If you have been on a quest to discover more passion and purpose in your life, you may have run across the million dollar question:
What is your why?
Your why is the big picture vision for what you want to accomplish in your life.
A visionary why goes beyond what you want for yourself. It encompasses the people or causes you want to serve, and the change you want to create in the world.
I was recently challenged to clarify my own why when I entered The Next Great Visionary Business Contest.
Participants were asked to create a manifesto…a statement of the core beliefs, intentions and values that are the foundation of their visionary business.
This is not a totally new idea. Zappo’s made the idea of a corporate culture famous when CEO Tony Hsieh wrote the best-selling book Delivering Happiness. Here are the Zapppos Core Values:
- Deliver WOW Through Service
- Embrace and Drive Change
- Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
- Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
- Pursue Growth and Learning
- Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
- Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
- Do More With Less
- Be Passionate and Determined
- Be Humble
Even if you don’t have a business, there is much to be gained by writing a personal manifesto. This entertaining post by Zach Sumner in The Art of Manliness describes some good reasons for giving it a try.
What makes a manifesto so valuable is the fact that it is a constant source of inspiration to you, and one that can often be easily read every day. I may completely agree with, say, the Bible, but reading it in its entirety every day would be cumbersome.
I read my manifesto every day, before I start my job. It focuses my mind by reminding me of my priorities. I deal with topics like how I want to treat my girlfriend, how I want to work honorably at my job, how I want to vote, and every day I am reinforcing those values. Over and over and over again.
Whether you want to write a manifesto for your business or for your life, here are some questions worth asking.
What is important to you in your relationships with other people?
What people, causes, places or events do you care passionately about?
What change would you like to see happen in the world?
How is your work or your life contributing to making that change?
What is unique about your talents, skills and life experience that influence your core values about life?
What kind of legacy do you wish to create in the world?
In creating my own manifesto, I had to dig deep to uncover the real reason why I want to inspire women to live more passionate, meaningful lives.
It is because I believe that empowering women to take leadership roles will balance out the dominant male paradigm to bring us more understanding, collaboration and peace in the world.
If that resonates with you, you can download a PDF of my manifesto here.
I would love to see what you come up with. Please leave a comment with a link to your personal or business manifesto below.
