Mind Mapping for Clarity-Two Perspectives

Two Perspectives on Mind Mapping


Dr. Janet Smith Warfield, Florida, USA and
Dr. Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India



Dr. Janet Smith Warfield’s Perspective

Mind mapping is a process that weaves together related thoughts and ideas to bring clarity and meaning into your life. You can do it in the privacy of your own home.

Set aside a time when you won’t be interrupted. Get yourself a pen and a pad of paper and write down whatever thoughts flow through your mind. If you’re struggling with a problem, begin with that. If there’s something you want to bring into your life, begin with that. Do not censor your thoughts. If you censor your thoughts, you’ll stay stuck in exactly the same thought patterns that created the problem in the first place or prevented you from moving toward what you want to do with your life. 

Remind yourself that no one except you has to see what you write. The thoughts that flow through your mind and onto your paper are for your eyes alone unless you choose to share them. When you’re finished writing, you can burn or shred the paper if you want.

Approach your writing with a sense of exploration and discovery. Don’t judge or condemn what comes out. Just step back and notice it. Mmmmmmmmmm! That’s interesting. I had no idea that thought was in my head. What message is it bringing me? What can I learn? Is it telling me something about an action step that would move me toward solving my problem or give me information about what I want to bring into my life? What meaning is it bringing? Is it adding a new piece to the puzzle I’m trying to solve?

When you notice resistance to one of the thoughts flowing through your mind, ask yourself why. Is it a thought that you were told was evil? Does it make you feel guilty? Does it bring up anger or fear? Just notice, then choose either to appreciate it for the clarity it has brought you or tuck it back down into the recesses of your mind. This may simply not be the right time to hear the message the thought is bringing.

As you allow your thoughts to spill out onto the paper, notice if you experience sudden clarity that you didn’t have before. Notice if you feel an energetic shift in your body. Which thoughts make you feel good? Which thoughts make you feel bad?  Which keep returning over and over? The thoughts that keep returning over and over are thoughts that are desperately trying to bring you a message. What are they telling you about what you need to change in your life?

Notice if your thoughts are about other people and how they should change. Notice if your thoughts are about things that happened in the past or things that may happen in the future. When you focus on what other people should think, say, or do or when you focus on the past or future, you give away your present personal power. Take your power back by keeping your mind in the present moment, trusting it, and trusting the process that is always there to support you when you are open to receiving and appreciating that support. You can call this process “God,” “Higher Power,” “Universal Energy,” or any other name you want to give it. It wants you to be joyful, prosperous, and powerful. You simply need to be willing to receive what it has to offer. The alignment you experience brings you coherence, balance, clarity, courage, understanding, and integrity. You end up trusting your gut, trusting your thoughts, trusting your intuition, and trusting your life. Your power comes from working with your own emotions, actions, thoughts, and energetic system, right here, right now, in each and every moment. By doing this, you create your own sacred space, an internal alignment with your own sense of integrity. This is the only place where you are always safe.

For more information, Watch on Youtube

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. To learn more, see www.wordsculptures.com, www.wordsculpturespublishing.com, www.janetsmithwarfield.com

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Dr Amit Nagpal's Perspective

What is a Mind Map?

A mind map is a graphical and simple way to represent ideas and concepts. It helps in structuring information, and as a result helps in better analysis, comprehension, synthesis, recall and idea generation.

Why should I Mind map?

Our brain consists of neurons and each neuron is connected to several other neurons in a web kind of structure. In a mind map also, information is structured in a non-linear way that resembles how our brain actually works. Since it is an analytical as well as artistic activity, it engages the brain in a more useful way (utilizing both left and right parts of the brain) and due to its artistic and colourful nature it is fun.

Benefits of Mind Maps

1. Taking notes in a class or meeting

2. Brainstorming and creative problem solving

3. Making plans

4. Presenting information

5. Synthesizing information

6. Time management

7. Decision making

8. Summarizing a book, article or blog post

How to Make a Mind Map

I learnt mind-mapping from Ms SadaNam Kaur, a Life Coach based in Spain. (I am doing a self leadership course which has mind mapping as part of the creativity module).

The following points need to be kept in mind while making a mind map:-

• Start the mind map in the centre of page and use the page in landscape format.

• Core topic will be in the centre and sub-topics will be in periphery.

• Topic labels should be single word as far as possible and when possible use a picture.

• The lines radiating from the centre will be thick and will become thinner as they move into the periphery (groups/branches).

• Different colours are used to make it artistic and attractive.

• Pictures are also used to make it attractive.

• It is not linear but radiant/web like

• There are no sentences, so words are used in a way which suggest sentences e.g. in the mind map below under drawing there are 3 points viz words, 1000 and picture which means a picture says a thousand words.

• As lines become thinner as they radiate towards the periphery, the word (font) also becomes smaller signifying the importance of those words in the mind map.

• The lines should be connected starting from the central image/word.

  



A Final word
According to Wilkipedia, British psychology author is considered the inventor of modern mind-mapping. Buzan argues that while "traditional" outlines force readers to scan left to right and top to bottom, readers actually tend to scan the entire page in a non-linear fashion. Buzan also uses popular assumptions about the cerebral hemispheres in order to promote the exclusive use of mind mapping over other forms of note making. The mind map continues to be used in various forms, and for various applications including learning and education (where it is taught as "mind webs", or "webbing"), planning, and in engineering diagramming.



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Dr. Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant, passionate Blogger, and Motivational Speaker based in New Delhi, India. He specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is “Enlarge as a Human Being, Excel as a Social Media Being and Evolve into a Personal Brand(ed) Being"