Motivation Activity:
Personal Statement of Purpose

Think of a Personal Statement of Purpose as your very own tagline or mission statement. It sums up what drives you and what matters most to you when you interact with the rest of the world, and can be an invaluable asset in facilitation settings.

This activity should take about 15-20 minutes and can be completed individually, but is also valuable to do with a friend or small group.

Step 1: Answer the following questions and write down your responses, spending about 2 minutes maximum per question. If working with a friend or a group, ask each question one at a time and allow everyone a chance to write and respond out loud before moving to the next question.

• When have you felt happiest in the past?
• What do you like best about yourself?
• What do you like to do, or want to do even if it costs money?
• What do you do that makes other people happy?
• What can you do for 24 hours straight without getting tired or bored?

Step 2: Combine these answers with what you uncovered about yourself in the workshop (find what you wrote in the pre-workshop workbook on pages 26 and 27 and/or call your partner from the interview exercise so you can talk through the ideas that emerged that day and have remained relevant). You can also start fresh by answering the workbook questions again, now that you’ve had more time to reflect.

Step 3: Take the concepts that stand out to you the most, and distill them into a short phrase or statement.

It might be easy to spot patterns in your answers right away, but don’t be discouraged if a unifying theme is elusive at first. Talking to a friend or colleague can help you make connections in your answers. Sometimes someone will see something you don’t notice, or can ask the right question to spark a train of thought you might not have originally considered. Still stuck? Give it time. Make a plan to answer these questions every few weeks for the next six months and see what stays consistent and what new ideas start to emerge.

If you’re still having trouble writing your Personal Statement of Purpose, don’t hesitate to reach out to the people who know you best. Ask others how they would answer these questions for you, and see what comes up.

Here’s a personal example from SK…

“I came up with my personal statement of purpose in the 1990s, which is obvious when I tell you that the statement is Accelerating Human Innovation… it’s stuck with me for 20 years, and drives  lot of what I do — at work, at home, and in my free time. My goals are to help people learn, and to learn myself. Efficiency, for better or for worse, is part of my DNA (I’m impatient!), so the faster the better. I believe the human brain can do amazing and creative things, and I can’t wait to see them! All of this is crammed into those three words.

This statement informs my ulterior motives while facilitating… in addition to the stated goal of the meeting, I’m thinking about how I can help participants learn and discover new ideas. It keeps my confidence and motivation strong no matter what content or subject I’m facilitating.”

Having this statement as a touchstone to evaluate how you’re feeling about and adapting to a situation is a valuable tool for your facilitation suitcase.

Can you help a colleague develop their Personal Statement of Purpose?