This review of My Life Map, by Kate and David Marshall, is not so much a book review as a review of a guided journal. The idea is that the journal will help you map our your life so you can make a clear plan for what you want your future to become. So by knowing where you have been, and knowing where you want to eventually be, you are much more likely to actually get there. It makes since. Setting a goal and having a path for how it is reasonable makes it much more likely to happen. If I decide right now at 33 that I want to retire and have a house on the beach in thirty years and I start tucking away money for that house, it is much more likely to happen than if in 30 years I am like, "I worked hard, Don't I get a beach house??"
The journaling begins by having you look at what shaped who you are right now. There are questions about the important overall events of your past and present. Then you have the ability to set short and long term goals for your future. When asking you to look at your future, it asks specific questions, what place do you see yourself in? What family members do you see coming and going from your life? Friends? Learning? Work? Service? Play? If doesn't just say what do you want as a broad question, it breaks it down so that huge question is a little easier to answer. You create maps for each section of your life, then you can make a larger, full life plan from these maps. It allows you to take a step back and focus on who you want to become.
For me personally, My Life Map was a little redundant, but that might possibly be because I am at a place in my life where I am constantly running and checking in on my mental life map. Being in a graduate program will do that to you. I am not stuck in the daily grind, I am actively pursuing a large life change. Because of that, I think a lot about what this will mean, how it will impact our future, where I see our family in five, ten, or twenty years. The answers for my map came easily to me, but that might just be because I am already making maps, and so this book isn't exactly for me. But it really could be helpful for people who are looking for a new direction. New graduates, people who want a career change, people who are simply not happy with where they are and have no idea where they are headed. Taking a little time to evaluate where you want to be is a great place to start in actually getting there.
We will be talking about My Life Map with the BlogHer book club for the next several weeks. Come join the conversation!
**could possibly be an overstatement.
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