#31DayReset Day 9: Create a Life Map

This post is Day 9 of the 31 Days to Reset Your Life Challenge for 2011. Learn more and sign up for the program here.

Over the past few days, you’ve reflected about the current state of your life through assessing your values and actions. Now, you’ll get a chance to begin to go in-depth about your goals for each of the seven areas of your life identified in Day 2′s life assessment exercise. Today, you will create a life map.

What is a Life Map?

A life map is essentially a visual/text representation of what your ideal life looks like. It’s really and truly one of the most powerful personal development tools for both envisioning and creating a “map” for the path to your own happiness.

Last year, I made a video about how to create a life map and how the process actually led my mom to start her own “side hustle” three years ago, which has since blossomed into a profitable, full-time fitness consulting business. This is powerful stuff!

Keep in mind that your life map should be in accordance with your values and your personal mission statement. The idea is that now that you’ve got a sense of where your life is, you can begin to think more clearly about where exactly you want it to go. Ready?

Estimated Time to Complete: 60-90 minutes

Please download the Life Mapping Workbook to assist you in creating your life map. It’s a 13-page easy-to-use PDF guide to creating your own life map with colorful worksheets like the one you see above. You will want to print it out and follow the instructions inside.

Download the Life Mapping Workbook

Just to give you an idea of the end point, here’s my completed life map in a visual.

Take Action and Reflect: When you’re done, please share your life map with us in the comments! Feel free to post it in either text or picture form or both. Were there any “aha” moments you experienced as you completed this exercise? If you blogged about today’s assignment, please post the link in the comments so we can read it!
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24 comments

  1. Pingback: Review 2011: What Was the Most Valuable Lesson You Learned This Year? | Happy Black Woman | Helping Women Design Their Ideal Lives

  3. Lifestyle: Complete and total happiness. Spiritual freedom and continued growth in ministry. I plan to travel at least 2 times a year to where ever I choose to go; a definite vacation at every 6 months. The ability to shop when I choose to shop and not have to worry about bills and waiting until payday because that’s already taken care of.
    A brick house (details written) that I am making a home for myself and my family. My dream home with the needed space for work, entertaining family and friends and to live life comfortably, my house will have the room for my children to have their own space to move about and be happy.
    Fasting and praying more
    Exercising
    Having another baby

    Work: CEO of-Down But Not Defeated (my own non-profit organization)
    - Je Ne Sais Quio (catering/consulting)
    - Legal Business Consultant
    - Opening a Christian Hot Spot (working on details)
    - Putting things in place for my oldest son to write video games, design/launch his clothing and toy line
    - (in my heart) traveling and speaking on empowerment and making it over
    - (in my heart) singing
    Writing – my book
    - Plays
    - Assisting others in writing books, plays or whatever is on their hearts to write
    Education: completing my business management degree
    - Completing business law degree
    - Get certificated for catering/consulting and possibly culinary arts
    Over all continual learning through reading, computers, seminars, etc.
    Finances: Give tithes and offering freely
    - Sowing seeds freely
    - No debt
    - Great credit score
    - At least 1 year of savings (not including my checking account)
    - Shopping freely
    - Traveling freely
    Health – regular check ups
    - Losing weight
    - Eating healthier
    - Exercising more
    - Taking vitamins
    - Resting properly
    Family – family night with the kids and husband
    - Make a better effort to communicate on a regular basis
    - Visit regularly my mom and siblings that are out of town, aunts, grandmother, cousins etc.
    - Making sure the kids are getting to know each other and getting to spend time together
    Relationships – MOST IMPORTANTLY – GOD!!! Keeping HIM first about all and striving to always be close to HIM and staying in HIS will and not my own.
    - Make time to spend with my children and true friends
    - Hosting dinner parties
    - My spouse (romance, support, quality time, being friends, dating)

  5. Pingback: Think of Relationships as Experiences, Not Absolutes | Happy Black Woman | Helping Women Design Their Ideal Lives

  6. Lifestyle: Get back to traveling once a year. Make plans to relocate.
    Work: Obtain a position that allows me to help others through educating, training, counseling, mentoring
    Education: Obtain certification in a specialized area by summer 2012
    Finances: Start saving January 1 for future plans to travel and relocate
    Health: Be more disciplined in exercising. Plan it rather than do it when you feel like it.
    Family: Reach out to them more by making weekly phone calls.
    Relationships: Build on the friendships I have and create new lasting frienships with people who share the same interests as I do.

    • I love your life map. Stay focused and strong!! Good luck with the RESET!!

  7. Lifestyle:Meditate more often, apartment/condo by myself unless married then a 5 bd, 3 bath, 2 car garage house, travel more often domestic and abroad, own a car

    Work: epidemiologist for cdc, nih, or any other government agencies

    Education:gain phD., write academic articles and journals dealing with HIV/AIDS research, teach at a public health school or pharmacy school

    Finances:100% debt free, have stocks in certain companies (starbucks, apple, etc.), great credit score, college fund for each child, travel fund( family and couple)

    Health: walk/run 2 miles a day, exercise 3 times a week w/ trainer, eat less processed food and more raw veggies and fruits

    Family: family reunion/vacations with family once annually, weekly phone calls/skyping, big holiday get togethers

    Relationships: communication a MUST, supportive partner and friends, dinner parties with others

    • Lifestyle: Accepting more invitations out with friends and people I am friendly with, traveling at least twice a year whether inside or outside of the country, a 1-2 bedroom apartment by myself in a part of the city I love in 2 years, exploring a new part of my city each month, developing hobbies/skills that I have always been interested in e.g. learning to sew, enhancing my cooking skills so I can make at least two full great tasting meals from start to end (one north American and one from my homeland.)

