PMS: The Most Useful Tool in My Life

...And no Guys, I don't mean "pre-menstrual syndrome". Luckily for you, this is much more applicable to everyone! In this article, I'll cover what a PMS actually is, how it can help your long-term goals, why it's important to incorporate into your life, and of course, exactly how to create it!

"PMS" = Personal Mission Statement!!!

A PMS can be defined in many ways. If you type it into Google, what you'll receive is the following definition,

"A Personal Mission Statement provides clarity and gives you a sense of purpose. It defines who you are and how you will live."

This is generally the definition I follow and pretty much the gist. A PMS can be as long or short as you choose and it's basically a personal summary of what you describe as your core values to refer back to regularly in order to stay true to who you are and what you believe. It's the most fool-proof way I've encountered when it comes to staying on track!

Every action you take in life can be defined as right or wrong in your own opinion by comparing the action taken with those described in your PMS. If it follows the guidelines of what you truly believe then you've done good. If it doesn't, then you are able to clearly see your mistake in order to rectify it next time. It gives you a clear black and white indication of whether or not you should have done something, whether you should or shouldn't do something. Reviewing your PMS makes for much easier decision making abilities and allows you to keep close reminders on your long-term goals instead of satisfying your need for instant gratification. A well-used PMS really does have the ability to positively influence every aspect of our lives (if we let it of course) from every action we take on a daily basis right down to how we talk to others, how we treat them and ourselves and most importantly, how we think about.... Pretty much everything.

Reflection is key when writing, following & reviewing your

Personal Mission Statement.

I first learned of PMS's in Stephen Covey's book "The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People" where Stephen talks about how we ought to "Begin With The End in Mind" (Habit 2). Here he goes on to explain that "All Things Are Created Twice" -

"There's a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things"

Here he follows on with a more detailed anecdote for building your own house. He explains how you create every detail of your designs and blueprints before you pick up a single tool or begin physically building your house.

-If we want to create our lives the way we desire them, we must plan ahead and avoid/rectify any pitfalls that may come our way.

A PMS is a great predictor of such dangers. -

Because you've already thought about it before it strikes!

If you are the kind of person who tends to stay in bed until your snooze alarm has gone off 6 times waking up everybody else in the house before you can put one foot on the ground, take it upon yourself to make it part of your statement that you purposely get out of bed to the sound of your first alarm. It's simple and more importantly, it works! Maybe not at first, but if you review your PMS regularly, even you will begin to believe it. Thus allowing your first creation to, in time, manifest itself. It may take a couple of tries, couple of days or even weeks but eventually you will believe that you, yourself are capable of doing it. Once you pass this milestone you're finally able to actually follow through with it and the more you do it and review it, the happier you will be to do it! Like opposite of a vicious circle, whatever that is... A virtuous circle perhaps?

HOW?

Writing your PMS will not seem like an easy task, it will require to to sit down and firstly, think about and identify your core vales as a person, your beliefs and your principles - what you stand by every day. Including the values you'd like to incorporate into your personality but aren't quite there yet. For me, it was veganism, I knew it was something I'd wanted to be and I was 90% there but including it in my PMS is what got me the rest of the way and I haven't looked back since.

Another good way of realising how to write your PMS is by beginning with how you'd like other people to see you. E.g. I envision myself becoming a better, more peaceful person who:-

• Their friends see as...

• Their partner see's as...

• Their family see's as...

• Clients/colleagues see as...

• Strangers see as...

This will help you to identify what's important to you. Another way of doing this (as morbid as it sounds) is to imagine you've died - don't imagine too hard - but just imagine for a moment you're no longer here. What would you want the people you know to remember you for?

Don't get too caught up in this method, the idea is just to get the ball rolling! Once you have your core values and principles in front of you, it's time to begin your statement. There are many templates out there on the internet of ways you can write it and different formats so I won't bore you with the examples! The important thing to remember is that it doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be personal. It's also going to be a working progress and by reviewing it often, you'll know as and when it needs tweaking. If you see yourself as a working progress, that's exactly how you should view your PMS. Refer to it daily, change it and let it change you.

Include anything you want to include! It's yours!

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Written by Charlotte Deverill