Don Miguel Ruis is the author of The Four
Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. This book has sold more than
8 million copies in the US and has been translated into 46 languages worldwide.
Purpose
Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, the Four
Agreements offers a code of conduct to help you transform your life and bring
happiness and love. These agreements are the ones we make with ourselves, with
others, with God and with life itself.
Manifesto
1 Be impeccable with your word The most important and most difficult agreement to honor – Choose your words carefully and be responsible for what you say.
2 Don’t take anything personally This agreement helps to limit the impact of hurtful treatment by others in life.
3 Don’t make assumptions Instead of assuming what you belief, ask questions to avoid suffering.
4 Always do your best Bring the first three agreements together to live to your full potential.
I love the simplicity of this – four
agreements – four simple things to do each and every moment of each and every
day.
The great challenge with simplicity is that
it takes time and effort to distill your idea down to its core principles.
As Mark Twain once said: ”If you want me to speak for an hour, I am ready today. If
you want me to speak for just a few minutes, it will take me a few weeks to prepare.”
Worth
the effort!
Also,
notice the word ‘agreement’. These are not laws, rules, guides, commandments, principles
or pillars.
What
you call your manifesto is crucial – it sets the tone and flavour for how to relate
to it.
In
this case, ‘agreements’ is totally consistent with a manifesto with the intent
of promoting ‘personal freedom’.
It
says, ‘you are free to agree to this, or not’. It just wouldn’t work or have
the same meaning if they were commandments.
Blog Me Roselle is a wordpress website
sharing the journey of an individual pursuing a MA in Design Management and
Cultures
Purpose
“Looking into manifestos made by important influential people in history
for example Dr. Martin Luther King “I have a dream”, Jon Lennon: Imagine, The
green living manifesto and Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On. There are countless
more manifestos I totally agree with and support and in my own manifesto I
touched upon issues that are close to me things that are going on around us
everyday and changes that needs to be made.”
Manifesto
My visions for the
future are:
Stop
knife crime and start investing more into our young people. We need to find out
what the problems are and why they want to kill each other. Find something
constructive for these kids to do.
Look
into the police force in great detail. We need to put a stop to the issue of
drugs and guns. Investigate why the guns and drugs seized on the streets by
police are then later put back onto the streets. This needs to be investigated
and stopped.
I
want all the rich people making a lot of money to be taxed more then the
average person and have a system in place that they cannot move money out of
the country without paying tax on it. The tax money taken from the rich must be
put back into things like the NHS and community funding.
My
vision is to turn every country in the world a green eco friendly land with
everything renewable energy. But to be realistic I will start with the UK. The
government needs to give everyone access to solar panels not just aimed at home
owners give everyone who lives in council properties an opportunity to have
one.
I
would like to see every house, flats and business to have a compost machine
installed on there grounds, so all food wastes can be disposed off and then
applied to all green areas and used to grow organic foods. I want everyone to
be involved in.
I
want people working together as a community to help their neighbours, clean the
streets and take control of today’s young people and mentor them to be better
and do better and think about community.
I
would like the school systems to involve the parents more on the subjects that
being taught to our kids. I believe equality for all but I don’t agree with a
school teaching my child about issues they don’t know about and as a parent I
believe that I am the one to teach my child about transgender, same sex
parenting and Homosexuality.
I believe that we all can be part of a better,
fear and just world if we work together. Work together to stop wars people
killing other humans for profit and for politics. Destroy all guns and make
politicians, heads of states listen to the people and make the changes that fit
every ones needs. I want every country in the world to become green and use renewable
technologies in all aspects of their architecture landscape. Combat pollution
and reverse climate change.
Most personal manifesto are – as you’d
probably expect by the word ‘personal’ – all about what the creator wants or
intends to have happen in their lifetime.
I really like this alternative approach.
It’s a personal manifesto but the eight visions here are not about the
individual.
Instead, they are social outcomes. They’re
a worldview. They’re saying I want to live in a world that looks, feels and
behaves like this.
The power of this approach shows itself
when you share your vision with others. If it’s all about me, then people will
likely respond personally too.
In contrast, if you’re sharing about how
you would like the world to be, then a richer and deeper conversation may
result. It might even lead to ‘yes, I want that too’ and ultimately, ‘let’s
work on that together’.
This is how world’s change. It all starts
with an individual stating their intention. And if enough people come together
to make it happen, then a new reality is lived.
Bernadette Jiwa is a storytelling expert
who has published eight #1 Amazon Bestsellers.
Purpose
To motivate, inspire and encourage entrepreneurs.
