I’m a huge fan of secret missions; they add a really important layer of excitement to life. But, it seems there’s a lot of misconception that a secret mission is something bad or shady or otherwise undesirable, but that doesn’t have to be the case.

I think a secret mission can be used for good – it can be your “underhanded” way of helping people without coming right out and saying that’s what you’re doing.

It makes your life more enjoyable and exciting and helps others along the way. How could that be a bad thing?

In crafting my own secret mission here at Riskology.co, I’ve run into a number of questions that I’ve had to ask myself in order to make sure I’m on the right track and building something really important.

If you have a secret mission yourself, or if you’ve ever thought it would be fun to create one (trust me, it is) then here’s a list of questions you can ask yourself to make sure you’re crafting something really important, too:

1) Does it make you eager to get out of bed?

A great secret mission ought to bring you to life. It should be fulfilling and meaningful to you, and even when it gets tough and looks like you might never pull it off, a great secret mission motivates you to keep trying.

2) Is it really big?

There’s nothing wrong with working on a micro-scale to affect change, but the best secret missions are almost always larger than life.

That said, don’t think that you have to orchestrate some kind of gigantic event. A tiny project with incredible impact will always be better than a big one with little or no impact.

I’d prefer my secret mission to change the entire world for a small group of people than become just another blip on the radar for the masses.

3) Does it have a secret support staff?

I love working alone and doing my own thing. That’s what a secret mission is all about – flying under the radar. But having a small group of invested people help you shape and implement it can make a big difference.

If you want to develop your secret mission by yourself, by all means, go for it. But consider letting just a few very close friends and colleagues help implement it once it’s ready for prime time.

Two heads are better than one when it comes to spreading the word.

4) Does it have a code language?

If you want to keep your secret mission under wraps, you’ll need some form of communication that only the people involved can understand. You don’t need to write a whole new language, but you should definitely think about developing a lingo that keeps the right people in the know and the wrong people at bay.

Here at AR, my secret mission is pretty wide open to the world, but I’ve developed a bit of a language here that only the right people can really understand.

When someone wanders in and sees words like “riskologist” and phrases like “1% club,” they’re either intrigued and hang around long enough to become part of the movement, or they get annoyed and leave.

Either way is fine with me because it ensures that the only people I share my secret mission with are the ones that really get it.

5) Does it have an unadvertised bonus?

Of course, your secret mission should be deeply meaningful to you, but does it come with an unadvertised bonus for those that find out about it? If it doesn’t, how can you develop one?

Lots of people come here because they hear about some guy trying to do a bunch of crazy things. Those things are meaningful to me, but alone they’re not so useful to anyone else.

The reason people stay is because I work hard to turn those crazy things into stories that help people with their own lives.

6) Is it deceptively simple?

A secret mission doesn’t need to be incredibly complicated or difficult to implement to be great. On the contrary, the best ones are usually deceptively simple. So simple, in fact, that they go mostly unnoticed until someone realizes that they’ve become a part of it. By then, they’re bought in – kind of like a cult, but hopefully for good rather than evil.

My secret mission is to get people to live in a way they only dream about by taking huge risks. How do I do that? By getting them to take just one tiny, seemingly insignificant step towards it. They get a little taste of what it could be like and they’re hooked.

The guys at 37 signals call this working like a drug dealer. I chuckle a little bit when I think about that comparison.

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Your secret mission doesn’t have to be evil and it doesn’t have to be deceptive. It just has to be secret. You can make it as big or as small as you want (I vote for big) and there aren’t any rules that govern how you have to go about it. You can use it to change the world for millions or just yourself if you want to.

All that’s required is an imagination.

So what’s your secret mission and how are you orchestrating it? Let me know in the comments.

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Image by Ninja M.