Mapping as Visualization

GG and I have decided that we are going to work on vision mapping as a means of goal setting and visualization. There are different methods for mapping, but the general purpose is to help improve creativity, increase concentration and clarify thinking; it’s a strategy for organizing your visions in a way that helps them to become concrete goals and helps you to subsequently bring these goals to pass.

This is a process that can be done alone or in a group setting, so we’re going to do this vision mapping project together as a means of bringing us closer, holding each other accountable for working towards these visions and also because we have joint goals that we plan to accomplish.

We’ll be utilizing Gwen Bell’s method from a post on her website entitled “Create Your Personal Manifesto”. The steps are as follows:

1. Gather the necessary supplies. Magazines of all genres, glue, markers, pens, cardboard in all sizes, scissors, water, music, snacks.

2. Put the magazines in the middle of the room. You get an hour to cut out any image that speaks to you. Inevitably an article will catch your eye that you want to keep. That's good. Cut it out and put it to the side. Don't engage it right now. Focus on cutting out images that resonate.

3. Once the hour is up, take a break. Get some air. Drink water and then get the cardboard and paste and markers.

4. Assemble your vision map. Don't be afraid to glue things that make no sense. Pretty images, frightening images. Doesn't matter. If it speaks to you, put it on there. I've seen all sorts of maps - those with a lot of white space, those (usually my own) with so many images I run out of space and have to start pasting on the back.

5. Share with the group what you've created. Why a particular image speaks to you. What you see yourself doing over the next year, five years, ten years.

6. Have your map laminated. Refer to them during days when you don't know what you're doing with your life (we all have them).

7. Note: a good moderator will keep judgments to a minimum. Even when you share an "example map" it's good to let people know their's will look nothing like yours. They are intensely personal.

8. Note: add a photo of yourself to the map - will help you really visual yourself living this life

We’re really excited about this project because we’re both intensely visual people. Both our homes are populated with vision boards, pictures and print outs of articles, phrases or statements that have resonated with us. You will also find both our desks at work cluttered with sticky notes that serve as gentle reminders to “choose to perceive this situation with love” “make the most of my current situation” or “relish my creativity to solve problems”. Vision mapping will be an extension of what we already practice in our day-to-day lives.

We will do our best to document this process so that we can share it here on the blog. In the meantime though, we would love to hear from you! Have you created a vision map before? Was your process similar to the one above? Have you seen any of the goals you mapped come to fruition? Let us know!