What’s the best way to write a personal manifesto?
I’ve been collecting and studying thousands of manifestos over the past ten years to come up with the best seven ways that you can write a Personal Manifesto.
But which one is the best one for you?
Today, I’ll share the seven types, with an example of each. Then I’ll give each type a rating to help you decide which one is best for you.
1 Motto
YouTube’s Life of Riza (Kariza Santos) has the motto: Say yes now, figure it out later.
A motto or mantra is a short sharp statement. You can use it as a theme or mindset for you in your life.
While mottos are powerful, they can be hard to create. That’s because it’s difficult to only pick one.
2 List
@R wrote a personal manifesto that includes more than 20 mantras, quotes and I am statements. For example, Asking is a gift, Be the example, Create every day.
This is a great way to write a personal manifesto because it’s easy. Just collect a bunch of things that inspire you.
But having too many items on your list dilutes your focus and your power.
3 Worldview
Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech is an example of a worldview. It’s an expanded vision. It includes what he wants, what he doesn’t want and what needs to be overcome.
To create a worldview manifesto takes a lot of work. And it’s overkill for a personal manifesto. It’s much better suited to a community or social change project.
4 Purpose
Oprah Winfrey’s Purpose Statement is: ”To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.”
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Having a clear purpose can be a powerful force in your life but again it’s harder to capture a single focus in a handful of words.
5 Mission
Chris Do from The Futur has the mission: Teach one billion people how to make a living, doing what they love (without losing their soul). He’s currently helped 32,794 people.
A mission is relatively easy to create you just need to quantify a result in an area of your life and they can be very powerful to focus your attention.
6 Vision
In 1964, Nelson Mandela was on trial with 14 other men for conspiring to overthrow the state. In his closing statement to the court, Mandela shared his vision from the dock: “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.”
A vision is easy to create, and powerful as a direction rather than locking you into a specific result.
7 Values
Benjamin Franklin is probably most famous for flying a kite in a thunderstorm as an experiment to understand electricity.
Franklin wrote a personal manifesto that contained 13 values or virtues. He wanted to practice as habits. For instance, Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself: i.e. waste nothing.
Values are the easiest type of personal manifesto to create, they’re powerful in their own right but they also become a great launchpad to create any of the other types of personal manifestos. They’re the best choice.
Send me a message if you need help in creating your personal manifesto
Which of these seven ways to write a personal manifesto do you like the best?
#personalmanifesto #missionstatement #values
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5 个月Love the 7 types Geoff McDonald heading over to the blog now for a deeper dive. Love the nuances between a manifesto and a mission
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5 个月Geoff McDonald Your wisdom never fails to make me think ???????? Question, you’ve rated the motto the hardest because to create one takes a lot of cognitive effort to distill the complexity of human nature down to something succinct, yeah? Does that also mean once the hard work is done, it’s also the easiest to embody? ??
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5 个月I like the 7 types. :) How do you differentiate between a personal mission and a personal manifesto? To me a manifesto is either (i) a statement around how on the one hand the current system is wrong, on the other hand there is a better way, and here is what to do to get to the better way. i.e. a manifesto is inherently an advocacy of change. Or (ii) a manifesto is an outline of a viewpoint that is contrary to an existing mainstream viewpoint. Ultimately they are both kind of the same, since the point is contrasting a preferred future with an implicitly or explicitly flawed present. To me a mission is a statement of an outcome one is working towards (for oneself or others). It need have no particular comment on the current state - for example if your mission is to become a wealthy person with $100M in fully owned assets and give it all away to people and causes you care about by the day you die, it doesn't necessarily say anything about wealth or wealth inequality or capitalism or investing or business or philanthropy. It could take a position on either side of any of these issues. It only speaks to the positive outcome you want to achieve for you or others. Is that how you see it, or do you think about this differently?
I help Speakers, Authors and Thought Leaders create their BIG idea.
5 个月If you want a deeper cut on this article, read the blog post: https://geoffmcdonald.com/write-a-personal-manifesto-seven-ways-to-be-inspired/