Manifesto
A Love Note to Entrepreneurs
Don’t wait for permission
Change something you care about Touch one person Make a difference to a handful
Launch ideas form the heart Build a legacy, not just an empire Keep your values front and center Understand why you’re doing this Remember, it doesn’t have to matter to everyone
Learn how to see the world as it isn’t Allow possibility to feed your soul Embrace failure alongside success
Make people your inspiration Let passion be your master Make meaning your currency
Never allow fear to get in your way Know the questions to ask Don’t be afraid of the answers
If you do anything today, would ‘THIS’ be it? If not this, then what?
Geoff McDonald, author of Done and curator
of 1000Manifestos.com
Purpose
The Seven Rules – They
are rules because they are principles, guidelines, actions, procedures and
hopefully useful! They are the seven key ideas that allow us to move from the
usual way of doing project planning to the more holistic view of project
design.
Manifesto
1 Stop planning!
The old saying
suggests that ‘if we fail to plan, we plan to fail’. But planning is not enough
– particularly when it only describes what are we are going to do. We need to stop planning and start
designing to include our motivations, inspirations, and passion for our
projects.
2 Don’t fix your problems
We all know what we
want. But most of what we want is to fix something that went wrong in our past.
This is limiting and it’s not satisfying either. Instead, we need to clear the
decks of our past if we want to create a truly compelling future.
3 Inner over outer
When we fail at
things we presume we are the failure. And that we are fatally flawed in some
way. That’s human nature. But the real problem is we fail because we choose the
wrong type of goal. We need to focus on our internal motivations to keep us
going when we face the dip, an obstacle or simply when it all gets too hard.
4 Rules rule!
As the world has
become more complex our plans for the future have also become more complex.
Fighting complexity with more complexity is a recipe for confusion, chaos, and
disaster. Instead, we need to develop simple rules to make it easier to
navigate in complex situations. Think traffic lights!
5 Ship smaller sooner
Traditionally we aim
to deliver one big thing at the end of our projects. The problem with this
approach is the lack of feedback. This leaves us wide open for creating something that nobody wants.
Been there, done that! That’s a short cut to “Why did I waste my time doing
that?” Or worse, “What is wrong with these people, don’t they recognise my
brilliant work?” That’s not going to lead you to a happy place. Instead, we
need to create smaller versions of our final big thing to find out what will
ultimately work.
6 Structure shapes success
The usual story is
that we fail because of a lack of willpower, discipline or focus. This only
tells part of the story as there are forces bigger than us at work impacting us
in invisible ways. Therefore, we need to design our environments to promote the
behaviours we want and to stifle those we don’t.
7 You have to change
When we create our
projects our focus is naturally on the end result. However, if that’s all we do
we miss a big opportunity. The real purpose of our project is to create a
change in our situation and to make that change stick. To do that we need to change!
The language we use in our manifesto is the
key to giving it a decisive edge.
There’s something strong and definitive
about saying things are ‘rules’. It implies following them, sticking to them
and using them as boundaries.
Compare this to principles, guidelines,
things… All useful but provide a different flavour to our message.
Further, the rules that follow also need to
have a mix of familiarity and intrigue. I believe some need to be relatively
obvious – for instance, most people will understand ‘rules rule’. It implies
that rules are important.
In contrast, ‘inner over outer’ is less obvious. It begs the question, what specifically is ‘in and out’ referring to? In this case it’s about inner and outer motivation styles.
Stop Planning is another interesting rule because it is provocative – it challenges our usual thinking.
Plus, we want our rules to be sexy and
slightly clever (not too clever). For instance, the alliteration (using the
same sound or letter) of ‘Ship Smaller Sooner’ rolls off the tongue and becomes
a snappy idea. It’s much more engaging than ‘Get things done quicker’.
When you’re writing your manifesto, pay
attention to the words you use – words have meaning and impact. Choose
carefully. Play with a thesaurus to figure out the right ones. And test this
with a live audience face-to-face to reveal their emotional impact.
I always find it interesting when I’m
looking for manifestos, where I actually find them as compared to their source.
In many cases, it’s as simple as ‘google’
the author or creator and find their website.
In this case Luanne Tierney doesn’t have a
website. That might be part of a deliberate strategy or it might suggest she
was looking for employment at the time she wrote and published her manifesto.
That’s a clever strategy that’s supported
by the fact that I found her manifesto and her profile in a number of places,
including: Slideshare, Pinterest and LinkedIn.
This fits with the current phase of
Internet use that focuses on social media and apps rather than standalone
websites.
It’s also a great way to share your
manifesto as a visual image that is easily shared.
Leon Gautier was a French literary
historian who lived from 1832 to 1897.
