Zoom out and ask the big questions.
In navigating a personal transformation, there can be many distractions. The path forward can be obscured by the distractions and obligations of everyday life. All journeys require a bit of navigation. What are some techniques to help keep you on track?
The first step is recognizing your north star. This is your reason. The reason you began this journey in the first place. Something was incongruent in your life, out of alignment. Yet, it is not as simple as looking at the current situation; you must look holistically at your life.
There were a few times in my life when I had regular sessions with a counselor. As you may imagine, these were low points in my life when I needed extra support. I needed a safe place to share my thoughts and receive guidance. My counselor had a slogan on her business card. It read Conscious Choices. So simple yet profound. She excelled at helping me understand where I had taken the back seat versus the driver’s seat of my own life.
The key, I learned, to making conscious choices is in naming your “why” and staying true to it. I call this your north star. It shines above and in front of you, and it keeps you directionally on the right path. It is not prescriptive in defining every twist and turn, but it is in the knowing and awareness of your north star that you will stay on course.
Businesses use this concept to create mission statements. A corporate mission statement allows a business to stay focused on the vision for their strategic plan. It guides their purpose and their direction.
Corporate mission statements are usually summarized into a simple sentence or phrase, such as.
- Airbnb: “to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.”
- Dole: “To Make The World A Healthier Place”
- Philips: “Improving people’s lives through meaningful innovation.”
- Samsung: “Inspire the world, create the future.”
Your mission statement, once defined, is your compass for navigating your life transformation. In his powerful book, Sahil Bloom, author of The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Designing your Dream Life designates an entire chapter to the concept of what he calls The Life Razor, and how you should define yours and live by it. See the short excerpt from the chapter below:
“It’s easy to allow your priorities to fall victim to these encounters (opportunities, challenges and complexities that will test you), to lose yourself in the chaos. In these moments, you need your own single point of focus – your own rule of thumb to simplify your decision making, a foundational decision-making heuristic that will allow you to navigate the uncertainty and trials of life with the confidence of an experienced explorer.”
In his book, God’s Voice Within: The Ignatian Way to Discover God’s Will, author Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ, encourages readers facing a time of discernment to first lay a foundation. He calls it the first principle and foundation, or your “mission statement”.
“First principle and foundation: The statement that answers the big questions about the purpose of my life and the purpose of this decision.”
He proposes that you cannot make good decisions or choose the right direction if you do not first understand the specific goals of the direction.
Call to Action
Zoom out and ask the big questions. Be prepared to make conscious choices that align with your inner compass. Susan Cain, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, award-winning speaker, and host of the Quiet Life Community, shared some wisdom about following your inner compass in a recent blog post.
A Quiet Life Blog Post, Jan 5: How to Live a Quiet Life in 2026
Seven ways to empower yourself against the forces vying for your attention#3 Follow your own inner compass.
When making decisions, try asking yourself: “Would I still choose to do this, if no one knew?” We’re all drowning in signals as to what we should do, and who we should be. This feedback comes in the form of online algorithms and in-person peer groups. But if you’re living Quiet, you’ll learn to lower such voices, and to listen to your own preferences more intently.
In everyday choices and in grand transformations, know which direction your inner compass is leading you. No matter what season of life you are in, you could benefit from writing and knowing your mission statement.
I have recently embarked on a career and life transformation that feels scary without the safety net of a corporate salary and benefits, yet paradoxically, I feel much gratitude and security because I am aligned with my current mission statement:
I will give more than I receive.
In my current season of life, this statement guides my decisions.
Resources
What is your north star? Start by getting your thoughts on paper. I have always found that writing my thoughts preserves my intent in that moment. What season of life are you in? What core values are driving your need for change?
Personal change often begins from a place of difficulty or pain, or in a moment of awareness that it is time to start a new path. The first step of this journey is identifying the reason behind your transformation. In my corporate career, we learned a root-cause analysis strategy called The 5 Whys. This strategy is based on defining the problem and then asking why five times to get to the root cause. While you may not see your transformation this way, you have likely begun this journey to solve a problem. You can apply this strategy to help uncover your mission statement. Start with the problem (zoom out), and then start zooming in.
An example might be: “I’m unhappy with my job.”
Ask the first why: “Why are you unhappy with your job?”
Answer: “I don’t have a good work/life balance.”
Ask the second why: “Why don’t you have a good work/life balance?”
Answer: “I work long hours and bring work home on evenings and weekends.”
Ask the third why: “Why are you bringing work home on evenings and weekends?”
Answer: “I’m trying to get a promotion and need to go above and beyond to be noticed for this opportunity.”
Ask the fourth why: “Why do you need to go above and beyond to get the promotion?”
Answer: “It’s mostly my personal expectations, not my manager’s. I’m always pushing myself to achieve.”
Ask the fifth why: “Why are you always pushing yourself to achieve?”
Answer: “It’s my ambition hidden behind fear of failure.”
If you were in this season of life described above, and you acknowledge your, most likely unfounded, fear of failure and how it may impact your forward momentum, your mission statement might read something like:
My decision-making and actions come from a place of confidence in my ability to achieve my goals.
You may be familiar with the Franklin Covey tools and planning principles that help you “Achieve What Matters Most”. Franklin Covey also offers an online tool that walks you through creating a personal mission statement.
These exercises will get you thinking about your North Star, your inner compass, if you have not thought about this before. I encourage you to create a draft personal mission statement and sit with it for a while – maybe a few weeks – to see if it feels right. Through the seasons of your life, your mission statement will bend and change, but through it all, your authentic self will shine.
