One of the things I wanted to do better in 2015 was write in my journal. I’ve been following this excellent list of prompts from the Art of Manliness. Yesterday’s challenge was to write a personal manifesto and it’s something that really resonated with me.
There are so many things in life pulling us in a million directions. If you aren’t intentional about what matters to you and what you’re striving to make of your life every day, you can get lost in the sea of crap. Writing a personal manifesto can give you a rubric for spending time and making decisions.
The word manifesto traces its roots to the Latin manifestum, which means clear or conspicuous. A manifesto is defined as a declaration of one’s beliefs, opinions, motives, and intentions. It is simply a document that an organization or person writes that declares what is important to them.
A manifesto functions as both a statement of principles and a bold, sometimes rebellious, call to action. By causing people to evaluate the gap between those principles and their current reality, the manifesto challenges assumptions, fosters commitment, and provokes change.
I’m still working out the details, and will be for some time, but I wanted to start by just laying out the areas of my life I want to address in my manifesto
- My relationship with God
- My relationships with family
- My use of goods and resources
- Care of my body
- Service to community
- Responsible use of technology
I’m still sussing out what each of these means. A couple of them are related, so I might try to fold them into each other for simplicity. But these are the areas I landed on that are important to me. That I want to be conscious of every day. One aspect that’s missing is my work. Not because it isn’t important, but because I’m still trying to thoughtfully address it. I want to nail the essence of why my work matters to me and where I pull the meaning from.