Gautier’s Ten Commandments were written in
the 19th century even though the various codes of conduct he wrote
about were created between 1170 and 1220.
Purpose
The Chivalry code was intended to guide the
behaviour of knights during the Middle Ages.
It was applied to men of noble standing or
ancestry who were capable of equipping themselves with a war horse and a
cavalry of supporting riders.
The world ‘chivalry’ means ‘horsemanship’
in Old French. The Italian word is ‘cavalry’.
Chess fans will note that the ‘knight’ or armoured
cavalry is typically represented as a horse’s head and neck.
The most interesting thing with regard to
this manifesto is the gap between the living of the Chivalry code in the
Medieval period and the six hundred plus years before it was written down and
published by a historian.
Given the tight knit and elite community of
knights in the medieval period, an oral manifesto clearly was effective.
In contrast, in our current social media
world, the balance has swung in the opposite direction – if it is not published
online then it effectively doesn’t exist.
It is perhaps no surprise that it is
written in the classic Bible style of the Ten Commandments given its strong
religious tone.
This connection between knights and their ‘war
horses’ reminds us of the strong influence that religion had on the politics of
the time.
She is the name behind Emily McDowell and
Friends – a community or artists and writers.
Purpose
The Let’s Get Real manifesto is their
pledge and commitment to be a better-than-average human. It speaks to their
essence and the things they care about.
Manifesto
Let’s get real.
Let’s make friend with our imperfections,
because they’re the side effects of being human, and there’s medicine in “Me,
too.”
Let’s laugh at ourselves: It sure beats the
hell out of the alternative.
Let’s agree that normal isn’t a thing, and
unlovable isn’t either.
Let’s not be dicks. There are already
enough dicks.
Let’s reframe our mistakes as lessons and
start kicking ass at learning.
And let’s use honesty and humour and heart
to leave this place a little better than we found it.
At the end of the day, if it’s your
manifesto you can write whatever pleases you.
But, if you want other people to resonate
with what you have written it must have a congruency. In other words, your
message needs to be consistent with the way you say it.
That’s the strength of Emily McDowell’s Let’s
Get Real manifesto – it’s real.
Compare her language with the Customer Centricity Manifesto. Both fit their intended audience. One is academic intended for corporates. The other is open-hearted and intended to open hearts – it uses real everyday, heartfelt words.
Also, it employs a simple structure that
makes it easy to create and read. There are seven lines and each one starts off
with the simple word: Let’s.
This call to action is gentle and inclusive…
again consistent with it’s message.
And the handwritten font used in the visual,
completes the real picture.
Bushido is a Japanese term that means ‘the
way of the warrior’. It outlines the code or moral principles by which a
Samurai were required to live.
Purpose
Originally, the eight virtues were an
informal code that evolved over many centuries. Between 1600 and 1868, various
parts of Bushido were formalized into Japanese feudal law and the rules became
the code that needed to be mastered before one could become a Samurai.
If a Samurai failed to uphold his honor
according to these rules, he could only regain it by committing suicide.
Manifesto
1 Righteousness
Be acutely honest
throughout your dealings with all people. Believe in justice, not from other
people, but from yourself. To the true warrior, all points of view are deeply
considered regarding honesty, justice and integrity. Warriors make a full
commitment to their decisions.
2 Heroic Courage
Hiding like a turtle
in a shell is not living at all. A true warrior must have heroic courage. It is
absolutely risky. It is living life completely, fully and wonderfully. Heroic
courage is not blind. It is intelligent and strong.
3 Benevolence, Compassion
Through intense
training and hard work the true warrior becomes quick and strong. They are not
as most people. They develop a power that must be used for good. They have
compassion. They help their fellow men at every opportunity. If an opportunity
does not arise, they go out of their way to find one.
4 Respect
True warriors have no
reason to be cruel. They do not need to prove their strength. Warriors are not
only respected for their strength in battle, but also by their dealings with
others. The true strength of a warrior becomes apparent during difficult times.
5 Honesty
When warriors say
that they will perform an action, it is as good as done. Nothing will stop them
from completing what they say they will do. They do not have to ‘give their
word’. They do not have to ‘promise’. Speaking and doing are the same action.
6 Honour
Warriors have only
one judge of honor and character, and this is themselves. Decisions they make
and how these decisions are carried out are a reflection of who they truly are.
You cannot hide from yourself.
7 Duty and Loyalty
Warriors are
responsible for everything that they have done and everything that they have
said and all of the consequences that follow. They are immensely loyal to all
of those in their care. To everyone that they are responsible for, they remain
fiercely true.
