Five Steps to Writing a Parenting Mission Statement & Free Workbook

Now that I have gone into the details of why I believe parents need mission statements, I wanted to give you some of the tools I found were useful for myself when I was creating a mission statement for our family.

In this post, I will be sharing some of the final steps I designed for my mission statement workbook.

For more in-depth steps and to follow the process I created when I was writing my own mission statement, go to this link and get the workbook directly to your inbox. This work book will help you evaluate goals, values, and your why. It will help you to clarify your personal mission, and meet you where you are at.

Five Steps to Writing a Parenting Mission Statement

Step One - Define what your goals are: Read through prompts I provide at the bottom of the workbook (get the free workbook by signing up for our email list!) Or, if you don't have the prompts, think about all the ways you want to look after the emotional, mental and physical health of your children.

Think of your goals for instilling values, developing good habits, and modeling the type of adult you wish your children to be in the future. 

Step Two - Start Detailing your Vision: I wrote out a mission statement in a few different ways, and found it most helpful to read the prompts, and then just start writing, beginning each sentence with a format such as: as a parent, I am committed to _ or I desire to _

As I found a flow in this format, I continued writing until I had written a summary of my ideals and intentions for my family. Where the actual mission statement will be concise, three or four sentences long, this aspect of your mission, the vision statement can be as long as you need it to be.

In the end, you may find it helpful to rewrite and revise this portion of the process and have a formal copy of it, as well. When you need to remember the deeper why behind some of the aspects of your mission statement, this vision statement can serve as a good refresher.

Step Three - Write your Mission Statement: Once you have completed the steps above, you are ready to pare down your vision statements into three or four concise statements that will embody your mission.

It may be helpful for you to search effective mission statements on Google if you need help crafting yours. 

Here are a few samples I found here:

We are a family who believes that relationships matter most! We value spending time together and we endeavor to be the primary caregivers of our children. We hold each member of our family accountable for responsible behavior. We support each other in our individual pursuits of personal and professional interests. We cheer each other on. We laugh whenever possible. We hold our marital relationship as a top priority because this relationship serves as the foundation of our family.www.everythingmom.com/dynamics/the-family-vision-statement-a-solution-for-challenging-decisions.html

May our first word be adventure and our last word be love. We live lives of passion. We dream undreamable dreams. We are travelers not tourists.We help others to fly. We love to learn. We don’t like dilemmas, we like solutions. We push through. We believe! We know it’s okay to make mistakes. We bring people together. We are joy, rapture, yay! www.artofmanliness.com/2013/08/21/creating-a-family-culture-how-and-why-to-create-a-family-mission-statement/

Our home will be a place where are family, friends, and guests find joy, comfort, peace and happiness. We will seek to create a clean and orderly environment that is livable and comfortable. We will exercise wisdom in what we choose to eat, read, see, and do at home. We want to teach our children to love learn, laugh, and to work and develop their unique talents. www.happyfamilyhappylife.com/examples-of-a-family-mission-statement/

Because no one else will really see this except yourself and your spouse, do not be worried too much if you are not a strong writer, as long as it is a true embodiment of your mission and intentions for your family, it will work perfectly for you.

Step Four - Let it Sink in for a few Days: Reread your mission statement for up to a week, no more than that at this time, adding in any modifications - big or small, that you feel are necessary.

Step Five - Create a visually Appealing Finished Copy: Similar to the work you did in section five of the workbook, I encourage you to now create a visually appealing finished copy. Use your computer to design something on canva.com, use calligraphy, paint with watercolors, or write it with black ink on a piece of paper in your favorite color. You can tuck this into your journal, frame it, tape it up somewhere that you will be sure to see it as often as needed.

 I have mine saved on my computer, as well as written in my bullet journal which is always on the counter.

Thank you for following along on this new segment. I am really excited to see more and more parents, including myself, living a more intentional parenting lifestyle and more fully embracing the beautiful (and challenging) vocation that is parenthood.

If you want a more in-depth look at how to write your own parenting mission statement, click on the link below and get started on your free workbook.

God bless,
Olivia Fischer