Figuring out what’s bothering you
Sometimes there is so much happening in a day or week that I struggle to get to the heart of what is actually bothering me, or what I’m struggling with. It gets hard to priortise the action I need to take to help make things better. There are two “systems” I’ve stumbled across that help me figure this mess out…
Mind mapping
I take a plank sheet of paper and write the word “Me” in the middle of the page. From there I draw lines out to different parts of my life.
And off each of those I draw more lines to each think that comes to mind in that part of my life. So off Family I draw a line to Bal, my Husband, each of our kids, then a line out to my mum, dad, brothers, dogs etc. And off that comes anything (good or bad) that is going on with them. So for the kids it could be a certain thing happening with school, or with my parents it could be their health or something.
Once I’ve worked my way around I look at it and * star the areas that are causing stress or distress and then I think through things I could do to help that particular area of my life.
I’ve just found it helpful to see on one page all the things that are going on in my life - good and bad - so I can also appreciate was is going ok, or well. And during certain times in my life I’ve then priortised the action I need to take to help reduce the stress and distress. Sometimes when it rains it pours!
Values
The other system is to identify and see if you are living your values in different areas of your life.
On the image below you’ll see four parts of your life. If you need some help identifying your values, check out the blog on Discovering your values, but if you already have a good handle then you can write down the top 4, 5 or 6 values for each area.
You then put an X in each quadrant;
The centre = I am living my values.
The outside rim - I’m not living my values.
From this you’ll get a gauge of which areas are going well, and which you might be struggling with. From here you can choose to focus on one area. It doesn’t have to be the hardest area, it could be an area that feels more reasonable to help you start making positive changes.
Good luck! Hopefully one or both of these help :)