      Work: securing a new job in my field by Fall/Winter 2012, re-engaging myself at my current job (for the time being) by committing to work with a committee on an issue that I interests me at work, volunteering with a women’s support or advocacy org in my city, ending my current volunteer activities that unfortunately after many years no longer interest me, investigate process of becoming a private consultant, educator or facilitator in my field

      Education-Research and enrolling in professional development courses, workshops and seminars that focuses on enhancing facilitation skill, program development and grant writing

      Finances- To eliminate my debt in the next 3 years, build a travel and pamper fund, to have at least 1 year worth of savings in the next few years, To save first and last months rent as well as furniture money for first solo apartment in the next 2 years, only use credit for emergency situations, to enhance my knowledge about my current (small) investment portfolio

      Health- To be active every day for at least 30 mins, to further enhance my fruit and veggie intake by incorporating new options into my food plan, to re-integrate yoga back into my routine at least 4-5 days a week, continue to maintain a gratitude section in my daily journals and my “centering” times make effort to maintain a regular and appropriate meal schedule.

      Family- Schedule one day per month of mom and me time outside of the house, begin process of exploring parenthood options for my future, make a commitment to formally discuss my life plans on a regular basis with my immediate family as some of my goals will impact their circumstances and I want them to be prepared and to support them in developing their own plans

      Relationships- Flirt with men lol (e.g. smile, make eye contact and with men who seem to be interested and don’t get shy and look away, engage in small talk when men approach me), If there are no prospects by Spring 2012 consider and research dating websites as options and speak to friends about alternative options to meet eligible men, spend at least 3 days a month in the company of friends.

      :)

      • I love how specific and concrete these goals are, and the part about flirting with men hit me like a lightning bolt. I have always gotten shy and looked away, too…if I want to get the one I want, it’s time to start choosing. Thanks for the inspiration!

  8. Just in case it’s hard to see…

    Lifestyle: More travel! (Domestic and abroad)
    Explore my city (music, food, culture, events)
    Get out of my apartment more often
    An apartment with lots of light, lots of windows, a big kitchen and a backyard + garden

    Work: Be my own boss
    Make a living from my art
    expand Mambu Badu (www.mambubadu.com) into a nonprofit

    Education: take courses in graphic design, art history, web design, Africana
    never stop learning

    Finances: 100% debt free
    3 months’ worth of savings

    Health: be more active
    therapy sessions
    be kind to self

    Family: more phone calls
    more trips home
    connect with my dad’s side of family

    Relationships: explore the city with my friends
    Romantic: spend time with various companions, not looking for A Serious Relationship

    I thought this would be difficult but once I got started, it was easy to spell out exactly how I want each portion of my life to be like. So now I’m wondering why/how I’m so off track…

  9. Pingback: #31DayReset Day 22: Plan Your Reset Project | Happy Black Woman | Personal Development for Success in Life + Business

  10. I skipped this exercise yesterday ’cause I thought, I did this already. Turns out, I hadn’t. So, after looking at the exercise again, I decided that I will be doing this each and every month.

    Life style:
    Go “OUT” (dressed to the nines, etc.) with a friend once a month.
    Have family outings with my son daily (grocery store, park, etc.)
    Do drumming/meditation group or something spiritually affirming each week.
    Choreograph dance for Sept or Oct coffee house

    Work:
    Complete planning, trainings and launch of RE
    Sign up for more shopping sites (goal: 100)
    Complete and begin sending job proposals

    Education:
    Personal: Continue Course on Jazz
    Begin readings & process for DRE certification
    Complete Gold shopping certification

    Finances:
    Take care of tax issues (at least take step one & make plan for remainder)
    Create budget/financial plan
    Read Your Money or Your Life
    Increase income from earnings
    Repair car

    Health:
    Walk 3 miles 5-days a week
    Stretch daily after walk
    Drink water
    Go to dentist

    Family:
    Spend two hours daily visiting MR
    Spend 1 hour in free-play with DSR
    Read book Emotional Incest

    Relationships:
    Go to FB daily and reach out to 2 people
    REad book on People Skills
    Practice Active Listening w/everyone that I speak with

    I believe that these are first steps to getting the life that I want. On September 15, my goal is to recreate this map for the month of October and then to continue this process regularly from now on.

    Again, thank you for creating this system. It is helping me alot.

  11. Pingback: Day 10 -Reset – Do One Thing | liftingu2dream

  14. I have completed my road map. Its interesting how I am tweaking and moving things aournd on my priority list. This exercise is giving form to the what do I need to do today question I ask every morning. This road map points the direction and gives me a base to return to when I lost in the millions of details of every day life. Ill add this to my gratitude journal as I refer to it daily.

  15. Pingback: #31DayReset Day 10: Do One Thing | Happy Black Woman | Personal Development for Success in Life + Business

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