Finding your purpose or mission in life requires a lot of thinking and doing. We read an inspirational quote or a book about goal setting and discovering our purpose in life. We become excited and decide to get out pen and paper and ponder the process of actually writing down what is important to us. We write out our goals in which we want to carry out. Some people call it your mission or purpose in life. I have been thinking about my mission for many years. In fact, I actually discovered my mission and wrote it down back in March 1998.. The challenge became, I wasn't fully living it out until recently. I would like to share with you a story that inspired me to put the process of writing a mission statement and goal setting into action.
Step into the future with me. Imagine that you are walking into a large room such as an auditorium or church. As you open the door and look in, the room is full except for one empty seat on the front row. As you walk in and take the seat, you are aware of all the people in the room, however; they are not aware of your presence. They can’t see you. As you sit down, you notice an open casket in front of you. You quickly realize that you are at a funeral. You have no idea who is in the casket. Curiosity has the bestof you. You stand up and proceed toward the casket. As you look into thecasket, you are in shock to discover that the person in the casket is you. Youwalk back to your seat. Suddenly the pianist starts to play and sing yourfavorite song. Once the song is finished, your best friend walks to the podiumand begins to say…... The question that you need to ask yourself is, what would you want your best friend or your pastor to say about you at your funeral? How would you want your life to be remembered? What is the legacy for your life that you want to leave? The first step in defining your mission in life is to write out how you want to live your life. You do this by writing out your own eulogy. Spend time on this document and think about how you want to live out your life. Once your document is written out then proceed to condense (recap) it into a couple of precise sentences. These couple of sentences become your mission statement. The statement along with the eulogy is the documents you will use to give you guidance as you figure out how to make the things you wrote down in your eulogy become true for your life. As you read over your mission statement and your eulogy, break down each sentence and figure out how you are going to make the necessary changes in your daily routines and habits to make the words in your mission statement and eulogy become reality. I would like to share with you my eulogy.
Eulogy: (It is my lifelong mission to live up to the expectations that I have put upon myself in this eulogy. I vow to do my best before I die to make these words become a reality )
We are here this day to pay tribute to Randy Eubanks. Randy was a man who loved and appreciated the life that God gave him. He lived life to thefullest. He tried his best to live his life as an example of a positive role model.
He was a great husband who loved and provided for his wife. He cherished her with all his heart. He gave unselfishly unto her. He made her feel important and treated her as queen of their castle and queen of his heart. He left her emotionally and financially secure.
He was an outstanding father who dearly loved his children. He made each one of them feel important. He was always there to give them a guiding hand when called upon. He treated them with respect and constantly motivated and inspired them to reach their full potential in life. He left them a legacy of practicing sound wisdom as he led by example. His children are proud to have Randy as their father.
He took the time to play with his grandchildren. They loved him and he loved them. They looked forward in their time together with their G-Dad. As an inspiration to his children and grandchildren, he left by his example that you can accomplish great things in your later years in life.
He was an outstanding businessman who gave excellent customer service.He built a reputation for honesty and his business ethics were above reproach.
He was a great motivational speaker and author. His speeches and books inspired and encouraged millions to reach their full potential.
Randy never met a stranger. He gave every person he met the feeling of self-worth and importance.
He was a lifelong learner. He set a great example by going back to college later in life. He earned his bachelor’s degree from UNCW at the age of 53. He used his education along with his many years of business and life experiences in motivating and inspiring everyone he met. He was remembered as a person who truly cared for everyone.
He loved many people and many people loved him because they knew that Randy Eubanks through his actions cared for them. He will be missed by all who knew him.
My eulogy sounds self-centered. It is not meant to come across that way. All I want to do is improve myself so in turn I will be able to help others. It’s all about how I want to be remembered. This is the way I want to live my life. These things are my passion. From this eulogy I obtained my mission statement. My mission in life is to teach people how to succeed spiritually, mentally, socially, financially, and physically in their lives. I suggest that you write out your eulogy. You don’t have to necessarily write it like I did. Just start writing some sentences that conveys what is important to you. I have not achieved all that I have written in my eulogy as of this date. I am trying daily. This is a work in progress.