The concept of mindmapping has been around for centuries. What is mindmapping? Mindmapping is visual brainstorming! If you want to read more about the concept, check out wikipedia’s definition of mindmapping – like I said, I’m going to make this easy for you!

Unbeknownst to me for years, I have been mindmapping my world since I was a child – I naturally drew boxes and lines connecting the thoughts… to me, mindmapping is elementary and very effective! This is a manual drawing of a mindmap you can see on the wikipedia reference, you can click on it to see a larger version of it:

The more sophisticated versions of mindmaps are created using mindmapping software – there are actually many ways to set your goals for 2009 using a mindmap. Here are 4!

4 Ways you can mindmap your 2009 goals:

1. You can get out your pencil crayons and create your mindmap by hand!

2. This is a link to mindmapping templates you can download and print.

3. This is a link for a software trial for FREE.

4. If you’re like me and mindmap your entire existence, Matchware is the place to go for mindmapping software. Note to self: Get an affiliate link  to Matchware one of these days! I use Openmind2. A user of the business version of Openmind2, I have applied this software in all aspects of my business – brainstorming, project management, planning, evaluation, systems, processes… everything!

Okay, I said I’d keep this simple! (I have includes some ideas for each of the categories, plus some of the actual goals I have had in my categories at one time or another. I encourage you to apply them when creating your 2009 personal and business goals – once you get started with these main categories, your creative juices will start flowing!

Here is a sample piece of one of my personal mindmaps I started for 2009. It is really teensy-tiny but if you click on it, you can see it in all it’s glory here:

Following one branch of my map, here is a sample of how I made the divisions:

1. First, I divided it into Business & Personal.
2. Following my Personal line, I next divided it into Have To’s and Want To’s
3. Following my Have To’s, I divided it into things important to me – my dogs and my home.
4. Following my Dogs line, I divided it into their Health and Training
5. Following Health, I next divided it into each of my dogs – I created one line for Billy and one line for Piper (each of them has their own health schedule to follow).

Okay, here are my 5 Tips to Creating your 2009 Goals using a mindmap:

1. Keep an open mind – the sample I gave you was the bare bones first version. In 2009, I want to walk my dogs 3x/day – pretty practical and simple. If I post my most recent version, this simple line has evolved into buying a trailer to pull, updating my passport and planning camping trips in the US this summer! The sky is the limit – maybe you want to backpack the south of France!

2. Make it a dynamic and evolving document – Oops! If you looked at the sample mindmap I created, I put Extreme Self-care under my Want To category. I have since moved it to my Have To category. As an entrepreneur neglecting my physical (and mental) health is NOT an option! Keep your mindmap document moving and changing as you journey throughout 2009 – life throws curveballs, adapt your mindmap accordingly.

3. Make it measureable – Create goals you can measure. This will allow you to review and see how you’re doing every once in a while. For example, I want to walk my dogs 3x/day – this is a goal I can measure. Seeing stagnancy in your numbers is a red flag. What’s going on? Did you take on too much? Has this goal changed? Is this goal overwheling you? Maybe this goal need to be broken down further into smaller steps?

4. Review often – Just like your business plan and marketing plan, your goals for 2009 aren’t doing you any good sitting in a drawer – in the spirit of keeping your mindmap a dynamic, evolving document – you have to examine it with a critical eye at least once in a while! I create my mindmap at the beginning of the calendar year, but it gets a major overhaul every season – spring, summer, fall and winter.

5. Have goals with purpose – If you don’t have a compelling reason why you are doing what you are doing, why are you doing it? Keep in mind all aspects of your life – emotional needs and physical needs. Walking my dogs 3x/day is simple, but there is purpose behind this measureable goal. Reasons why walk my dogs:

- it gives me a break from work during the day – I need to stretch, get fresh air, rest my eyes from the computer
- it gives my dogs a change of scenery – the house and backyard get boring, a busy & tired dog is a good dog
- we practice obedience – both my dogs love to work and when they are walking they are in working mode – that I am able to walk my dogs and they aren’t able to walk me is how I measure the state of our dog walking
- we spend quality time together, it is good for my mental health and good for theirs!

Having quantitative goals is imperative, the quality of your goals is up to you – everyone has their own agenda, what is important to me might not be important to you.

5. Keep it Simple – When you start creating your mindmap, keep it simple. When it comes to mindmapping your life as an entrepreneur, business and personal categories are all you need to get you on your way for a successful and prosperous new year!

How do you set your goals? What works for you? What doesn’t work? Let me know in the comments!

Happy goal-setting for 2009!

Carrie