I guess it was the week for manifestos on Facebook. Someone
posted a very touching and inspiring manifesto written by the late,
award-winning science-fiction writer, Octavia Butler early in her career. In it, she decisively
described how her road to success would be laid out. One could sense that she
reached an impasse in her life and yearned for something more. I felt the
passion and determination in reading that short manifesto. I am particularly
drawn to the lines that read, “This is my
life. I write bestselling novels. My novels go onto the bestseller lists…”
A few days later, someone posted another manifesto on
Facebook. This time, it was one belonging to Michael Jackson. It was something
he wrote in 1979 at 21-years of age, a manifesto shared on the CBS
news-magazine, 60-Minutes, in 2013. It
was beyond inspiring – that a man who’d achieved such a high-level of success, would
seek to reinvent himself anew as oppose to continue to build on that legacy. Again,
I could sense the passion and determination in his decidedly decisive
statements.
He wrote, “MJ will be
my new name. No more Michael Jackson. I want a whole new character, a whole new
look. I should be a totally different person. People should never think of me
as the kid who sang “ABC” or “I Want You Back.” Even more inspiring,
however, were the lines “I should be a
new, incredible singer, actor, dancer that will shock the world. I will do no
interviews. I will be magic. I will be a perfectionist, a researcher, a
trainer, a master. I will be better than every actor roped into one.”
He further wrote, “I must have the most
incredible training system. I will dig, dig, dig, until I find.” Wow! I was
absolutely amazed. And, from this manifesto, I took two things:
1.
More than just a conscious thought in Michael’s
head, this was his soul’s beckoning him to move out from the familiar into the
unknown - to make new discoveries about himself and his abilities.
2.
More than a creative imagining or inspiration,
this was the realization that with or without that creative inspiration he would be
successful at making discoveries toward achieving his goals.
So, Michael etched his desire into his heart with the indestructible
gem of his soul. Until today, I thought Michael’s success was owing mostly to
his creativity. What I learned in reading his manifesto is that he was willing
to “Dig, dig, dig…” and to “…have the most incredible training system” and that both these factors likely contributed as much (if not more) to his success than his creative ability.
So, what
the King of Pop is revealing that all of us can be great. Octavia and
Michael have given us the blueprint. For those who are willing to follow it, the components appear below:
1.
Realization – you must come to a realization
that where you are is not where your soul desires to be – that there is an
achievable perfection to which you MUST strive.
2.
Courage – you must have courage to speak the
truth; to say what the world, your family, your friends or the part of you that
enjoys its comfort zone would never want to hear.
3.
Conviction – you must do more than have a
conscious thought or make a vision board. You have to etch your desire into
your heart, with the conviction of your soul. It must become your reason for being.
4.
Determination – you must express your convictions on paper
in statements of determination.
5. Common sense – you must have common-sense
enough to know that success is not going to come knocking on your door. You will have to get up
every day, prepared to go out and work hard to attain it.
In closing, I truly believe Michael Jackson wants us to all be great. I
mean – why else would he have left us a map that leads all the way to our own
personal Forever-land?! RIP MJ!
James Will M. Power
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