Mission Coach Newsletter
September 2005 (Vol. 9)
Welcome to the September Mission Coach newsletter.
Last month we looked at creating a “Mission Sheet”, a sheet of paper containing your Mission Statement, goals and other writings that support your Mission. In this month’s article we look at “Distractions” – those things that stop us from living our Mission Statement and achieving our goals. In this month’s “Tool Review”, we take a look at MindManager X5 Pro mind mapping software.
And now, if I may have your attention for a few minutes we can talk about . . . distractions!
This Month's Article
Distractions
Outcomes for this Article - Define what a distraction is
- Explore ways of identifying and prioritising distractions
What is a Distraction?
A distraction is anything that stops us from living our Mission (our Life’s Purpose).
This is a huge generalisation! It’s accurate but too big to be helpful, so let’s refine it.
Distractions from living our Mission come in 2 types: - things that distract us from Being who we have declared ourselves to be in our Mission Statement[1]
- things that distract us from Doing what we need to do to achieve our goals[2]
Distractions, Distractions – an example
The best way to play with this concept is to look at an example.
Imagine you have the following Mission Statement: “I am a spiritual messenger to those people who are open to receive my message.”
This is a good Mission statement, a bit bland admittedly, but serves us as an example. It follows the guidelines for creating a Mission statement: - it states the way you are Being
- it’s big
- it’s about you
- there is no mention of what you are Doing as an “expression” of this Mission i.e. it doesn’t contain a hidden goal
Now imagine you have a Mission Sheet (please see last month’s article) on which you have written this goal: “I allow myself to write and publish my book ‘Open to Receive’ by September 21st, 2006”.
This is a well stated goal, the outcome and completion date is clear.
Writing and publishing this book is your “expression” of you Being “a spiritual messenger”, it is an expression of your Mission and the book is the “medium” or “vehicle” for this expression. To achieve the goal of completing and publishing this book you will be devoting time to writing it. Now imagine there is a major change to your circumstances; a new job, new baby, change of relationship, moving house or maybe some kind of a crisis. Whatever it is, this change is going to require your time and attention in a way you could not have anticipated. Does your way of Being (your Mission Statement - “I am a spiritual messenger . . .”) change because of a crisis or change of circumstances?
The short answer might be: “No”. A more accurate answer might be: “No, it doesn’t have to -- but it probably will”. In theory at least, whatever our circumstances, we can choose to continue to Be a “spiritual messenger”. We can choose not to be distracted from our way of Being by the crisis, or change in circumstances. In fact, a crisis may present a golden opportunity for us to demonstrate to ourselves, and the world, just how committed we are to Being the person we have stated in our Mission Statement.
Does your goal of writing and publishing the book by September 21st, 2006 change? There’s a good chance that the crisis, or change of circumstances will distract you from dedicating the time you need to achieve this goal. From this simple example we can see that being distracted from our way of Being is an option – nothing and no-one can force us to think and Be someone other than we choose to Be, regardless of circumstances.
Can our circumstances affect what we are Doing? Most definitely! Sometimes we will choose to allow ourselves to be distracted from what we are doing. Sometimes we will have no choice because the circumstance dictates a course of action. Time for a “Reality” Check!
Not all distractions are created by major changes in circumstances or crises. What about: - the “quick chat” on the phone?
- the TV program we really must see?
- the newspaper we absolutely must read?
If we accept the definition of a distraction to be: “anything that stops us from living our Mission”, in our list of distractions we should also include “the job”! Using the example of the previous Mission Statement and Mission goal; we know that (in theory at least) not even our job can stop us from Being “a spiritual messenger” but it can certainly be a severe distraction from achieving your goal: “. . . write and publish my book by Sept 21st, 2006”. In reality, your job is likely to be the biggest distraction of all because of the amount of your time and attention it requires. But let’s get real! We all have distractions and for many of us, that includes having a job. Part of the challenge of living our Mission is that we must “overlay” our Mission over our current circumstances which are often unfavourable, maybe even antagonistic to our Mission. Of course this may not apply to you!
If you have all the money you need to live your Mission.
If you have the relationships you need to support your Mission.
If you have the courage to step boldly into the unknown[3] with your Mission . . .
. . . then you have already taken care of 3 of life’s biggest Mission distractions; money, relationships and self-doubt[4]. Prioritising Distractions – Head for the Quadrants!
If we accept that distractions are inevitable, then we need a way of identifying which ones are important, and which ones are not. To do this we look to Stephen Covey’s 4 quadrants[5] below:
Q1
Important and Urgent | Q2
Important not Urgent | Q3
Not Important and Urgent | Q4
Not Important not Urgent |
These quadrants can be used to prioritise the things we are distracted by.
