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Top 11 Tips to a Powerful Life Mission Goal Objective [Marcus Aurelius]

By Effluo | Published May 24, 2022 | No Comments

How often have you asked yourself why you are here? What is your purpose? Have you set out to create your personal life mission statement or set a mission goal objective? We reviewed the teachings of many great historical figures and will share the findings from one of the great Stoics of the new era.

Everything exists for some end, a horse, a vine. Why do you wonder? Even the sun will say, I am for some purpose, and the rest of the gods will say the same. For what purpose are you then?  – Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor who ruled during the first century.  He is well known today, both for his accomplishments as an emperor, and for his personal journal, The Meditations.  

Through the study of Meditations, we are not only able to get into the mind of one of the great historical figures, but also see how Stoics looked at the world at the beginning of the new era.

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius are divided into twelve books.  What they reveal is that the world’s transition through the timeline of history did not significantly affect the human spirit.  The human pursuit of excellence was as relevant during ancient times as it is today.

Same secrets to achieving high standards ring true now as they did during the ancient times, the late 1800s, the twentieth century, etc.

Why is it Important to Set and Reach High Standards?

It is true that our human nature remained the same, but the standards of living have increased significantly over the ages.  This same human nature played an important role in making this change possible.

People who had good visions went on to set mission goal objectives that changed the course of history. Scientific knowledge increased, technology evolved, and medicine improved all because each contributing individual had an inspiring vision and pursued that vision on daily basis.

In an in-depth study of multiple historical figures, it became evident that they all had a clear vision for what they wanted to achieve.  Important characteristics of effective strategic leaders included having a mission goal objective, a.k.a. vision statement, that was in accord with their core values.  They achieved it by setting smart goals and pursuing their dreams.

The mission goal objective is a powerful statement that can be the guiding light for everything you do.  In other words, if you don’t aim at anything you will always miss the target.  Use your personal life mission goal objective statement as a target.  Or, as Marcus Aurelius said, “For what purpose are you then?”

Let no act be done without a purpose  – Marcus Aurelius

How to Find Your Purpose [Mission Goal Objective]?

This question has been asked throughout millennia. The answer to this fundamental question will shape your life’s strategic planning and action plan.  There is no one-fits-all, easy way to find an answer.  However, given that we are not the first ones asking this question, we can learn from the great minds of the past and see how they approached this question.

The specific aims of this article focus on just that.  We did an in-depth study of The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius to see what answers we could find to this question.  As a result, we found 11 powerful ways to inform your life mission goal objective and live your best life possible.

Before jumping into the 11 ways to find purpose and live your best life possible according to a Roman emperor, we want to point out that this philosophy is still applicable today. Fast forward nineteen centuries to1940’s to learn about finding the purpose of life from a completely different person.

The point is not what we expect from life, but rather what life expects from us. – Viktor Frankl

Viktor Frankl was a renown psychologist who was a survivor of Nazi concentration camp. In his book The Search for Meaning of Life he very elegantly summarized all of these 11 principles but from a completely different perspective.    

Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. – Viktor Frankl

List of 11 Steps to Finding Life Mission Goal Objectives

  1  Live in accordance with your true nature

  2  Live as if each day is your last

  3  Know that you are enough

  4  Accept the bad with the good

  5 Focus on the present moment

  6  Stop worrying

  7  Form meaningful relationships

  8  Avoid extremes

  9 Honesty is the best policy

  10 Know your ‘WHY ‘

  11 Have a role model

1  Live in Accordance With Your True Nature  

You must now, at last, perceive that you are part of the universe, that the universe’s existence is an efflux, and that a limit of time is fixed for you, which if you do not use for clearing away the clouds from your mind, it will go and you will go, and it will never return.  – Marcus Aurelius

Throughout his writings, Marcus Aurelius closely followed one of the main teachings of the Stoics.  Living in accordance to nature.  This meant staying true to yourself and accepting all of the life’s changes as they happen.  Today’s “Go with the flow” and “Be yourself because everyone else is taken” may be a modern way of saying “live in accordance to nature”.

