Personally Sharing Private Goals

I usually try and live in the present but, for this post, I decided to dip into the past.

In the last few years of my full-time public sector employment I read a large number of managerial/self-improvement textbooks. Some advocated that every person should have a personal mission statement/set of goals.

I was snowed-in at Christchurch Airport on one occasion. I could have done other things while I waited to see if flights would resume, but decided to buckle down and craft my own goals statement, spending a few hours in the airport cafeteria pondering then writing and re-writing.

This is what my commitment finally produced:

To –
• have my children know that I love them and am proud of them; to empower them to make their own choices;
• do all that I possibly can for my wife, keeping my marriage vows through all difficulties and temptations and to manage the effect of her illness on me;
• be known as a reliable, ethical and capable worker who is true to the principles and values of public service; to always try harder;
• keep my body and mind healthy and strong for as long as possible so that I am able to make the choice to climb the mountain;
• to reach out and help others.

I haven’t looked at this statement since I ceased full-time employment.

Reflecting on it after several years, I can see how well this statement of intention served me at the height of my career as a public administrator.

I’ve ceased climbing metaphorical mountains save one or two, my children have grown up, I’m now self-employed as a (poorly paid) writer, and the remaining goals have become even more key in my life.
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