How do you create a Mind Map for your career or business?
MIND MAP // How do you create a Mind Map for your career or business? 🤔 As I say in my ⭐LinkedIn for me book 📘 and in the link below,
➡️ Number one, Review. ⭕ Start in the middle of a page with a circle writing down all your non-negotiables.
➡️ Number two, Reflect. 🧠 Brain dump everything you’ve ever done or thought about doing, without editing.
➡️ Number three, Recalibrate. 🕑 Take some time out and come back a day later and circle the things that are most important to you.
➡️ Number four, Record. 💻 So now you update your LinkedIn profile with everything you’ve ever done with some of those thoughts in mind.
➡️ Number five, do some 👀 Research.
➡️ Number six, ✅ Respond to that research and make your decision.
➡️ And number seven, 🏁 Restart. Now’s the time for you to put everything into action.
You’ve now got a values-based decision-making framework, and anything that comes in, you can measure it up against that.
✅ If you need some extra help, please reach out.
#sueellson #linkedin #mindmap #career #business
Additional Information
How to choose your next job or career (this includes the Mind Map details)
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-choose-your-next-job-career-sue-ellson
How do you decide what to do next in your career or business? (selecting Values, Strengths and Context first)
https://sueellson.com/blog/how-do-you-decide-what-to-do-next-in-your-career-or-business
Following excerpt directly from the book ‘LinkedIn for me and my career or business’
3.2 Choosing Your Career Or Business
Whilst looking at your Values, Strengths and Context may be enough to determine your future direction for now, for other people, a bit more guided reflection and processing is required.
One way to start is by simply completing your LinkedIn Profile with all of the information you have up until today (even if you are only 16 and still in secondary school). If you choose to work with a Career Specialist, preparing the first draft in your own time is a fantastic first step as it gives them a good background on what you have done so far and a lot of information you can discuss, particularly if you go into detail with your tasks and achievements or impacts.
However, to build on from the first step of identifying your Values, Strengths and Context, the next stage is to explore this more visually with a Mind Map. Here’s what I did with my Mind Map in my late 20’s. It has served me ever since because it created my very own values-aligned decision-making framework.
1. Review
In the middle of the page, I drew a circle and wrote down my absolute non-negotiables. The items that no matter what, were essential to my new life. They were modest and realistic and focused on the location, workstyle, learning-style, income-style and future life-style.
I then started looking back over my working life at ALL of the things I had done and started writing them down by drawing branches off the sides of the circle.
As my career started in banking, I drew a circle at the end of the branch and expanded on the many different things I had done at the bank. I followed this up with other branches and circles related to my other voluntary roles and activities outside of work.
2. Reflect
I then started to record all of the things I had always thought would be interesting to do, without evaluation or censorship via new branches and circles. There were some wild and crazy ideas as well as sensible and logical ideas. If they came to mind, I wrote them down.
I did this until I exhausted all of the ideas in my head and heart. This is a private process for you to do and you do not need to show it to anyone else unless you would like to.
3. Recalibrate
It was now time to put the Mind Map aside until the next day and come back with a colored pen, pencil or marker and circle the items that really resonated with me.
This was a really exciting process as it showed me what I truly valued and it gave me a values-aligned decision-making framework that was right for me. It helped me create a template that could be used to assess any opportunity that appeared in the future.
4. Record
The next step was the most time consuming. I added everything that was relevant to my résumé (and later my LinkedIn Profile) so that I could showcase the most aligned achievements and tasks using as many keywords as possible that related to the work I was interested in completing.
It felt good to leave out the items that didn’t reflect my new focus and it felt even better to discuss the highlights of my career so far. This process really gave me clarity as no-one knows me better than I know myself. I also noticed that some of the items I listed were related to the tasks within a role and others were related to the people I worked with.
This highlighted that I needed a combination of tasks and people in my future. I am sure everyone can relate to the joy of working with people they like and also completing tasks that they like versus the opposite.