Marcus Aurelius often pointed to nature and how everything has its place and time, reminding us that we need to be sensitive to these changes. 

no longer let yourself be a slave, no longer be pulled by the strings like a puppet to social movements, no longer either be dissatisfied with the present, or shrink from the future.  – Marcus Aurelius

Discover Your True Nature

We have had many expectations placed on us since the first day of your existence. You are expected to act a certain way, to study certain things, and to be a certain person. You were placed in a learning environment that valued conformity and obedience. Your culture and society placed additional expectations on you.

As a result, it is not as easy as you may think to find your true nature.  You may have heard that you should pursue what you love success will follow.  The only way to find out what you love is to step out the comfort zone created for you and start learning and trying new things.  The more things you try the more likely you are to find out what your true nature is.

The price for not trying new things, is never discovering your true passions.  We all have inner guidance, follow yours.

Find your freedom by discovering your nature and living in accordance with it.  This is the first and most important thing you can do to discovering your purpose.  Get out there and try things that are new and uncomfortable, you never know where you may find your passion.

2  Live as if Each Act is Your Last

And you will give yourself relief, if you live your every act in life as if it were the last, laying aside all carelessness and passionate aversion from the commands of reason, and all hypocrisy, and self-love, and discontent with the portion which has been given to you.  – Marcus Aurelius

Next step to finding your life purpose is to live each day and each act as if it was your last.  Young people have a tendency thinking that they have a lot of time left to live.  Interestingly, this thought process does not go away as we get older.   As a result, time gets spent on things that do not matter.  

A book published in 2012 by a nurse who worked in palliative care, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware, summarized top five regrets of the dying. Her list included the following.

Top Five Regrets of the Dying

1. “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
2. “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”
3. “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”
4. “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”
5. “I wish that I had let myself be happier.”

Not one person reminisced about attending all meetings and answering all their emails timely. The number one regret was not having the courage to life life ‘true to myself’ a.k.a. ‘true to nature’. What mattered to them most were the relationships they built, not the money they accumulated.   No one regretted taking risks and trying new things. The price for staying in your comfort zone is too costly.   

Living each day as if it was your last is not grim, it is freeing.  This mindset helps you prioritize the day and focus on the important aspects of your life.    

This leads to not only treasuring your time but your focus as well. If you are doing anything as if it was the last act that you do, just imagine how differently you would approach the activity. You may decide that the task is not even worth doing, or give your 100% towards achieving it.

The key to living to your purpose, and finding your mission goal objective is to focus on the things that are most meaningful to you.

3  Know That You Are Enough

Every man’s life is sufficient.  – Marcus Aurelius

If you ever find yourself thinking that what you are doing is not significant or not impactful enough, think back to this quote.   This simple and yet powerful quote should be placed as a reminder wherever you can see it regularly.

In his journal, Marcus Aurelius reminds us to look at the sky and see the heavenly bodies, how each of them goes through their motions independently but makes up a whole cosmos.   Imagine a moon saying that it should be something different like a sun, that would be catastrophic.  That is not the purpose of the moon.

The same analogy was made by him about our body and the body parts.  Each part plays a role and there is no such thing as an insignificant body part, they make up a full functioning body.  

Similarly, as human beings, we make one whole society.  Each person has a role to play in this society.  The role that you play depends on you living your true self.   The differences in each of us should be celebrated as they all make up one whole.  

You never know the role you will play in history.  Know your life is sufficient, your job is to live in accordance with nature and you will live to your purpose.

4  Accept the Bad With The Good

Good and evil happen indiscriminately to the good and the bad. Death certainly, and life, honor and dishonor, pain and pleasure, all these things equally happen to good men and bad, therefore, they are neither good nor evil.  – Marcus Aurelius

There will always be obstacles in your life.  You can either overcome them or be overcome by them.  The choice is always yours.   Marcus Aurelius reminds us that good and evil happen to all people, good and bad.  He then takes it a step further and states that things for themselves are not bad or good, it is your opinion of them that makes them so.

It is in your power to live free from all compulsion and have the greatest tranquility of mind, even if all the world cries out against you as much as they choose.  – Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius tells us to be free of these opinions and to take life as it comes with a tranquility of mind.   This does not come easy, but with practice it is possible.   If someone cuts you off, it is neither bad nor good, it is simply a car getting in front of you.  It cannot be bad nor good if you don’t form an opinion about it.  

