The Ripple Effect
by Mr Fables (Founder of The Encouragement Manifesto)
The trouble with quietly creating something and gently allowing it to slide into view might be that some of the folk you hope to influence don’t spot what you’re up to.
So, we’ve been thinking about how to talk a little more about The Encouragement Manifesto, without losing the humbleness of its intention.
So, this Manifesto … what’s it all about?
It is, first and foremost, a simple set of values to guide the way we pursue our ‘life well-lived’; it is a framework for the way we try to be.
The Manifesto also acts as a navigation aid to help us seek out and align with people whose lives and businesses are guided by the same values.
Since we wrote these simple ideas down in the form they have assumed, we have seen the Manifesto come to mean something to other people too.
When we invited some folk we trust, and who live and work in the way we do, to interpret the values in their own words, we left the choice of ‘principle’ to the writer. So, the collection of beautiful and meaningful words gathering in our online ‘library of positivity’ represents the stories, emotions, interpretations and ‘encouragements’ of individuals. The spirit of generosity at the heart of the Manifesto is never more clearly illustrated than in the gift of words, inspired by the values we set down.
The Manifesto is not a template. Or an instruction manual. It is not a series of steps to follow … or a shopping list. It isn’t a rallying call for folk to gather around a shared set of intentions. It isn’t a promise of what will be delivered through a platform of power or control or influence. It really is none of that.
It is a guide rail for us. It is a reminder, perhaps, of the need to give more than we take. A prompt to offer the things we have. We have time, energy, capacity and experience. We’ve worked in Corporate structures but we have also created a successful high street business focused on community, provenance and championing the talents of others.
The Manifesto neatly draws together the lessons we learned along the way; it expresses the characteristics that allowed us to bring energy, optimism and positivity to our working lives. It offers structure around which we can build a basis upon which we offer some of that to folk who need it; given freely, enthusiastically, without ‘angle’ or agenda.
The Encouragement Manifesto is way more that the 10 ‘values’ on a graphic. It is a collection of meaningful essays and articles which strike a chord with readers; it is a programme of ‘mentoring’; it is home to a couple of side projects, the latest of which offers Every Day Encouragement - words of encouragement every day for a year; it is a framework for boundless enthusiasm and limitless possibilities.
It is an encouragement to us and others.
Because …
… encouragement. It’s a superpower.
