This is a continuation of ideas from Getting what you want from Mercury Retrograde… In order to use Mercury Retrograde to get where you want to go, it helps to know if the goals you think you have are actually in alignment with who you are, so you’re not working at cross purposes. A personal mission statement defines who you are as a person and identifies your purpose. It explains how you aim to pursue that purpose, and why it matters so much to you. It gives you something to measure your goals against, to see if they’re really your goals.

One of my colleagues frequently talks about how Mercury Retrograde is supportive of any activity that begins with “re”. So reviewing who you are, your trajectory, and your personal ethos is an excellent Mercury Retrograde activity. Reminding yourself of who you are ranks right up there, too. Realigning yourself with your values can certainly help you stop fighting yourself. All of these things are steps in creating your personal mission statement and, honestly, this particular Mercury Retrograde is especially good for breaking out of the box, as you can see from the previous post.

There is a practice I learned when I was first studying Kabbalah that I have found helpful in finding my place on my path, in reorienting myself in my reality, so to speak. Under this particular Mercury Retrograde cycle (Pisces-Aquarius), I would do it every day under the auspices of Pisces, so you can shift gears and create change as Mercury moves into Aquarius. Bring yourself into a meditative trance, even a light one, and ask yourself these 5 questions:

1. Who am I?
2. What am I?
3. Where do I come from?
4. Where am I going?
5. What is my purpose?

Your answers will likely change from day to day, as your mind chooses to look at all the different aspects of those questions, and it will give you a clearer picture of what you’re about. This is going to form the foundation of your personal mission statement.

In addition, you will want to do some free form writing on what your core values might be. What brings up passion for you? What are the values that are deal breakers for you? We all have some issues that really define us, that are something worth fighting for, that really speak to who we are. Mine, as you may have noticed, are empowerment, community, and equality. Those are the things I am always working toward, that I choose to foster in the world, and that I would (and do) fight for.

Andy Andrews offers these questions as an alternative to the kabbalaistic ones above:

1. What is important? What/whom do you value? How is your life connected to those things?
2. Where do I want to go? You can answer this many different ways. Your answer may involve a spiritual, mental, or physical destination. It might describe your career arc.
3. What does “the best” look like for me? Describe your best possible result. This isn’t the time to be realistic. This is the time to dream.
4. How do I want to act? How do you want people to describe you? Think of a few words you would want to come to mind when people think about you.
5. What kind of legacy do I want to leave behind? Imagine you’re 100 years in the future. What does the impact you’ve left look like? How is your Butterfly Effect still touching lives?

Whichever set of questions you pick, do them every day until March 4th.

From March 5th through at least the 10th, work on crafting your actual statement. In a short phrase, how can you tell the world what you’re about? Remember, you’re going to be using this to attract opportunities that match your values, and you’re going to measure all your goals and opportunities against it. Keep it short and simple; you can start off with a paragraph if you need to, and then whittle it down to a sentence of reasonable length.

This may sound like an unwieldy exercise, but I assure you that this Mercury Retrograde cycle is actually an excellent time to make it happen, and then you’ll have something you can use for a long time to help you craft the life you want to live.