Climb That Mountain Don’t Carry It

Now it is true that these may impede my action, but they are not impediments which affect me and disposition, which have the power of acting conditionally and changing: for the mind converts and changes every hindrance to its activity into an aid; and so that which is a hindrance is made a furtherance to an act; and that which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road.  – Marcus Aurelius

Let us say something bad really did happen, there is no way you can call it an opinion.  Then the next step is to select your perspective. You can either look at it as an obstacle, or as an aid to your journey.   Marcus Aurelius recommended the latter, making the obstacle a part of the journey.         

There is a saying that provides a great illustrative example, “you were meant to climb the mountain, not carry it”.    Do not think of the obstacle as a failure, make it a part of your journey. Use it as an opportunity to refocus and move ahead.   

5 Focus On The Present Moment

For a man cannot lose either the past or the future: for what a man doesn’t have, how can anyone take this from him? … For the present is the only thing of which a man can be deprived if it is true that this is the only thing which he has, and that a man cannot lose a thing he doesn’t have.  – Marcus Aurelius

You do not live in the past nor the future, narrower your aim, you live in the present moment.  It is truly a glimpse of the eternal.  Like eternity, the present moment cannot be measured, but it is where you always exist.  Make the most of your present.  Marcus Aurelius stated that the present is the same to all, but the value of it as it is passed is different.

Remember that no man loses any other life than this which he now lives or lives any other than this which he now loses. For the present is the same to all, though that which perishes is not the same; and that which is lost appears to be a mere moment. – Marcus Aurelius

Make the most of each present moment, for these make up your life.  It is fascinating that we started with looking for the purpose of life and ended here with a present moment.  Your present will always gift you with the opportunity to find your purpose each day.  Live true to your nature and no moment will go wasted.

6 Stop Worrying and Stressing

The soul of man does violence to itself, first of all, when it becomes an abscess and, as it were, a tumor on the universe, so far as it can.  – Marcus Aurelius

In the end of book two Marcus Aurelius lists five things that are contrary to living a purposeful life.  The first thing he called out was vexation, a.k.a. annoyance, stress, and worry.      

For to be vexed at anything which happens is a separation of ourselves from nature.  – Marcus Aurelius

The reason he called worry an abscess is because it’s a separation of ourselves from nature.  Specifically he elaborated that it is not natural to stress over things, because those things do not care if you stress over them.         

It is not right to vex ourselves at things, because those things do not care about us being vex.  – Marcus Aurelius

Your Opinion Matters

This brings around the point that was made by him earlier, that things are just things.  Your opinion of them makes them either good or bad. 

But unless I think that what has happened is an evil, am not injured. And it is in my power not to think so.  – Marcus Aurelius

There are various strategic actions you can take to minimize the stress in your life.   Stress is typically brought on by fear, it paralyzes us.  The nagging, what if this happens?… seems to be infinite.   Marcus Aurelius says that it is important to control our thoughts. 

I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.  – Mark Twain

Remember most of your fears never see the light of day, and some are outright ridiculous.  Have good reasons to form opinions, focus on the positive, and you will have little chance of suffering from worry and stress.  

 7  Form Meaningful Relationships

In the next place, the soul does violence to itself when it turns away from any man, or even moves towards him with the intention of injuring, such as are the souls of those who are angry. – Marcus Aurelius

The second thing contrary to a purposeful life is the injury of another person either physically or emotionally.   Whatever you do, this should be the guiding compass.   This includes your close family and strangers you meet.  You cannot live to your purpose if you are turning away from people.  We are social creatures; this has not changed over millennia.         

Men exist for the sake of one another.  – Marcus Aurelius

An important goal to set for yourself is to be a value creator.   We get what we want by helping others get what they want.  There is a wide range of ways you can apply this.

In community development, whether online community or in your neighborhood, people will be drawn to you if you provide them with something they value.  It could be something physical or emotional.  Simply being a kind and supportive person will open up doors of opportunity for you.

Providing exceptional customer service improves organization’s performance.   Being kind to others improves your networking skills.  Focusing on the needs of others leads to best product and best company.   Similarly focusing on the needs of others leads to improved life.

Your life purpose is intertwined with the people that are in your life.  The more you form meaningful relationships the closer you get to your mission goal objective.

