Me, You, and Manifestos
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Me, You, and Manifestos


 

Dear You,

You could be a student, teacher, administrator, CEO, or employee and find value in making the time to read this blog entry.

What is a manifesto? It’s a public declaration of your beliefs, goals, and commitments. Manifestos can be short, long, wide, or narrow. The format is up to you! A manifesto is a statement that tells the world what you represent and intend to do with your time on this earth.

Men and women have found value in sharing manifestos. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels was a standard reading assignment in my political science courses in undergrad. Martin Luther King Jr., Frances M. Beal, Chimamanda Adiche, Malcolm X, John F. Kennedy, Donna Haraway, and others have created manifestos.

 
 

I decided it was time to write a manifesto after reading a blog post by Jeff Goins. Goins is the author of several New York Times bestselling books. I've read and enjoyed three of his titles. Jeff Goins has also managed to build a successful platform teaching authors how to create a business from their work.

I started building a professional website in 2013 after earning a Ph.D. in Policy Studies in Urban Education. It was initially intended to create awareness around my work with Capoeira and schools. When I decided to move from the United States to Mexico in 2016, the site morphed into a tool to share my experiences with others and to establish business opportunities.

 

The last Capoeira event I held in Chicago.

 

While in Mexico I tried and failed to create consistent income from my writing, consulting, and coaching services. There were occasional, but not frequent enough, paid opportunities to write articles for publishers, conduct consulting work with schools, and coach clients. I was and remain grateful for that business and the impact it made in the lives of others. Nonetheless, it was not enough to cover our living experiences.

The business failures in Mexico taught me that there is much more to explore in my entrepreneurial journey.

Thanks to Goins, publishing a manifesto, is one of the lessons that I l recently learned is an important step in building a business. It is especially vital in creative works that include writing blog posts, articles, and books. In addition to serving as a productive business activity, completing a manifesto is an invaluable activity to help build positive self-awareness.

The method I used to write a manifesto helped me to define my audience. When completing the manifesto, I asked myself poignant questions about my identity, beliefs, values, and commitments. I thought about who I wanted to reach through my various projects and why I make time to write every day.

 
 

Thinking and processing current events in the US also helped me to create a manifesto. I was disturbed by learning that 202 Black people, 195 males, have been killed by the police in 2018. The Cyntoia Brown case and the murders of transwomen in Florida and Michigan also stirred my brain and guided my pen as I completed the first draft of a manifesto in my notebook.

For two months, I worked on an ebook that includes my manifesto. I was planning to publish it during the first week of January in 2019. December encouraged me to move with urgency. My ebook/manifesto was released this week as a free gift to the subscribers of my email list.

Today, I want to encourage you to write a manifesto. Remember there is no page requirement. Please, be creative and enjoy the process. My manifesto includes a set of questions to help you discover your life’s purpose, along with pictures that helped me to get clarity around my entrepreneurial body of work.

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