Challenge:

I was introduced to mind mapping through a mentor who challenged his employees to 'think different'.  When we met to work on a business problem one of the first things he would do is draw/doodle/map  what he knew and input from the meeting on a white board. I have also been part of mind mapping  exercises at sustainability conferences and in market research. Right now I am laid off late in my career  and looking for change towards doing something I will find interesting as well as provide a more  balanced lifestyle.

Selection:

So naturally the tool I selected is mind mapping. My intent was to think freely about what is important  to me combined with what I like to do within some type of goal framing to prepare for possible  execution of the idea.

Application:

First to prepare I read some books and articles. There was one from Fortune magazine with advice from  Warren Buffet about focusing on few things and prioritizing one goal in order to be successful. A  professor recommended the Marshall Goldsmith book Mojo. Also I was working with an outplacement  service to modernize my resume, practice elevator speeches and interview with recruiters to polish self  promotion skills.

While this was going on I set aside some quite time to mind map my immediate future. To think about  what I want life to be like combined with what I was learning. I took a large piece of paper and put 'Ashley  2015' in the middle. From there I thought about major areas of interest and spidered them out. The  areas I wound up with are: People, Health, Finances, Home. Each of these encompassed a few more  areas in detail so I kept spidering until I felt I had no more ideas to add to it.

Insight:

After leaving it alone for a day I sat down to review it. Overall I like having the visual to easily be able to  focus on how this years goals provide direction for the future. I found alignment in some of the items  and started drawing dotted lines between them. For example, journaling daily aligns with writing Linked  In posts and to my goal of writing a book about analytics.

Approach:

Mind mapping for goal planning is something that can be repeated as needed. There are apps for it that  I have used previously but I like just drawing it out with a pen and paper. It helps me keep focus on the  ideas rather than the technology. I don't think I would use a different tool. Rather I feel I would like to  continue applying mind mapping on this and other projects.


Challenge : I was introduced to mind mapping through a mentor who challenged his employees to ' think different ' . When we met to work on a business problem one of the first things he would do is draw / doodle / map what he knew and input from the meeting on a white board . I have also been part of mind mapping exercises at sustainability conferences and in market research . Right now I am laid off late in my career and looking for change towards doing something I will find interesting as well as provide a more balanced lifestyle . Selection : So naturally the tool I selected is mind mapping . My intent was to think freely about what is important to me combined with what I like to do within some type of goal framing to prepare for possible execution of the idea . Application : First to prepare I read some books and articles . There was one from Fortune magazine with advice from Warren Buffet about focusing on few things and prioritizing one goal in order to be successful . A professor recommended the Marshall Goldsmith book Mojo . Also I was working with an outplacement service to modernize my resume , practice elevator speeches and interview with recruiters to polish self promotion skills . While this was going on I set aside some quite time to mind map my immediate future . To think about what I want life to be like combined with what I was learning . I took a large piece of paper and put ' Ashley 2015 ' in the middle . From there I thought about major areas of interest and spidered them out . The areas I wound up with are : People , Health , Finances , Home . Each of these encompassed a few more areas in detail so I kept spidering until I felt I had no more ideas to add to it . Insight : After leaving it alone for a day I sat down to review it . Overall I like having the visual to easily be able to focus on how this years goals provide direction for the future . I found alignment in some of the items and started drawing dotted lines between them . For example , journaling daily aligns with writing Linked In posts and to my goal of writing a book about analytics . Approach : Mind mapping for goal planning is something that can be repeated as needed . There are apps for it that I have used previously but I like just drawing it out with a pen and paper . It helps me keep focus on the ideas rather than the technology . I do n't think I would use a different tool . Rather I feel I would like to continue applying mind mapping on this and other projects .