For example: - Watching TV (unless the program is directly related to your Mission) would be Q3, it’s not important but maybe you simply “have to see the news”. It may even be Q4 (depending on how you feel about soap operas!)
- A chat on the phone (unrelated to your Mission) could be Q1, it’s important and urgent; for example, a sick child needs to be picked up from school.
Or it could be Q3, not important but urgent; a friend calls and opens the conversation: “I’m simply bursting to tell someone what happened to me today!”.
Or Q4, not important and not urgent; a friend calls and opens the conversation “I’m bored, so I thought I would give you a call.” These are offered as an example, the priority you give to a phone call from a friend depends very much on how you feel about your friend!
- What about reading the newspaper? Q3 or Q4?
- Reading a book? If the book helps you with your Mission or it truly nourishes you in some way then it could be Q2. If it doesn’t it could be Q4.
- What about your job? If your work is not directly related to your Mission, there’s a good chance some aspects of your job will fit into each quadrant.
- What about being distracted by your kids? Most likely Q1 or Q2.
Here’s the key to prioritising distractions; almost without exception the highest priority should be given to distractions that fit into Q1 and Q2[6]. One of the reasons why living our Mission is a challenge is simply this; we have created a society “driven” by urgency and we mistake urgency for importance[7]. By using the 4 quadrants we can clearly identify what is truly important and what appears to be important because it is urgent. But let’s not get too carried away with this! The occasional “veging out” in front of the TV to watch . . . [fill in the blank] or some other rubbish is a Q2 activity! In Conclusion
Distractions are inevitable. If we are conscious of distractions we are able to prioritise them and not allow ourselves to be unnecessarily distracted by things that are not important. Finally, if God is omnipotent then nothing happens “by mistake”, everything is happening “on purpose”, including those things we may choose to call a “distraction” or even a “crisis”.
Maybe the challenge for us is to remain true to Being a living expression of our Mission whatever the distraction.
Footnotes for this Article
[1] see last July’s Mission Coach article “Putting your life on the (Written) Line – Creating a Mission Statement”. A link to the Mission Coach Newsletter Archive is at the bottom of this newsletter.
[2] see last month’s Mission Coach article “Creating a Mission Sheet” which explains Mission goals. A link to the Mission Coach Newsletter Archive is at the bottom of this newsletter.
[3] for more information on the 3 main Mission distractions, see the link at the bottom of this newsletter.
[4] see the “Mission Coaching” page on the Mission Coach web site, a link is at the bottom of this newsletter .
[5] a complete description of these quadrants and how they are used can be found in the book “7 Habits of Highly Successful People” by Stephen Covey. There is a link to Amazon at the bottom of this newsletter.
[6] almost without exception Mission related activities, quality reading, writing, meditating, exercise and playing with the kids falls into Q2. By investing time in Q2 activities we lessen Q1 distractions.
[7] Stephen Covey calls this “the clock and the compass” or going fast in the wrong direction. This Month's Tool Review
This month we take a break from books and look at some mind mapping software I have used for about 4 years now. The version in this review is MindManager X5 Pro; as I write this MindManager Pro 6 is being launched. It is possible, that with the launch of Pro 6 the version reviewed here (X5 Pro) will no longer be available (I cannot see it on the MindJet.com web site). This in no-way invalidates this review, please read on! What is Mind Mapping?
Very briefly: a “Mind Map” is a visual representation of ideas related to, and radiating from, a central topic. There are a number of resources on the web dedicated to the subject of creating mind maps so I will not cover this here. A few of these resources are listed at the bottom of this newsletter. Another reason for me not expanding on the “pure” nature of mind mapping is that I rarely use MindManager for “pure” mind mapping! Beyond “Pure” Mind Mapping
As MindManager has evolved (the latest version is 6) the features of the product have expanded far beyond that of using mind maps in the way they were originally intended to be used To give you an idea of the practical uses of this tool, I have listed below are some of the uses I put it to. With the release of MindManager 6 Pro, with its increased functionality, I expect this list to grow. A link to download a zip file containing the mind maps mentioned in this review is at the bottom of this newsletter[1]. - Capturing Ideas
If I want to “capture” an idea and put it onto paper (for example, this month’s article) I have a “process” that works for me.
1) I talk through the idea and record my thoughts[2]
2) From the recording I create a mind map
3) From the mind map I write the article / book / whatever
- Sharing ideas with other people
A mind map is a great way of presenting ideas and suggestions to other people. Mind maps are (generally!) easier to understand than written notes and more likely to be read and absorbed.
