From Stuck to Soul Aligned: The Ancient Art of Writing Your Manifesto as a Modern Nomad

Creating a personal manifesto is like drawing your own treasure map for the next chapter of your life as a digital nomad or entrepreneur—it shows you where your “true north” is when your brain feels like 27 open tabs and low Wi‑Fi. It helps you name your values conscious and uncover the unconscious ones, create your story, and to identify your direction so you stop drifting along and start intentionally designing your life and captaining your ship.

What a manifesto actually is

A personal manifesto is a written declaration of what you stand for: your values, beliefs, priorities, and the way you choose to move through the world. It’s less “stiff corporate mission statement” and more “recognising your soul-level instructions for your future self.”

For digital nomads and remote-working entrepreneurs, a manifesto becomes your portable inner home base—something you can carry whether you’re in France, Australia, in your visiting your parents staying in the spare room between trips or you might have a home base and bounce from there around the world, even if you don’t have a home base and continuously travel like me. It reminds you why you chose this lifestyle in the first place, even when you have deals fold, or perhaps you have delayed flights, and dodgy Wi‑Fi try to knock you off course. Your manifesto keeps you grounded, rooted to your core truth and gives you the stability in your mind that you are on the right track and stay focused.

Ancient roots of a modern tool

That idea of making a clear “manifesto” isn’t just for ancient philosophers or politicians; we use the same principle to set clear ground rules in everyday life all the time. It brings clarity to how we operate.

Here are some good, everyday examples of what a personal or family “manifesto” might sound like:

🏡 In the Home (The Family Manifesto)

This is a set of explicit rules everyone agrees to live by, often posted on the fridge:

“In this house, we follow three simple principles:

1. Be Kind First: Always choose kindness when you talk to your sister or brother.
2. Tidy Up After Yourself: If you use it, you put it away immediately. No exceptions.
3. No Screens at the Dinner Table: Dinner time is family time for talking and listening.”

This is a clear, actionable declaration of intent and values for that specific household.

💼 In the Workplace (A Team’s Operating Principles)

A small business or a team might write a short manifesto so everyone knows how they’re expected to work:

“Our Team’s Core Beliefs:

• Communicate Openly: If there’s a problem, you flag it immediately—no sugarcoating, no waiting until it blows up.
• Own Your Work: We take full responsibility for our projects from start to finish.
• Respect the Deadline: We commit to timelines we can keep and deliver reliably.”

It’s a foundational document that everyone can reference when a difficult decision comes up.

🌱 In Your Personal Life (A Personal Declaration)

You can write one for yourself to guide your own behavior and decision-making. It’s your own declaration of how you intend to live:

“My Personal Principles:

• Prioritize Health: I will exercise three times a week and eat mostly whole foods.
• Choose Growth Over Comfort: I will try one new, challenging thing every month.
• Be Present: When someone is talking to me, I put my phone down and actually listen.”

In all these cases, the “manifesto” takes ancient wisdom (be honest, be healthy, be respectful) and turns it into simple, actionable rules for modern living.

Today when you are writing your manifesto, you’re taking the ancient practices and doing the same thing, just in a more personal everyday way: creating a living document that says, “Here’s what matters to me and how I choose to show up in my own story.” That link to history is why the practice feels powerful and ritual-like, not just like another journaling exercise. Hey, just a quick side note, to also keep in mind that your values can change throughout your life, so whenever you find that you strongly disagree with something or complaining a lot about something, just notice STOP take notice of it and know something inside you has shifted and no longer aligns. You may need a reassessment of your manifesto.

For example: when I was working as a flight attendant, I heard myself complaining about something with anger in my voice and I use to also say to my colleges “if you see me here in 5 years time tell me to go and get a life” it really helps to listen to what you say out loud even if it is said with a joking nature. This is a big sign that some of your values are not aligned and you need to take action in changing it toward what you want. This takes courage, listening and bold action.

Outcome…I changed my situation by giving myself a challenge of learning to fly a plane…If I succeeded, then I knew it was time to go. And I did. a good scary challenge is always a good way to push you to the next level.

Why your story matters

Often until you write it down you don’t really think it’s that important, but know this “it is important”. Because you are your own author of your own story, the producer of your own film or doco, and the script writer of your specific character.

Your manifesto is really about owning your story instead of letting life, algorithms, and other people write it for you or tagging along in someone else’s story. Story experts often point out that humans make sense of life through narrative, not random events; we think in stories, not spreadsheets. When you consciously write the story you’re telling about yourself, you get to shift from “I’m stuck and confused” to “I’m in a plot twist, and here’s who I choose to be next and with whom I do it with.” Ensuring that it fits into your values system.

Leaders and creatives frequently talk about how stories shape identity and action: when you understand the story you’re living, your decisions make more sense, your priorities line up, and your confidence stops depending on outside approval. Your manifesto becomes a simple way to re-tell your story in a direction that actually supports the life you want to live.

The link between story and your values

Most of your values run quietly in the background like apps you forgot you opened. They drive your choices—clients you say yes to, places you move to, people you’re drawn to—often without you consciously noticing. A manifesto brings those values out of hiding and into the light where you can see them, question them, and choose them on purpose.

