What is a Manifesto? 5 Everyday Manifesto Examples

What is a manifesto, and how can you use this in your daily life to inspire you?

When we think about manifestos, we think about big or revolutionary ideas.

This might be an art manifesto that’s going to change the world. Or US President John F. Kennedy sending a man to the moon, or a crazy serial killer who’s trying to justify their crimes.

But how do you use one in your everyday life?

Today, I’ll give you five everyday manifestos to see how you can use them in your daily life to be inspired every day.

What is a Manifesto? – Reference Points

To have a reference point for our everyday examples, let’s look at the classic definition of what is a manifesto from a dictionary. Nearly all the dictionaries say the same thing.

A manifesto is a public declaration of your intention.

So, there are our three criteria: Public, Declaration and Intention.

1 New Year’s Resolution

Our first example usually happens once a year, and it’s often when we’re with friends or we’ve had a party or we’re out socialising. And it often happens with a few drinks along the way just to lubricate our thoughts.

Usually comes in the form of a goal. And we say things like, I’m going to:

• Lose weight.
• Quit my job.
• Start a business.
• Write a book.
• Have a baby.

This is the format of a New Year’s resolution. It’s a public statement we make with our friends. It’s a declaration of something we want or we’re going to stop doing in the year ahead. And it’s clearly an intention or a goal.

2 Writing a Will

We tend to consider our second example later in life.

At the moment, I’m a carer for my 90-year-old mom, and we’re just checking that all the things are in place for the day she will pass away. And the item I’m talking about is a will.

A will is a manifesto because we are setting forth our intentions of what happens to our assets and the things we own when we pass away.

It’s declaring it in a formal way, as it’s written down, and because it’s a legally recognised document.

While you might write it by yourself, it does need to be witnessed to be legal, which makes it public. Also, when you do pass away and the executor comes along to execute or deliver on the will, then all the details of that will become public.

This makes it a public declaration of your intention and, therefore, an everyday manifesto.

3 Quitting Your Job

Our third example is slightly different.

Normally, we think about manifestos as declaring I want this or I’m going to have this or I’m going to begin this. In other words, we’re creating something.

But there’s also another side of declarations, and that’s when you end something.

A big picture example is to end a war, like the ceasefire in Gaza. Or when the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced on the 5th of May 2023, that the COVID pandemic was officially over.

Everyday examples of this could be:

• Quitting your job
• Retiring from playing football
• Ending your marriage or
• Terminating the lease on your house.

In other words, a declaration can both start something or end something.

And each of these examples requires you to inform someone else of your decision, thereby making it a public declaration. For instance, at some point, you have to tell your boss, “Sorry, boss, I’ve had enough. I’m leaving. I’m going on to greener pastures.”

4 The Judge and Jury in a Courtroom

The fourth everyday manifesto example is one I hope you never have to experience.

It happens inside a courtroom where someone is charged with a crime.

If there is a jury, they have to determine whether the person is guilty or not guilty of that crime. This is the first part of the manifesto – it’s not an intention as a goal, but rather a statement of how they see the world. This person is ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’.

Then it’s over to the judge to determine what should happen after that.

If someone is not guilty, the judge says, “You’ve been found not guilty. Off you go.”

But if they’ve been found guilty, the judge then has to determine what an appropriate penalty is for that person. For example, if the person has been found guilty of murder, the judge might say, “That’s worth 10 years of jail, or that’s worth life in jail.”

The judge’s decision is a manifesto because it is:

Public to the people in the courtroom, and is recorded to go on the public record.

A declaration of an intention that says this is what’s going to happen. I am declaring as the judge that you will be you’ve been found guilty and you’ll now go to jail.

The important point here is that the judge is not offering a personal opinion. The judge is a representative of the state, of the government and of the people, and their declaration is an official representative of society. Which means they’re technically saying, ‘On behalf of the society, you’ve been found guilty. You’re now going to jail.’

5 Getting Married

Our fifth and final example of an everyday manifesto is one I actually hope you have an experience of. It is similar to the one from the courtroom, with the judge having formal authority, but it also includes your intention. It’s a combination of both.

At your wedding, you declare your vows towards your partner. You might say, “I’m committed to looking after you in sickness and health and in well-being and wealth and so on.”

You’re basically declaring, “Here’s how I’m going to approach our partnership, our marriage, and these are the things you can count on me.” They might be in the form of rules or guidelines, or usually some values or principles to follow.

The second part is when the marriage celebrant says, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” Like the judge, they are not saying this personally – they’re an official and legal representative making the declaration.

They might say ‘By the powers invested in me’ and this means, “I am authorised by the law and by our society to make this an official wedding.” This means your partnership is now legally recognised. This is different to a de facto couple who simply live together in the same dwelling.

Also, a wedding needs to be a public event. If you’re at the registry office, you need at least a couple of people as witnesses. Or, if it’s a typical wedding, you might have lots of friends and family members watching on.

More on What is a Manifesto?

If you want more on what a manifesto is and how to write a manifesto, then read these posts next:

• What’s a Manifesto? – Three-Part Manifesto Definition
• Manifesto Meaning: How to write a manifesto to create your future
• Write a Manifesto Four Ways [The Four Types of Manifesto]