The seven habits of highly effective people

Family Mission Statements 
 
      Because Habit 2 is based on principle, it has broad application.    In addition to individuals, families, 
service groups, and organizations of all kinds become significantly more effective as they Begin with the 
End in Mind. 
      Many families are managed on the basis of crises, moods, quick fixes, and instant gratification -- not 
on sound principles.    Symptoms surface whenever stress and pressure mount: people become cynical, 
critical, or silent or they start yelling and overreacting.    Children who observe these kinds of behavior 
grow up thinking the only way to solve problems is flight or fight. 
      The core of any family is what is changeless, what is always going to be there -- shared vision and 
values.    By writing a family mission statement, you give expression to its true foundation. 

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THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE                                                                        Brought to you by FlyHeart 
   This mission statement becomes its constitution, the standard, the criterion for evaluation and 
decision making.    It gives continuity and unity to the family as well as direction.    When individual 
values are harmonized with those of the family, members work together for common purposes that are 
deeply felt. 
   Again, the process is as important as the product.  The very process of writing and refining a 
mission statement becomes a key way to improve the family.  Working together to create a mission 
statement builds the PC capacity to live it. 
      By getting input from every family member, drafting a statement, getting feedback, revising it, and 
using wording from different family members, you get the family talking, communicating, on things 
that really matter deeply.  The best mission statements are the result of family members coming 
together in a spirit of mutual respect, expressing their different views, and working together to create 
something greater than any one individual could do alone.    Periodic review to    expand perspective, 
shift emphasis or direction, amend or give new meaning to time-worn phrases can keep the family 
united in common values and purposes. 
      The mission statement becomes the framework for thinking, for governing the family.    When the 
problems and crises come, the constitution is there to remind family members of the things that matter 
most and to provide direction for problem solving and decision making based on correct principles. 
      In our home, we put our mission statement up on a wall in the family room so that we can look at it 
and monitor ourselves daily.    When we read the phrases about the sounds of love in our home, order, 
responsible independence, cooperation, helpfulness, meeting needs, developing talents, showing 
interest in each other's talents, and giving service to others it gives us some criteria to know how we're 
doing in the things that matter most to us as a family. 
      When we plan our family goals and activities, we say, "In light of these principles, what are the goals 
we're going to work on? What are our action plans to accomplish our goals and actualize these values?" 
      We review the statement frequently and rework goals and jobs twice a year, in September and June 
-- the beginning of school and the end of school -- to reflect the situation as it is, to improve it, to 
strengthen it.    It renews us, it recommits us to what we believe in, what we stand for.