#71: Making Personal Manifestos with Kim Witten

Happy New Year! I propose we kick things off by creating personal manifestos that will see us through 2023 and beyond! By defining our own personal vision, mission, strategy and tactics, never again will we need to ask ourselves, ‘What should I be doing right now?’ or ‘Is this course of action right for me?’. 

I’ve invited my friend and former coach, Kim Witten, whose work focuses on strategic expert thinking, to guide us through this incredibly beneficial process. Kim is also an experienced crafter and we discuss different mental approaches to picking up new skills, and how she applies self coaching through her journey as a beginner sewer.

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Find more about Kim Witten and her coaching on her website. 

Sign up to her weekly ‘Hold That Thought’ newsletter to help you turn your overthinking into expert thinking. 

Start developing your vision with Kim’s free Vision Statement Worksheet. 

And here’s more from Kim on the differences between vision, mission, strategy and roadmap.

Outline of a manifesto (AKA plan or anything else you wish to call it!):

1. Vision - what is the world you wish to live in?
2. Mission - what it takes to create your vision, the ‘work’ to be done. 
3. Strategy - the best approach toward making good progress, how you’ll go about it.
4. Tactics/tasks/roadmap - laying out the specific tasks and activities you need to do. All of your tactics, when prioritised and placed on a timeline, will create a roadmap. 

Check Your Thread / My Manifesto:

Vision: 

A world where the impact on the environment is factored into every decision.

Mission:

• Help people make more sustainable choices by giving them information, ideas, inspiration and agency.
• By starting to sew more sustainably, it’s then possible to do lots of other things more sustainably. That these ideas and approaches can spread out into many areas of life.
• Spread the idea that living more sustainably can be fun and fulfilling, not about hand-wringing, eco-snobbery or depriving yourself.
• Check Your Thread reflects the values of a wider community of people having ideas and interesting conversations, and making things happen. Our Check Your Thread sub-community feels positive, supportive and fun.

Strategy:

• Balance between seriousness and joy, inspiration and fun
• Specific ideas and concepts are applicable to broader ways of being
• Continually making more resources that allow people to engage with ideas with content in new ways, levels
• Organic growth through genuine interactions, explorations of common goals

Tactics:

• Check Your Thread Podcast
• Instagram / Social Media
• Me Made May 
• Speaking opportunities / teaching / going on other podcasts
• Making resources

In addition to my manifesto, I outlined my values and principles:

• Limiting my contribution to climate change where possible
• The Personal is Political
• Helping to redress income inequality
• Helping to redress racial inequality
• Helping to redress homophobia
• Promoting feminist thinking
• Creating joy
• Finding a balance between living as sustainably as possible, and having a happy, fulfilling life.  

Kim’s best investment in 2022 was signing up for sewing classes at Ministry of Craft in Manchester, UK. There she learned to make this wiggle dress (image by Alison Leese at Ministry of Craft):

Next up on Kim’s sewing table is a project from Gertie Sews Vintage Casual book:

The Pietra Pants pattern by Closet Core Patterns was a game-changer for Kim, allowing her for the first time to make custom-fitting trousers that suit her stature. Her first version, made at Ministry of Craft:

For more information about Me-Made-May and how you can take part in 2023, check out this page.