How I am using a Mind Map to Write My Book

Over the past few years I have become a lot more comfortable writing and sharing my writing with the world, hence having a blog where I can share thoughts with all of you.

I have come to the realization that I have the potential to write a book, and actually get it published.  Now, this is a very new thing to me, but I have process I am following and so far am making decent progress.

What I thought I would do over the next few months is give you a weekly update on my progress on how the book is going up until the time when I actually get it published and it is available for purchase.

So today I am going to share about how my very first step went.  The Mind Map.

I love mind mapping, I use it in my projects from time to time as a great problem solving tool particularly around the brainstorming sessions. It is a great way to be able to just get all of your thoughts on paper quickly.

If you want to watch a video I made on this topic a little while ago check out this Youtube link for mind mapping for your routine: https://youtu.be/rlYpn03ld54

Anyway, about a month ago, I sat down to start mind mapping out what would I write about if I actually committed to doing this.  I have attached a pic of the results. It was mind boggling to see all of the different thoughts that came out and onto the paper.

Did everything make it into the book? Nope. But it was a valuable exercise for me to get clear on what I really wanted to be writing about.

For those of you wondering, the main premise of the book is that it is geared toward project managers that are looking to find ways to add more work:life harmony into their work.

It has been a really interesting process to take this giant collection of ideas and then funnel it down to a succinct topic. Much like we do in projects when you are really trying to get to the root of the problem, this process helped me dig into the focus of the book.

For a long time I didn’t think I was much of a writer, much less an author of a book, but it seems like it is something that is resonating with me. I would go so far as to say that it is part of my ikigai now. 

Getting up early to read and write has started becoming a part of my morning routine that I definitely look forward to. I enjoy reading comments and interacting with all of you in my posts and seeing the conversations that happen on zoom as a result.

It has become apparent to me that it is one of the ways that I am able to stay connected and make new connections with the world around me. For that I am grateful.

This mind map was just the first step of many that I have taken over the last few weeks. Next week I will talk a little bit about the Outline process and how that was for me, so stay tuned.

#ikigai #writing #myfirstbook #publishingjourney