number 11

to be able to have detailed long term plans speaks to me of a lack of ambition rather than a lot of ambition...

the way i see it to plan really far ahead is impossible, life moves so fast it is often difficult to plan into the next week, i'm finding it tricky to explain what i mean by this... i suppose for me to say that in five years i'd like to have achieved this, this and this puts limitations on what i'm striving for

i'm starting to remember my alevel in business studies... maybe they were onto something with their aims and objectives lessons... businesses have a mission statement the coca-cola mission is:

"to refresh the world.. in body, mind, and spirit. to inspire moments of optimism... through our brands and actions. to create value and make a difference.. everywhere we engage"

the mission statement for gap talks about purpose:

"Our purpose? Simply, to make it easy for you to express your personal style throughout your life"

the vision for ambassadors in sport the organisation i worked for on my gap year is:

"we want to see effective soccer ministry changing lives for good in every country and culture of the world"

the point is that these mission statements are often unreachable hypothetical goals, which ties in (loosely) with my idea of detailed long term plans showing a lack of ambition (if we have reachable goals... what do we do with ourselves when we reach them?), so what is the point of these unreachable targets, won't they ultimately end in disappointment?

i looked at a few other well known businesses to fond their mission statements and they all made a point of saying that all of their aims and objectives (long and short term reachable targets) had to fall in line with the mission statement otherwise they wouldn't be pursued... so here we have it, they are a framework for which their lives as businesses are based upon and serve to provide direction and organisation... something which i have been struggling with

so it strikes me as a good practice to have a mission statement for myself... what's that you say? how can you possibly decide now at the tender age of twenty upon a sentence or two that your whole life will be based upon and revolve around? that's true i reply and here it is:

when asked out of all of the rules and regulations and stuff like that in the bible which is the greatest one Jesus says:

"the most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'hear, o israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' the second is this: 'love your neighbor as yourself.' there is no commandment greater than these."

there are two accounts of this story in the bible you can see one here: matthew's version and the other here: mark's version...

this seems like a wise place to start the year, a year in which i will probably be busier than i ever have been before... a little direction is needed...

this is what my life is striving for and (albeit quite slowly) moving towards. how about yours?

happy new year