You can’t use an old map to explore a new world!
the cartography of life.
This blog intends to explore a journalling concept called the “Wheel of Life” — a ritual to review our life as a whole from a helicopter view and then design cartography.
Cartography is the method through which maps are studied, created and designed.
But, first …
Story-Time!
It was a welcoming spring evening, the sun was about to set leaving behind a gorgeous picturesque shade of colours in the sky for the viewers to be astonished and spellbound. Amelia was taking out some fresh berries, cheese, crackers and cold drinks from the picnic basket, while Oliver was helping with music to set the mood for the picnic. These childhood friends had finally saved sufficient money and met with a very special agenda.
It was their dream to travel all around the world and it was now, that they felt ready to take on their wanderlust journey. Amelia was super excited and started dramatically picturing and describing the adventure they were about to begin. She went “We will go see Cinque Terre in the Italian riviera and eat fresh pesto pasta with locally grown basil, we will travel to the diverse mountain ranges of India and gossip with the locals there, we will learn the art of Ikebana in Japan ….”, while Oliver was busy enjoying the picnic delicacies. Suddenly, Amelia realised she had slipped into daydreaming, she asked Oliver “Where should we start ?”. Oliver with a playful smile on his face, chewing the cheese and cracker, said
“Let’s start with a map” :D
“Maps are essential. Planning a journey without a map is like building a house without drawings.” — Mark Jenkins
This article talks about :
Part 1: Why should you use the wheel of life? - A wholesome life planning guide
Part 2: How to use the wheel of life?- A beautiful tool
Part 3: Cartography -Derive a map
Part 4: Get Creative.
Part 1: Why should you use wheel-of-life (WOL)?
When we have come on this planet to explore life as an experience, why don’t we make it a bit intentional!
Most of the time we are focused on one or at max two aspects of life, which are usually demanding our time and energy due to the urgency of the matter at hand or lack of proper planning.
This Wheel-of-life gives a chance for us to look at life, taking all different aspects into account and then prioritising as per :
- Current situations
- Emotional inclinations
- Peace of mind
Another advantage is as we have factored in :
- Career and Purpose
- Finances
- Time
- Self Love
- Emotions and Mood
- Environment
- Health
- Family
- Personal relationship
- Friend and Fun
- Spirituality and so on
You will be amazed at how blissful your mind feels as you have assurance that you are looking after yourself in a wholesome manner.
You start feeling safe with yourself and get in a better mindset to face any uncertainty.
Part 2: How to use the wheel of life?
It is the simplest and playful tool of all time.
But before we dive into to learning it one piece of friendly advice, the Goal is not to score 10/10 for every aspect. The goal is the identity how we truly feel about every aspect of life currently and how do we want to feel about it in future.
The magic lies in working towards it.
Be extremely honest with yourself while filling it up and there is no need to show it to anyone, so you do not need to worry about “what would other people say?”. You are doing it solely for yourself.
The Rules of the Tool :
- Decide all the aspects you want to cover for your life. (list of 11 shared above )
- Do not underestimate aspects like Emotions and Mood, Fun, Happy Environment and Spirituality. They are as equally important as Finances and Health.
- For each aspect rate yourself on the scale of 1(not happy)–10 (very satisfied) as per current situations
- For each aspect later rate yourself where would you like to see yourself in future on the same scale of 1 — 10. Chose a timeframe for yourself 6 months, 1 year or 5 years.
- Now you can observe the difference between the two.
See the sample below : Now, Future, Gap
I usually draw it on a paper with pencil and colourful sketch-pens but a very nice online tool is available too.
Check this out : https://wheeloflife.io/#
A sample result from this Tool
Part 3: Cartography — a map of your life
Now, that we have the GAP between current and future, it is time for the fun part. Map our future.
- Review Each section
- Identify Action points. I usually divide them into 3 sections — Gratitude, Contribute a little and Precedence.
- Write down the answers to the following questions.
Questions :
For example you have A,B,C,X,Y,Z,I,J and K aspects of life covered.
- Gratitude
I am grateful for the A, B and C sections of my life. They have worked out wonderfully well.
2. Contribute A Little
I am so glad X, Y and Z aspects of my life look so well balanced. I need to contribute a little to keep it going. List of action items that involve little effort.
3. Precedence
I can observe that as per current situations I need to give a major emphasis on I, J and K aspects of my life until a certain milestone is attained. List of action items that will take you towards your goal. Prepare for the investment of time and energy.
A word of caution, please ignore the urge of putting everything into the Precedence list. Divide all the aspects roughly equally into all 3 sections. This tool is to help feel peace of mind and not otherwise.
This activity needs to be performed quarter-yearly, half-yearly or yearly once, you decide the frequency. So that next time you can review your progress and make the new map as per the current situations at that time.
Voila !! And let the adventure begin ….
Part 4: Get Creative
You don’t need to limit yourself to only life aspects. you can customise the tool
https://wheeloflife.io/# and use it for Mapping :
- Your career — Patenting, social eminence, LinkedIn etc
- Your business
- Your Education
- Your Art related goals
Give yourself permission to be creative.
The world is your canvas!
With this, I end my view.
Hope this was helpful and hope this will give a new perspective to look at all the Life.
Wishing you a happy new beginning in advance and wishing your life fills with true joy and abundance.
Love,
Nitee
