A 2021 Manifesto (of sorts)

I’ve been doing the thing where you choose a word or a phrase to guide your year for about 10 years now. In some ways, it has served me well. At the very least, it has been better than not having any inkling at all what might guide my actions. But after putting it under the microscope, it’s not doing what I need it to do. For me it’s incomplete. The part of me that likes shiny new things keeps wondering if I picked right. And sometimes a word can’t sum up every hope and intention I have for all the facets of life.

Manifesto is one of those words that carries some baggage. The first time I ever heard it, it had “communist” in front of it, and growing up where I grew up, the word itself didn’t warrant much further investigation after that. But once you take away any associations you have with it, it’s pretty harmless. By definition, it means this:

A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government.

For my purposes, this might be a bit more formal — or forceful — than what I’m going for, but it’s still closer to what I’m looking for in terms of motivation and constraints than a word or a phrase would provide me.

I’m asking myself who I want to be and what sorts of actions are required to live into that reality. To use Seth Godin’s phrase, this feels like the best way to clarify what it means individually to be “these kinds of people who do these kinds of things.”

When I’m being a dad, or I’m nervous about putting something new into the world or feeling the impulse to lash out and be snarky on social media, it’s nice to have a list, maybe even a bit of a script, to look at it and remind myself what I think about this stuff when I have perspective.

Here are some of my guiding thoughts (phrases, ideas, principles, whatever you want to call them) for 2021:

• Start At Home
• Trust Your Instincts
• Lead With Curiosity
• Question The Assumptions
• Set Real Deadlines
• Create On Schedule
• Ship Quality Work
• Eliminate Excuses
• Generous In Everything
• Integrate Your Self
• Plan Mindfully
• Rest With Intention

I’m going to write a bit about each of these over the next few weeks in hopes that I can be clear about what I mean when I say those things and if you’re playing along, to help you to know what I mean, too.

If you haven’t chosen anything to guide your energy and attention this year, consider giving it some thought. It’s like walking toward a point on the horizon. You may have to course-correct once you get moving, but without it, you may not move at all.