- Preparing for presentations
Much better than preparing reams of linear notes, creating a mind map is a great way of leading yourself through a presentation with a series of “prompts” and visual reminders of what to say.
- Tracking documents
I use a mind map to create links to various documents on my PC. This way I only need to go to one place to find a document.
- Learning new software
For example; I have just bought ViaVoice speech to text software. I scanned the manual for the bits I was interested in and created a mind map of the relevant information. It did not take long to do, and now I have a handy reference while I am getting to grips with the software.
- Scheduling and Weekly Planning
A mind map is a great way to plan out your week’s activities. With X5 Pro, you are able to synchronise the scheduled tasks on your mind map with Microsoft Outlook. An example of a scheduled task is included on the mind map: “MindMapMissionCoachSeptNewsletter.pdf” in the zip file you can download from the link at the bottom of this newsletter.
- Mapping Complex Procedures
Let me explain this heading with a 2 part example.
Part 1
Some time ago, I bought a book called “Novel Writing – 16 Steps to Success”. This book outlines (in some detail) the process of structuring a novel. As you can imagine the process is long, and at times complex.
By creating a set of related mind maps (i.e. there are links from one map to another) I have “distilled” the process into more manageable chunks. Examples of these maps are included in the zip file you can download from the link at the bottom of this newsletter.
Part 2
This is where mind maps really come in useful! I have created “templates”[3] for character fact lists (i.e. personality traits, likes, dislikes, mannerisms etc) and a template for the “sections” of the book. The section mind map contains details of where and when this part of the story takes place, who’s involved and what they are trying to achieve.
In the book I am writing there are 64 sections, each with its own mind map. The nifty thing is that I only need one mind map with 64 links, one to each section mind map to maintain complete control of the entire book. Examples of these maps are in the zip file you can download from the link at the bottom of this newsletter.
In Conclusion
MindManager X5 Pro is a really useful tool, you will probably end up using it in ways you could never have imagined.
The one downside of this product, in my opinion, is the cost, at £200 + VAT MindManager Pro 6 is not cheap. But even at this price, it’s worth buying. You can download a free trial version and a free Mind Map viewer too, see the links at the bottom of this newsletter. Footnotes for this Review
[1] please do not write to me to tell me these are not “real” mind maps! The intention in offering these examples is to demonstrate some practical uses of MindManager, most of which extend beyond the limitations of pure mind maps.
[2] Yes, I admit it, I talk to myself! I used to use a cassette recorder, I now have a digital recorder which I can upload the recording onto the PC. Using Windows Media Player I can play the recording back at double speed. I create the mind map while listening to the double speed playback!
[3] A template works in Mind Manager in much the same way as a template works in Microsoft Word. A template is an outline, a “starting point” for a mind map.
Links For This Edition of the Mission Coach Newsletter Links for Mission Coach and Mission Coaching
To go to the Mission Coach Home page click here:
www.mission-coach.co.uk To subscribe to the free Mission Coach monthly newsletter (if this has been forwarded to you) click here:
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Please ensure you send this email from the same email address this newsletter has been sent to. There is no need to put anything in the body of the email, just put “HTML” in the subject line. To find out more about Mission Coaching click here:
www.mission-coach.co.uk/pages/mission_coaching.asp Links for this month’s article
To go to the Mission Coach Newsletter Archive for July and August’s newsletter click here:
www.mission-coach.co.uk/pages/mission_coach_newsletter_archive.asp (if the text for this link is on 2 lines the link may not work, in which case click here: www.mission-coach.co.uk and select “Resources” then “Newsletter Archive” from the main menu. To buy “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People” by Stephen Covey from Amazon UK click here:
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684858398/selfleadershi-21 To buy “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People” by Stephen Covey from Amazon USA click here:
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743269519/missioncoach-20 For more information on the 3 main Mission distractions: money, relationships and self-doubt, click here:
www.mission-coach.co.uk/pages/mission_coaching.asp#money Links for this month’s tool review (MindManager)
To download the zip file containing the mind map examples in PDF format please do the following: To learn more about creating Mind Maps, visit these sites:
www.mind-map.com/EN/index.html
www.jcu.edu.au/studying/services/studyskills/mindmap/howto.html
www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_01.htm
Any Google search for “mind mapping” or “mind maps” will give you a list of sites. To go to the MindManager web site click here:
www.mindjet.com/
MindManager Pro 6 details and free trial version can be found here:
www.mindjet.com/uk/products/mindmanager_pro6
The free MindManager Pro 6 viewer can be found here:
www.mindjet.com/uk/products/mindmanager_viewers To contact me Paul Beeston
mailto:paul@mission-coach.co.uk
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