What's in a Manifesto and Why You Should Have One

 

Yesterday, Christen brought up the topic of personal values and mottos on our weekly podcast. In the course of the discussion, we talked about manifestos. But what is a manifesto? For many of us, it has a very negative connotation since it is often linked to terrorists like the Unabomber and others. While it has often been used as a method of spewing hate and chaos, a well-written manifesto can be an excellent way to zero in on your values and beliefs while setting clear and practical boundaries and intentions. Here’s how:

 

Simply put, a manifesto is a public declaration of policy and aims. The word stems from the Italian manifestare, and from Latin, “make public,” and from manifestus “obvious,” and is related to the word manifest, which means “clear or obvious to the eye or mind” and “display or show by one’s acts or appearance” – “to demonstrate.” Of course, many of us use the word manifest to describe our individual ability to achieve our goals and make our dreams come true. That’s a good thing, right?

 

Earlier this year, as part of our One Little Word project with Ali Edwards, we were challenged to create our own manifesto. We used a values discovery worksheet much like the one we shared with you here on the “Heard it on the Podcast” blog post for this week. After walking us through the values worksheet, the OLW instructor for February, Lucrecer, instructed us to take our values list and use it to come up with a manifesto that embodied our word and our beliefs.  She shared several examples of manifestos she found with a Google search. There were many different styles, which encouraged participants to create something personal to them. Here’s mine.

 

 

There is no right or wrong way to write a manifesto, but it should be meaningful to you. Use your manifesto to write out your beliefs, attitudes, and anything you are passionate about. You can be as creative as you like. Lucrecer encouraged us to read our manifesto every day. Mine is in my One Little Word project album, but I’m considering hanging it on my wall so it’s more visible.

 

Creating a manifesto is a great way to set your intentions. The act of writing changes your ideals into goals, which then allows you to envision the steps you need to take to make them a reality. A manifesto is a proclamation to the world regarding your values and beliefs and creates boundaries that help you protect your space, time, and energy. When we have healthy boundaries, we can give more, feel more, love more, and do more because we are doing so intentionally and are not drained by the circumstances and environment around us. A manifesto is a great step towards manifesting the life you want to live.