Holistic Goal/Lifetime Mission Statement
A way to stop people wars and get fired up
By Wayne Burleson

What makes certain people jump out of bed in the morning, all fired up about the day ahead of them as they go charging out the door getting things done? I say it's because they are connected to a passion, something they love doing and that something brings about a well-defined purpose for their lives.

What is that something? It could be a Holistic Goal statement defining what they really want to see, do, and/or accomplish before they die. A well thought-out goal statement can do just that - define the we-want-to-go-there-direction for the future. It can head people together out across the prairies, having fun, working hard, fixing things, and helping each other.

How do you develop this kind of Holistic Goal Statement?

First define the people in your bigger picture. Make a list of all the people that influence you, or that you have an influence over. Next, make a brief summary list of all enterprises, land, products produced, leases, money resources, equipment, facilities and home etc. It is also helpful to make a list of the roadblock and problems. Called this the "whole" under management.

Next identify those key people that have direct management responsibility and/or should be included in the development of a Holistic Goal. It could be as small as a husband and wife or the whole extended family. Be sure to include key employees that have management responsibility.

Have these key people answer the following four questions. Their answers should cause some lively discussions on long winter nights, but it will be worth the effort.

#1 From my viewpoint. What is the purpose of this family, farm, ranch, or organization?
#2 What is MY purpose on or with this family, farm, ranch or organization?
#3 What are the top objectives or projects that I would like to see accomplished within the next five years? These will not be listed into the holistic goal statement but of use later.
#4 What actions do I want to take responsibility for to insure that we accomplish these projects?

Schedule a series of formal family/business meetings, where the people share their ambitions and limitations about their future. This is the time to dream a little, by looking way out into the future. Be creative and express what you would really like to be doing - those things that bring you passion and real purpose. During these important discussions, work toward pooling this information into the following categories.

Values (What do we believe in? - Name and list the things that are most important to us)

Mission (Why we are here? - Name our main purpose for being here)

Vision (Where are we going? - Describe a word picture of the future we want)

Quality of life (How do we want to live - daily? State the kind of life you/we want )

Future Environment Description (How we want things to look and function around us?)
This is where you state what the land should look like in the future. If you don't have land, you can state the way your home and/or business property should look like in the future.

Forms of Production
(What kind of work and effort do we need to produce the life we want? State profit from what and the financial needs that will support your quality of life statement.

Legacy Statement (Name what you want people to remember about us/ you after you are gone?) A legacy statement has the power of attitude taken from the principle - As a person thinketh in their heart, so they become.

Purpose Statement (Name the main purpose of your farm, ranch or business)

Out of this list of information build a draft Holistic Goal. A good Holistic Goal should contain at least three condensed statements on: Quality of Life, Forms of Productions, & The Future Resource Base.

I have seen Holistic Goals placed into circle targets, a collection of photographs, logos, slogans and some innovative graphics. Once developed, the Holistic Goal becomes an important document for all future decisions to be made from. Each important action is check against the Holistic Goal. The question to ask is, will this action take us toward our lifetime goal or away from it?

Connie, my wife, just used her Lifetime Mission Statement to help her decide if she should take an attractive full time job on a nearby working dude ranch. She pondered it for a while and looked long range at her personal mission in life and decided not to take on this permanent job. This job would not take her toward what gets her all fired up in the morning. GOOD DECISION!

It's also good to have a personal lifetime mission statement that dovetails into the business Holistic Goal statement. Some families also have a goal statement just for their families. It should be obvious that these kinds of goal statements are not the typical goals that have been used in the past, like losing 10 pounds in two months. These are lifetime goal statements that give direction for both the short and long time periods and focused on the "whole" picture.

SOME Do's and Don'ts with a Holistic Goal

Don't let the how-to's like grazing or cropping methods be stated in a Holistic Goal. These matters come later under objectives. Don't let the goal statements drift off, becoming long meandering statements. Don't use restrictive statements that limit your ways or actions to get the job done.

SOME SHOULDS: A Holistic should give common direction, inspire trust, focused on the future, be challenging, cause motivation, help you to say no, deal with rejection, make good sound decisions, to grow, get excited with a new feeling of worthiness, be the glue that holds people together for a that meaningful common and shared purpose.

How do you handle projects and daily actions in a Holistic Goal?

One very successful farm family I know has a strategical five year planning session with yearly reviews. They set aside special times each April and have a whole farm update and review what happened and what changes they want to make in the upcoming year. Each year they would review their Holistic Goal (which didn't change much) and then dig into the objectives, the projects to accomplish the Holistic Goal.

One outstanding thing that this family does, is that after each yearly project, someone's name gets assigned to the accomplishment. The reason this works so well is that at each yearly meeting you have to stand up in front of the whole gang and give a formal report - stating did you accomplished project or meet the objectives or not. Just seeing your name next to a project gives you the needed incentive that this action is your baby. Called ownership, because you now have the responsibility and leadership in seeing that this project gets done.

Good idea because I know. You see my name was placed beside this one project and at that instant I know I have better get to work on this or next year I will find myself in front of the whole farm explaining why I failed.

Please consider this type of long-range goal planning. It could be the most important planning effort to accomplish in the new millennium and beyond. Why? Because a well defined Holistic Goal could set a fire under the people's feet and away they go enjoying their new exciting journey.

If you have troubles with Goal Setting, please checkout our new web site at PastureManagement.COM. It's loaded with good ideas on grazing and people management.

Wayne Burleson is a land management consultant working out of Absarokee, Montana. You may visit with Wayne and (406) 328-6808 or E-mail him at rutbuster1@mcn.net.