Write a Manifesto for Your Life in 2020

When I decided that enough was enough, I started taking control of my life and changed the way I live, the way I think and the way I handle relationships. 

I had a coaching client who recently said to me, “I am tired of (blank).” That is the beginning of change. When you know it in your heart and you declare it, that is the beginning of change. 

This is a manifesto. A manifesto is a public declaration of what you intend to do with your life. Have you ever felt like you were getting on the hamster wheel and going through your day? Then going to sleep, waking up and starting all over again. It becomes a drag. If you decide that you want to say no more to accidental living and you want to begin living on purpose, then I challenge you to create a manifesto.

To live on purpose and not by accident is the reason something exists or is created. You were created for a purpose. To decide you’re going to start living with purpose helps to clarify what we believe. We’re not just this chameleon changing our colors based on doing what everybody else does. If we declare what we believe, we’re going to clarify our beliefs. It also helps us examine our motives, and if it doesn’t line up, we say No. 

A manifesto will help you with your goals, help you make good decisions and evaluate opportunities. Does it line up with my manifesto? Then yes, I’m going to do it. It will also help you prioritize the important things in your life. 

A manifesto for 2020

A manifesto sounds like a fancy word, but yours doesn’t have to be fancy. You can jot it down on paper and review it every year. 

• Make a new manifesto every year, but don’t get rid of your old one because it’s great to be able to compare what you’ve done in the past and maybe see some growth. 
• You can keep it private or you can share it with others to help you stay accountable. 
• Be open-minded.  
• There is no right or wrong way to write it.
• The most important thing to do is to be living it out. 

My manifesto

I’m going to share my manifesto with you. I thought if I share mine with you it would give you an idea of what you can do or give you a starting point for your own manifesto. Your manifesto will not be like mine because you are a completely different and unique person. 

1. Today I will make a difference. I will smile at people. I will say a kind word. Maybe I will feed someone who is hungry, but I will commit to more than me and I will make a difference.
2. Today I will control my thoughts. I choose to be happy and hopeful, not helpless and weak. I will control my mind. 
3. Today I will not be a victim of my circumstances. I am not my past. I am not what’s happening in this world right now. I will take control of my circumstances and victory is mine for the taking. My past failures have no control over me, and I will not let them haunt me. 
4. Today I will be optimistic. My glass is half-full. My glass is actually brimming over. Negativity is no friend of mine. 
5. Today I will be grateful for the breath in my lungs, my body that moves and my mind that thinks. This day will only happen once. I will take it in and I will feel it. I will not let it go by in a flurry of activity. I will be grateful for things today. 
6. Today I will extend grace to myself. I am perfectly imperfect. My failures are not fatal. My failures are bruises. I will not strive for perfection because it’s unattainable. 
7. Today I will love well — my spouse, my children and my family. Paraphrasing Mark 8:36: “What good does it do a man or woman if they gain the whole world, but loses their soul.” 
8. Today I will re-frame my setbacks, the closed doors or those misfortunes. I will re-frame them as opportunities, protection from something that wasn’t for me or preparation for something yet to come. 
9.  Today I will believe in myself. I will step outside of my comfort zone and do things differently. I will not settle for mediocrity but instead greatness. I will open my imagination. 
10. Today I will look people in the eyes and listen to them with my whole face and my ears. I will let them know that they are important to me.
11. Today I will release the need to perform, to prove myself and to strive for my worth. I am a work in progress.
12. Today I will forgive. Forgiveness is for me; it’s not letting the other person off the hook. Not forgiving will hold me a prisoner and forgiveness will set me free.
13.  Today I will be authentic. I will let go of who I think I should be and I will embrace who I am.

You do not have to do this perfectly, just write them down. Review them and make it personal. Another great activity is to have a visual reminder of your manifesto by downloading a word art app and make a word cloud of your manifesto. 

Why should you make a manifesto? Because it will help you live intentionally. What are you going to put in your manifesto? Comment below. I would love to hear from you.