Companies use mission statements to communicate their purpose, identify their brand, and connect with their audience. This statement is supposed to make a customer want to be apart of a specific company and to buy their products and request services.

One statement that is to connect with millions of people that hold different values, views on life, and have experienced different things. How on earth does this one statement hold any true meaning to all unique people?

Let's take a couple of the athletic clothing brands for example: Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour and Lululemon Athletica.

Nike's mission statement - "Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. If you have a body, you are an athlete.”

Adidas's mission statement - "To Make All Athletes Better Through Passion, Design And The Relentless Pursuit Of Innovation.”

Under Armour's mission statement- "To Make All Athletes Better Through Passion, Design And The Relentless Pursuit Of Innovation.”

All sounds pretty good right. Are you inspired? If you are a customer of Nike, could you depend on that statement throughout your day, no matter what? That's what a company is supposed to do right? On or off the court, they have your back, and you are apart of their family.

Let's look at Lululemon Athletica.

Lululemon Athletica - NOTHING. Lululemon clothing wear does not have a mission statement! There are swimming upstream, ladies and gentlemen. Instead, they have what they call a “Lululemon Manifesto.” The manifesto is a list of inspirational sayings.

These inspirational sayings allow Lululemon to reach a broader audience. With plenty of sayings to choose from, the customers are able to personalize their purchase and connection with the brand and the products they buy.

From experience, I feel like an average athlete, yoga enthusiast, and woman when I buy from Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour. I'm just like all the hundreds of other customers, following the one boring mission statement.

But, with Lululemon Athletica, when I buy a product of theirs or walk in the store and see the countless sayings I can choose to support, I feel special.

There are several of Lululemon's Manifesto's on the bags they give you when you purchase from them. I take the bag to school, I use it when I work out, go to the beach, etc. I am constantly reminded of these inspirational sayings:

"Creativity is maximized when you are living in the moment."

"Breath deeply."

"The pursuit of happiness is the source of all unhappiness."

"Sweat once a day to regenerate your skin."

"Friends are more important than money."

Although very simple, these sayings can help guide a person when feeling lost, uplift someone when they are having a bad day, and make someone chuckle a little.

Lululemon has optimized and revolutionized the idea of mission statements.

They have inspired me to continue my creativity, and to not just be an average follower, but a leader.