By Najeema Davis Washington
My personal mission statement is one that connects mind, body, and soul. Three words that are the driving words of my personal mission statement are determination (mind) tenacity (action or body) and humility (soul) This three-part driving force was developed from first, my personal leadership role–model, my father, and also from falling on my face dozens of times. I’ve learned as much from my wins as I have from my losses.
In your daily decision-making you let your determination (“I want to achieve X”) plus your humility (the idea that all achievement is done in service to others) lead to a tenacity, the actions that create the type of change that you want to see. All of my personal experiences, my failures and my successes, in addition to my very close, personal, role model lead me to develop the following mission statement: I want to help people live their most authentic lives by helping them to achieve self–defined success.
A personal mission statement could help anchor a student. If you have an anchor, it allows you to make decisions from a place of personal knowing. My formula combines my determination, plus humility, leading me to being tenacious in achieving my goals – that’s my personal mission statement, an approach to life developed from falling back but propelling forward.
Najeema Davis Washington is the Assistant Director for Engagement in CofC’s Office of Alumni Relations. You can follow her at @najeema.tv.