. Revisit your statement regularly for guidance, and to make sure it is still connects with you.

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Related posts:

1. Developing a Personal Vision Statement – Personal Identity
2. Me, Myself and I: Visually Speaking That is, Creating a Personal Logo – Personal Identity

The first step in creating a budget is to gather your financial information. You will need the following:

• Income
• Expenses

Regular Income items are paychecks, or other sources of income which repeat on a regular basis, like every month.

Irregular Income items are income which you get regularly, but not in a fixed amount. One possible source of Irregular Income would be profits from a small business.

I suggest you use a simple method of forecasting your irregular income, by averaging your last 12 months of irregular income. This will let you approximative what your income will be. You then put aside extra income above this amount to help cover the times when you bring in less.

The next step in the creation of a budget will be to gather, and organize your expenses. There are monthly expenses, and there are expenses which occur less frequently. Organize all of these into categories.

When it comes to bills which reappear less than every full month make a decision, on if you are going to budget a monthly amount for them, or make a special budget for those months.

Some possible expenses are:

• Housing and Utility Expenses
  • Mortgage payment or rent
  • Insurance
  • Taxes
  • Electric
  • Natural gas
  • Water
  • Garbage pick-up
• Common Household Expenses
  • Groceries
  • Cleaning supplies
  • Laundry
  • Dry cleaning
  • Home improvement projects
  • Towels, linens, etc.
  • Clothing
• Transportation
  • Car payments
  • Insurance
  • Gas
  • Routine Maintenance
  • Repairs
  • Air travel
  • Rental cars
  • Public transportation
• Entertainment
  • Cable TV or satellite service
  • Dining out
  • Sporting events
  • Lessons and recitals
  • Clubs
• Communication
  • Telephone
  • Internet access
  • Cellular phone
  • Voice mail, etc.
• Health and Beauty
  • Hair cuts, perms, etc.
  • Make-up
  • Medical, dental, vision
  • Perscriptions
  • Weight loss, diet products
  • Nutritional supplements
• Debt
  • Credit Card Payments
  • Loans Payments
• Other Possible Items
  • Child care
  • Items for baby/elderly
  • Allowances for children
  • Book clubs, magazines, music, etc.
  • Fast food
  • Investments
  • Vacation
  • Spending money
  • Donations to church or charity
  • Gifts (Christmas, birthdays, anniversary, etc.)
  • Emergency fund
  • Coffee, soda, cigarettes, etc.

Now, add all income items together, and add all expense items together.

Now subtract expenses from income. If there is a positive amount, or zero left you are done!

If there is a negative amount left you need to drop some expenses quick. Some quick items you can usually drop are:

• Internet
• Cable/Satellite TV
• Anything which is not a necessity

Remember, you need to review your budget. Every month at the least, or every pay day. This lets your budget be responsive to your changing financial situation.

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Related posts:

1. Keep-It-Simple Financial Planning (Part One)
2. Keep-It-Simple Financial Planning (Part Two)
3. Keep-It-Simple Financial Planning (Part 3) Expanded

From the link above:

Title : The Richest Man in Babylon
Author : George S. Clason
Publisher : Signet/New American Library
ISBN : 0-451-20536-7
Pages : 160

This book is not a hard, or a long read, and it packed with principles which will lead people into financial stability!  If you do not have time to read the book, here it is with the principles pulled out.

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1. Keep it Simple Financial Planning (Part Three)