There is a certain danger to drifting through life without much focus. If you don’t know where you’re going, or why, you never know exactly where you might end up. As someone who was previously a semi-homeless addict, I can tell you now, not keeping tabs on where you are in life can get you into a lot of trouble.

A personal manifesto can help you to live as you really want to, rather than getting accidentally side-tracked, waylaid by difficult times and circumstances and ending up somewhere you don’t want to be.

Having a personal manifesto essentially makes a clear statement of what we set our stake by in life. It is a good reminder to ourselves of what are truths and values are and it encourages us to uphold them. I’m reminded of the saying: “If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything”.

Busyness, stress, confusion, challenging people and overwhelming emotions can all cause us to make bad decisions. But when we have our own individual ‘handbook for life’ right there in front of us, we can use it in times of trouble to make sure we don’t stray from our ideals.

It is much easier to do the right thing for ourselves when we have a statement that keeps us accountable and reminds us of why we need to stay on track. A manifesto can help us to live wisely, healthily and happily and according to what really matters to us at all times.

A manifesto can also help us to define what our rights are, how we will and will not allow ourselves to be treated. It helps us to be very clear on where our boundaries are so we can know when to say ‘no’ to others.

We can also put our goals on our personal manifesto – having them in black and white can help us to focus more clearly on them and see how other activities do or don’t fit with them.

Having a written document to refer back to means that we can be very clear about what our intentions and motives are before we do anything. If you’re not sure about whether or not to do something, check back with your manifesto and see how it does, or doesn’t, tally with your beliefs, values and aims.

There is something very definite about the act of writing out a manifesto that means that we have something concrete to guide us in our lives, and help us to make wise decisions that adhere to our values. It’s like drawing a design for our life.

No-one says you can’t change your manifesto, it, add to it, or alter it as you learn more in life, and as you grow and change. In fact, I’d encourage you to do just that. But make a start on your manifesto, hang it on the wall or fridge and look at it on a regular basis. It’ll help you gain immediate clarity that can benefit you in so many areas of your life.