Here's how to make Life Map part of your new year
Poised at the edge of a brand new year, with the days of 2014 a not so distant memory still fading behind us, there is no better time to slow down, reflect and take stock of where you are in life , the lessons learned and where it is you would like to go. Granted, there is much in life we are not in control of – the weather, other people’s actions and moods – yet the power of reflecting and planning ahead can be positive experience of taking control of one’s life if practiced appropriately.
One positive way of doing this is by the “Life Map” exercise. The “Life Map” is a great exercise for gathering a visual idea of where you’ve been, how you got there and where you may be headed.
Here’s how you do it:
Step 1 - Get a large piece of paper and lay it down horizontally. Draw a long horizontal line in the lower portion of the paper stretching from end to end. Along this line, mark 5 year increments covering your life span until now. Within those spaces, make note of all the significant events of your life (any event or happening or even an awareness of yourself that was notable) and plot it out in chronological order along this line. Once you have your significant event time-line complete you are ready to move to the top of the paper.
Step 2- In the upper portion of the paper, make note of what strikes you the most about the events below – you can acknowledge here what you can recall about your feelings , associations, supports, what helped and what didn't help corresponding to each significant event noted below. Most important, in this portion make a note of a particular life-lesson learned, re-learned or reminded from each event, this is basically your main “take away” or what was most impressionable from each event and circle that.
Step 3 – Gather your “lessons learned” or main “take-aways” from each event and compile them into a list to write on the back of the page on the left side. On the right side of the page, make another list of what you want most for yourself going forward into this new year, 5 years and 10 years ahead. If youre feeling good doing this exercise can even move out into 15 or even 20 year increments.
Taking this time to be with yourself and take inventory of yourself, allows you to get a better idea of how you make sense out of the life you have lived thus far and how you tend to approach things. Its a good key to have as a reminder of what your strengths have been and what you may need to work on within yourself. Also, after doing this exercise, you may find yourself better equipped to actually move forward in life with more clarity and self-certainty. Here's to a promising year ahead, may you find richness in your great achievements and experiences as well as in and ordinary day to day. Happy New Year Everyone!
Veronica Vaiti, LCSW-R and Amir Levine, PhD, LCSW, CASAC are psychotherapists and Co-Founders of NYC Therapy Group which provides individual, couples, family and group therapies in Riverdale, NY and Midtown Manhattan. Visit nyctherapygrp.com to learn more.