It also helped me reflect on the location of the work I had completed. I really enjoyed working close to home and feeling more connected to my local community.
5. Research
With this new-found clarity, I started asking various people questions and tweaked my content and started building intentional networks. I asked several different people about the options available to me.
I had to make sure that the advice I received didn’t have a hidden agenda or any form of bias. I also needed to make sure that there was genuine demand for the type of work I was interested in doing and balance that commitment with my personal life.
I will never forget talking to one woman in particular. We met for coffee and she told me she had ‘given up’ her career to raise her young children as a stay-at-home mother. Whilst she did not regret the time she had spent with her children, she was very aware that the time out of the workforce had a negative impact on her career.
She didn’t suggest not having children or working full time, she simply emphasized that it was important to maintain a professional identity and skills throughout that phase of life.
With this new information, I updated my résumé and attended relevant events with people in the industries of interest. I wasn’t sure if it would work or not, but with a clear intention, all sorts of opportunities started coming my way.
6. Respond
Now it was time to decide what I would do next. I was fortunate to attract a range of offers almost immediately and I evaluated each one according to my non-negotiables and values criteria from the Mind Map exercise.
It was exciting to say no to the opportunities that weren’t aligned and know that each time I said no, I was getting closer to my dream work. That said, I did ensure that I was still earning enough money to pay the bills and I kept my savings intact. I did some ‘work for now’ (also known as a ‘job for now’) to tide me over. This is why understanding your context is so important.
7. Restart
Once I had gone through the research and decision phase, it was time to restart and put all of my energy into my future direction. What I like most about this career direction process was that I created my own options. I didn’t need someone else to ‘tell me what to do.’ I simply created a process to follow that allowed me to work out what was right for me, with relevant input and advice from others.
The alternative is to organize a professional appointment with an independent Career Specialist (not somebody who works in a training organization and suggests you complete a new course).
Career Specialists often use additional tools, assessments and processes and ideally, if they have good referral networks, they can save you a lot of time and effort and introduce options that you may not have even known about. If they have
networks of contacts in your areas of interest, even better.
In the end, a traditional ‘career’ wasn’t the right option for me, my own enterprize was! How surprising. With a society and a family that had always encouraged me to find a job, the idea that I could do a variety of work and
be living a more aligned life was both exciting and a bit terrifying.
A lot of people disagreed with my choice. In fact, they still do despite the fact I have been doing it for over 20 years!
I am not recommending this option if you are not fully ready to take on this high level of risk because it is not for the faint-hearted. As a result of going from corporate to self-employment, I wrote the book ‘Gigsters – Any Age or Ability Employees, Experts and Entrepreneurs’ to help other people who are considering work rather than a job.
I define a Gigster as someone who uses technology to attract aligned gigs. The book includes specific tips on how to go about it, with a particular emphasis on money management (think assets and wealth rather than pay and benefits) and the joy of being your own kind of peculiar.
The above values-aligned decision-making framework and seven step career direction process is designed to help you select and seek the work (career or business) that is right for you.
I hope you find it useful. I have shared it with many career clients over the years and it has helped people attract a wide range of incredible opportunities, particularly those seeking an aligned life.
What is especially interesting is that even now, so many years later, my original Mind Map is still providing me with a values-aligned decision-making framework. That is because my own values are constant and not based on any career or business. It has allowed me to truly be me in all aspects of my life.
If you would like my professional assistance on a paid basis, please contact me directly for an appointment.
Other Recommendations
Free Webinars and Recordings
https://sueellson.com/webinars-and-recordings
There are a lot of other Publications and Presentations on my website that may be of interest to you – or check out my Poems here. I have plenty of suggestions on how to use LinkedIn for your purpose and how you can optimise your LinkedIn strategy and tactics and my books talk about this process as well. Just contact me for more assistance.
LinkedIn Online Course
You may also be interested in the course ‘LinkedIn for me and my career or business‘ which includes a copy of my book!
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