I’m still working through Johnathan Mead’s Reclaim Your Dreams: An Uncommon Guide to Living on Your Own Terms and I promised last time that I’d post the results of the personal manifesto exercise.

I’d do the rest of the fun & creative exercises but as I’m out of town at my parents’ and flying with all my art supplies & huge poster board is unwieldy at best, I’ll have to hold off on vision boarding until I get back home.

Creating a personal manifesto is something new for me. I’ve always held certain values but I’ve never articulated them. This was my chance to make it real.

I ended up writing two versions. One that explains every word I’m about to list – that one’s for me only and clarifies what I mean by each one.

Below is the short version of my personal manifesto. And yes. I’ve capitalized words for a reason.

I am strong, creative, empathic*, sensitive.

I empower, impart, instruct, create.

I live for family, Love, beauty, myself.

I strive for Truth, freedom, sovereignty, authenticity.

This short version of my personal manifesto is easy to remember. Something I can write on a small 3×5 card and memorize easily.

I think a manifesto is a living document and I will revisit this after a while. But I think it’s a good start.

Do you have a personal manifesto? What does it look like?

*Empathic… well, I struggled with whether to use empathic or empathetic since both are equally acceptable in modern English. Being a sci-fi buff, it feels a little odd to use empathic, since I’m clearly not an Empath but empathetic just sounds well… pathetic. Enough geeking out for now.

photo credit: jc.westbrook

p.s. You can get the eBook for 1/2 off! Jonathan is celebrating his bday by giving everyone else a gift. Get the book already!