How to Write Your Life Manifesto

How to Write Your Life Manifesto

How to write your life manifesto begins by knowing what you want to publicly profess about yourself.

Manifesto, in brief, is a public declaration of intentions. It is a pronouncement of principles and policies. It can be famously political (as in Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto) or awesomely personal.  Today we are going to create YOUR LIFE manifesto, which is the awesomely personal variety.

Knowing what you want to publicly profess about yourself means getting your lifestance in order.  This doesn’t mean you have to have your life or Life all figured out, it just means you get to spend sometime thinking about what you accept as being of ultimate importance.  Like, if you have children and all you could leave them with is one document about your life and who you are/dream to be, this would be it. So what do you want to say? A person’s lifestance is his/her presuppositions and theories of what is of ultimate importance. A lifestance is also the commitment and practices of working it out in practical living. Each lifestance that lends itself to a personal manifesto is unique…and when done with authenticity, each Life Manifesto is incomparably awesome. So let’s begin!

Writing your life manifesto means quite literally typing out your lifestance in I {blank} statements. Here are a few examples from lines  from my own life manifesto:

I believe every single moment is a fork in the road.

Happily ever now is a prerequisite to happily ever after.

Right now mornings with my husband, and afternoons reading to my son are the delight of my life.

I dream of Italy and la dolce vita.

When my cheeks hurt so bad from laughing, its like they’ve done a thousands sit-ups, I know its been a great day.

I grew up believing everyone finds their happy ending and that true love and excitement are birthrights.

What I want to give most to the world is a remembrance of joy and the possibility of creating irresistible life.

Here is some help to get you started. I’ll give you the first  part of the sentence, you fill in the rest. REMEMBER: Fill in the rest with the truths that lift you highest. A Life Manifesto is not supposed to be a downer. It is supposed to be a document proclaiming your highest belief in GOOD–in yourself and what is possible for you to create/experience in the world. When you finish writing it it should feel like you’ve just drank 7 cups of coffee. You should be dancing and singing out loud. If this is not what you experience, just scratch what you have written and start again. Your Life Manifesto is your personal anthem– it should PUMP YOU UP.

I am _______________________________________________________

I believe ____________________________________________________

When I was little ________________________________________________

Right now_____________________________________________________

I love ________________________________________________________

What I know for sure is ____________________________________________

I’ve never been  more happy than when _________________________________

I have a penchant for _____________________________________________

I wish all of us could ______________________________________________

I dream of _____________________________________________________

People tell me I am _______________________________________________

I was born to ___________________________________________________

I am particularly good at   ___________________________________________

What I want most in the world is to ____________________________________

I was a________________________________________________________

I indulge in _____________________________________________________

The words I hold closest to my heart is __________________________________

If I get a chance I will ______________________________________________

I live for _______________________________________________________

I believe the most important thing  in a person is to be ________________________

I have an amazing __________________________________________________

If I had a superpower it would be ________________________________________

I hail to  _________________________________________________________

The big idea of my life is _____________________________________________

I am dedicated to __________________________________________________

Happiness is ______________________________________________________

I feel most alive when _______________________________________________

Okay, you get the idea, now it’s time to put it to use. Have a beer. Pour yourself a glass of wine. Get cozy with some “Me” time and get writing. Declare the things you’ve always wanted to be so bold to declare.  This is your life. Pronounce it rad. When you get through, share some lines of your own manifesto with us here! I know we all will be energized from hearing them.

P.S.  Are you left with so much empowering writing energy after tackling your Life Manifesto that you need to know what else you can do with it? Write your Dammit List. Go and read this awesome post by @Havi to see what I mean: http://www.fluentself.com/blog/stuff/more-ways-to-use-the-dammit-list/

  • Darlene Y2

    I stumbled across this and love this! I am an older woman and did this sometime ago in my life. The list has all come true except one.Hmmmm! There is a great power in writing things down...then read it frequently. I plan on doing this after my adventure I am having today! Thank you for this wonderful reminder of the power of words, writing things down and allowing yourself to dream...then the magic happens......

  • I can't figure any one of those blanks out. Is that weird? More specifically, none that make me feel pumped.

  • Nahl--
    Not weird...just a sign you may need more 'play' in your life...time do some reinventing/dreaming about who you are/what you can become!

  • Umm...how exactly do I go about doing that?

  • Ami

    I wrote it in the notebook I carry with me to catch inspiration as it comes.....I've already found the answer to so many of these statements, it makes me love myself a little more :-) When I'm finished I plan to paint my manifesto and a huge sheet of metal and hang it in my office (it never hurts to remember who we really are)

  • Well crap. This is going to be more difficult than I thought.
    Love a good challenge
    XOXOX

  • I read this on a day off from work and proceeded to write it out in my journal without hesitation or forethought.
    Thank you for this friend~ it was a good cup:)

  • I love that you took action! That's what I want this blog to be more than anything-- "helpful help", the kind you can and will actually apply to your life. Thanks for making my day. Will you be posting your Manifesto somewhere?

  • Yes, my blog and via tweet http://nostalchick.blogspot.co...

blog comments powered by Disqus