8  Avoid Extremes

In the third place, the soul does violence to itself when it is overpowered by pleasure or by pain.  – Marcus Aurelius

There is such thing as too much of a good thing.  The third thing that prevents us from living to our purpose is being overpowered by pleasure or pain.   Very often one leads to the other.  For example, an overindulgence on food and deserts, leads to deteriorating health.   Overindulgence in excessive sitting and tv watching leads to deterioration of muscle mass and eventual pain. 

Do not fall into extremes.  Marcus Aurelius notes that moderation is the key. 

To recover your life is in your power. Look at things again as you use to look at them; for in this consists the recovery of your life.  – Marcus Aurelius

As a reminder, you are in control when it comes to the decisions you make about your life.  Take charge and live your life to the fullest by avoiding extremes. As you are setting your mission goal objective, run it through this test. Does it fall into the extreme spectrum, and what will be the result of this extreme?

9 Honesty Is The Best Policy

Fourthly, when it plays a part, and does or says anything insincerely and untruly.  – Marcus Aurelius

The fourth thing that prevents purposeful living is deceit.  Lying and deceit come in two forms.

First type is lying to others.  When you lie to others, not only are you not being sincere, but you are spending large amounts of energy just to keep the lie alive.   In the end, the lie does not hurt anyone more than it hurts yourself.         

If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.  – Mark Twain

Second type of lying is to yourself.  This is definitely the worst of the two.   The reason for it, is that often people begin to believe their own lies.  This takes them further and further from living according to nature.

Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.  – Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

When setting your mission goal objective consider if you are being honest with yourself. Ask yourself if it its truly your goal? Consider if you have told yourself any lies about yourself? Have you believed these lies?

10 Know Your ‘WHY ‘

Fifthly, when it allows any act of its own and any movement to be without an aim, and does anything thoughtlessly and without considering what it is, it being right that even the smallest things be done with reference to an end; and the end of rational animals is to follow the reason and the law of the most ancient city and civil government.  – Marcus Aurelius

The fifth thing that prevents purposeful living is lack of focus and mindfulness.   Whenever you are looking for success in reaching your goals know that it begins with the planning process.   The key tool is to set achievable goals with measurable terms or smart goals.  Such goals also need to incorporate a strong sense of vision and purpose.     

To set effective goals it is important to answer specific questions prior to beginning the planning process.  The free downloadable PDF worksheet of Goal Setting will take you through the process.

If you find a why then you can bear any how.  – Viktor Frankl

Know the ‘Why’ behind the goals you are setting, and you are guaranteed to reach them.  Break down your goal and make mini-milestones to ensure you are working toward the goal.

Our Effluo Quarterly Goal Planner will assist you in going through this process step by step.

11 Have a Role Model

Marcus Aurelius devoted the whole Book 1 of Meditations on listing different aspects of character and goal achievement strategies that he learned from people in his life.  He specifically devoted the most time to his adoptive father.  

Having a good role model is like having a guide on a journey.  Good mentors help us find our true potential and push us to reach it.  They help us overcome our weaknesses and reach new heights.

We all need this guide, someone who has gone before and best understands how to do things you look to accomplish. 

Let us also not overlook the fact that Marcus Aurelius himself became that guide, role model, for many generations that came after him.  Make sure to also be a mentor and a role model to someone who is trying to reach the place that you have already conquered.

As you are setting your mission goal objective consider who are the people you admire. Also, think through how far you have come and what can you share with the younger generation.

Summary of 11 Tips to a Powerful Life Mission Goal Objective

Everywhere and at all times it is in your power to accept your present condition, and to behave justly to those who are with you, and to exert your skill upon your present thoughts, that nothing shall steal them without being well examined.  – Marcus Aurelius

The key takeaway in the study of Marcus Aurelius is that you, and only you, are in control of how you live your life.   Your life situations may vary, but as long as you know yourself and stay true to your nature, you will be equipped to overcome anything that is thrown your way.

Love only that which happens to you and what is spun with the thread of your destiny. For what is more suitable? – Marcus Aurelius

Recap of Tips to Setting a Mission Goal Objective

•   1  Live in accordance to your true nature
•   2  Live as if each day is your last
•   3  Know that you are enough
•   4  Accept the bad with the good
•   5 Focus on the present moment
•   6  Stop worrying
•   7  Form meaningful relationships
•   8  Avoid extremes
•   9 Honesty is the best policy
•   10 Know your ‘WHY ‘
•   11 Have a role model

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