8 Self-Control
The first seven virtues show what is
required to become a Samurai. This final one is the pathway to pursuing and
ultimately exemplifying the way of the Samurai. (Goalcast)
While the Bushido manifesto is presented as
simple set of rules, it represents a deep philosophy and way of living
collected and curated over many centuries from various sources, including
Neo-Confucianism, Shinto and Zen Buddhism.
Also, I think it’s worth highlighting that
while the Samurai are renowned for their fighting capability and Bushido is the
‘way of the warrior’, the descriptions here point to a much broader lifestyle
that includes compassion and respect.
James Altucher is an entrepreneur and angel investor – having
started 20 companies, 17 of which have failed.
He is has achieved the
rank of chess master, is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book
“Choose Yourself” and… is a millionaire.
Purpose
A blog post on James’ website shares the manifesto and suggests: “I read book after book but the advice seemed awful. And even the advice that was clearly good (“eat better”) there was almost zero chance I would follow.” This is clearly advice that James would follow.
Manifesto
The 20 Habits of
Eventual Millionaires
1. Say “No”
When you say “NO” you
have more time to read, learn, sleep, ask questions, contact friends, love life.
Say “no” more.
2. Love
This is the only
religion. This is the only thing worth surrounding to. This is the fuel for
your ideal muscle.
3. Make Mistakes
Mistakes are the spell
books of success. Study them hard. Learn their incantations. When muscled tear
they rebuild.
4. Plant seeds
Basic garden math: 1%
of seeds turns into 50% of the flowers. Plant lots of seeds.
5. Be around people who are kind to you and love
you
Other people will make
you unhappy, unkind, and unsuccessful.
6. Stand next to the smartest person in the room
Harold Ramis did it
(Bill Murray). Steve Jobs did it (Steve Woznick). Craig Silverstein did it
(Who? Larry Page). Kanye West did it (Jay-Z). I make money only when I do this.
7. No excuses
Blaming is draining.
Complaining is draining. Explaining is draining. We don’t have enough inner
plumbing for all that draining.
8. Don’t be in a rush
Every overnight
success I’ve spoken to took 10-20 years to get there. But ONLY if they
celebrated small success along the way.
9. Solve difficult gratitude problems
If you can find a
diamond in the mud, you’re going to end up with a lot of diamonds in life.
10. Warren buffet’s 5/25 rule
Make a list of the 25
things you want to do in life. Now do the top 5. And NEVER THINK ABOUT THE
OTHER 20 EVER AGAIN. Else they will take time away from the 5 that are most
important to you
11. Write down 10 ideas a day
This actually turns
into a super power. Do this for six months straight and see what happens.
12. Follow up
I’m shy and bad at
this. And lazy. Send an email the next day with an idea on the next step. I
have to do this.
13. Ask questions
There are more
questions than answers. Opportunities are buried in the questions. Facts can be
outsourced.
14. 1% a day
Whatever you want to
get better at: do 1% more each day. 1% a day, compound, is 3800% a year. You
win.
15. Right now
Regret will waste time
today worrying about yesterday. And anxiety will steal energy from the future.
Focus on right now.
16. Sleep
Sleep rejuvenates
brain cells, heals the body, reduces anxiety. And your brain is only active 2-5
hours a day. Sweet dreams.
17. Every day, avoid death
You can’t get rich
from a hospital bed. Or a grave. More every day, sleep well, eat well.
18. Do one thing every day you loved as a kid
This is usually the fuel that can power your life.
WAIT – I thought you said there were 20? Secret to success… Give yourself permission to be wrong
Thanks Bill for putting this on your wall where I found it!
Comment
This is a classic collection of rules for
success.
And I like it because James is really clear
– there are plenty of other people out there with their rules for success. He
knew he wouldn’t follow them or they wouldn’t work for him so he did the only natural
thing he could do -created his own list.
Also, I love the irreverence – 20 habits.
Oops, there are only 18. Oh well, make more mistakes.
Personally, I think you can have as many
rules as you want.
However, there is a trade-off. When you
have lots of rules there becomes a point where you can just have more and more
and more of them… Plus, there is a limit to how many of these you can actually
remember and are likely to adhere to.
My preference is for a few good rules over
a long list.
Plus, I’m all for changing your rules when
they get a bit stale (That’s why I could never have a tattoo). My simple
thinking here is that you made them up in the first place. Surely, this gives
you the right to change them and make up some different ones that better suit
your current situation. Don’t over do it, but don’t be strangled by them
either.
I like the way Sebastian Terry knew he wanted 100 things (that’s a good round number) and then he left a few spots blank to fill in later. This is a great way to plan that allows for flexibility.
Creator