When you’re feeling stuck (“Do I scale this business, pivot, or just move to South America and think about it on the beach?”), clarity about your values acts like a decision filter. Instead of spinning, you can ask, “Which option is most aligned with what I’ve said I stand for?” That’s what turns the manifesto from a cute writing exercise into a seriously practical tool.

Why entrepreneurs and nomads need this process

If you’re building a business and a lifestyle at the same time, your mind is carrying double the load. You’re not just asking “What should my pricing be?” but also “Where do I want to be in six months, and who am I becoming through this work?”

A manifesto helps you to choose clients, projects, and collaborations that match your values instead of just your bank balance. Navigate big transitions—new country, new offer, new identity—without losing yourself. Separate your worth from your latest launch stats by remembering the bigger story you’re in.

It also gives you language you can weave into your website, socials, and conversations so your people can recognize you—the ones who share your values and want to come along for the ride.

How to write your manifesto (step by step)

Think of this like making a campfire on a new beach: simple, intentional, a bit magical. Grab a notebook or doc and work through these steps.

1. Set the scene

Everyone needs different environments, so choose what works for you. Choose a moment where you won’t be interrupted—coffee shop in Porto, hammock in Thailand, campervan in Spain, wherever. Decide that this is not about perfection; it’s about honesty. You can edit later.

Write at the top of the page: “This is my manifesto for the next phase of my life.”

2. Ask yourself powerful questions

Free-write for a few minutes on each of these:

• What do I believe a good life looks like—for me, not Instagram?
• What do I want my work to contribute to other people’s lives?
• When in the past few years have I felt most alive, proud, or deeply “me”? What was happening?
• What am I absolutely done tolerating—from myself, my work, or my environment?
• If my future self five years from now wrote this for me, what would they beg me to stop ignoring?

Don’t edit, justify, or make it sound clever. Messy is good. Messy is honest.

Have some fun with it and create a digital collage, there are app out there for this.

3. Distill your values

Read through what you wrote and highlight words or phrases that repeat or feel electric. These often point to core values—things like: freedom, creativity, connection, adventure, integrity, depth, playfulness, service, growth, simplicity.

Then, turn them into short, active statements, for example:

• “I choose freedom over fear.”
• “I create work that feels alive, not just profitable.”
• “I value meaningful connections more than performative networking.”
• “I honour my curiosity by exploring new places and ideas.”

These become the backbone of your manifesto.

4. Write your “I believe / I choose / I am” lines

Structure your manifesto in simple, write with absoluteness with and prefixed with lines such as the following. Make them simple but punchy:

• “I believe…” for your core truths
• “I choose…” for your priorities and trade-offs
• “I am” for how you intend to act

For example:

• “I believe my life is my greatest creative project.”
• “I choose paths that honour both my freedom and my wellbeing.”
• “I am building a business that supports my life, not the other way around.”

Keep it real and specific to you. If a line feels like you should because someone else would approve,” cut it. Stay away from words like “I’ll try” Try is your unconscious mind saying I will try very hard not to. Commit to it and it might make you wiggle with discomfort a little, but sometimes it needs to.

5. Claim your next chapter

Now you can add a short paragraph that names the phase you’re stepping into, e.g.:

“This is the season where I stop hiding behind busywork and start sharing my voice boldly. I am allowed to take up space, tell my stories, and build a life that feels like an adventure, not a cage.”

Think of this as a loving pep talk from your future self, written in present tense.

6. Make it visible and usable

A manifesto only works if you actually see it and use it. Here are some suggestions. Reading it every Monday before you open your laptop. Keeping a screenshot on your phone or desktop. Using it as a filter: when a decision comes up, ask, “Does this align with my manifesto?”

You can also turn key lines into:

• A section on your website or LinkedIn “About” page.
• Anchor phrases in your content.
• Personal rituals—like reading one line before you hit “publish” on anything that scares you.

Signs you especially need a manifesto right now

We can easily forget our story and just run through life not noticing and going on the wild ride of life or you can take the pilot seat and start plotting your destinations and fuel stops, if you get my drift. You’ll particularly benefit from doing this exercise if:

• You feel stuck, foggy, or low-key resentful of your current work or location.
• You’ve had success on paper but feel strangely empty or disconnected.
• You’re considering a big shift—new niche, new country, new business model.
• You keep saying yes to things that drain you because you’re scared to disappoint people.

In those moments, your manifesto becomes less of a cute idea and more of a lifeline—something that helps you remember who you are when you’re in transition and your old identity doesn’t quite fit anymore.

Using your manifesto as a nomad-entrepreneur

As an entrepreneur it can be like a wild adventure, you can drive some areas and there are lots of surprises along the way that you need to pull out the creative card. Here are a few practical ways to weave your manifesto into daily life:

• Business decisions: Before taking on a client, read your manifesto and ask, “Does working with this person support what I’ve declared here?”
• Travel choices: When choosing your next destination, check in with values like community, nature, creativity, or financial stability instead of just chasing the cheapest flight.
• Daily rhythm: Let it guide small decisions—how you start the morning, what you do when you feel overwhelmed, when you log off.

Over time, you’ll notice that your days start to feel more coherent, like they all belong to the same story, instead of a random string of tasks. Let do it together.

See you somewhere in the world or book a session with me by connecting with me on linkedIn and lets chat

By Linda A McCall – Contemporary nomad exploring what’s possible!