Many people see goal setting templates as a structure around which to base their planning. The great thing about these templates is that they allow you to organize your sometimes unrelated ideas. However, this may come at the cost of sacrificing a degree of imaginative and creative thinking. This article examines how mind maps can add an uplifting component to your goal setting.

The historical origins of mind mapping are debatable (see the wikipedia.org entry for background), but it has become popular in the English-speaking world in the last 30 years, partly as a result of the work of British psychologist Tony Buzan.

Mind mapping begins with a central topic word in the center of the page. As additional ideas are generated, they are added to the map in the form of keywords that branch out into related areas, primarily through associative thinking.

For example, if I write the keyword “careers” in the middle of the page and give free rein to my imagination to find words and concepts that connect, it is very easy to generate a creative flow that links careers with the company and abroad. to expatriate. Asia to Singapore.
The important thing is to let the ideas begin to flow according to the mapping guidelines of using unique and connected keywords in a nested branch structure.

As a flexible goal setting template, using mind maps has exciting potential to tap into ideas you may not have thought of when actively trying to create smart goals in a traditional linear note format. The structure still exists with the mind map itself because the use of individual keywords connected through branch lines directs the mind to see possible linking relationships, particularly when additional words are added to the paper or screen.

There has recently been an increase in the number of goal setting software packages on the market as people scramble to find online tools that help them keep track of the many important and related aspects of their careers and careers. lives.

Unfortunately, most of these products inadvertently guide their users into entering visions, mission statements, goals, and objectives as linearly constructed chunks of data. There is little room to allow the subconscious mind to help trigger related ideas.

This is where mind mapping excels. Computer-savvy people have a number of mind mapping software tools to choose from, both commercial and open source. If you opt for a software solution, I recommend that you confirm the program’s ability to export to standard linear format, eg, Microsoft Word, and also confirm its ability to import a word processing document into mind map format. The potential to combine the best of logical and analytical thinking with that of a more intuitive conceptual way of generating ideas is a very powerful personal development tool. Seize it!