In his New York Times best-seller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey teaches that the second habit is to “Begin with the end in mind.” To that end, Mr. Covey suggests we all write a personal mission statement – a clear destination for our lives.

So what does the Bible say about writing personal mission statements? What would God want an entrepreneur’s statement to include?

I went to a men’s retreat that had me go through a mental exercise. The teacher had me imagine that it’s three years in the future, and, sadly enough, I’ve passed away. He asked all of us to take a moment to visualize our own funeral. I imagined my loved ones, but I also imagined my business partners, employees, industry colleagues, and my clients giving eulogies and talking about me amongst each other. I asked myself what I’d like them to say. What sort of business owner did I want to be remembered as? What would I want them to share with my mom and dad? For what did I want to be remembered as in my entrepreneurial career?

So often, when we want to embark on a big enterprise or start a business, we think we need something. We have to go somewhere. We have to study some subject. We have to meet some expert. We have to be better than we are now in some fundamental way. 

We assume something is missing, and that’s why we don’t have purpose.

Our Awakening

I had always thought, like almost every entrepreneur, that selling my company would be a triumphant moment — the pinnacle of my achievements. But when it finally happened, instead of feeling fulfilled and overjoyed, I felt empty, lost, and bewildered with confusion over the meaning of my life and work.

I couldn’t share these feelings with my friends and peers. “Cry me a river,” I expected to hear back. In trying to understand why I felt the way I did, I started searching for similar stories about other post-exit founders. Not the polished and often fictionalized stories, but the real stories that delve into the emotional experience.

There was little to be found, but in my search, I remember being shocked by a quote from one entrepreneur. “Selling my business and taking home $100M was the worst decision I ever made,” he said. I was floored. How could this be? He wrote that over the 30 years he built his business, his identity, community, and friends were all tied to his business. When he sold it, he received more money than he could want or need, but he lost his identity and community, and his daily friendships were significantly severed.