question manifesto

Today I'm questioning the form of the manifesto--something I have always been interested in making / having. A declaration of my dictums; my beliefs distilled into a series of mantras to motivate, inspire, and remind me of what I stand for. A sort of set of rules to return to when I feel lost or stuck or out of alignment with myself. A summation of my values and beliefs, in declarative form.

What if we questioned that?

What if we made our manifesto, or our personal mantras, out of questions instead?

I am fascinated by the power of questions. How asking can be more powerful than stating, not just in communication with others but with ourselves. Dan Pink writes about this in his sharp book, To Sell Is Human. Some studies suggest that mentally asking, "Can I do this?" boosts confidence and performance better than the more traditional, "positive" thought, "I can do this."

I find questions an almost endless source of inspiration, because they do not dictate. They do not determine. They are expansive; they inspire possibility; they can be answered infinitely. Questions for me are prompts that I return to again and again, because they always have the power to inspire new answers.

Why not use that quality to craft a manifesto? Why not channel the power of possibility?

Rather than thinking of a manifesto as a series of declarative statements, view it as a source of opening, a collection of questions worth asking.

I've been doing a lot of reflecting lately about my life and the growth I've experienced over the last year. A question I think I've been asking myself is, "How can I let this inspire me?" You could substitute in other words for inspire, play with variations, such as

How can I let this fuel me?

How can I let this guide me?

How can I let this teach me?

How can I let this humble me?

Even just this one question and its variations can be applied to almost anything that challenges you. Yes, I think you could follow the traditional declarative form and attempt to convert it into a statement or affirmation of some sort, like "How fascinating!" (a la the Zanders in The Art of Possibility) or even a simple "Be inspired."

But how much more open and generative is it to have it in question form?