Introductory Reading for the Workshop
The Most Important Map of All: Knowing What You Want
So excited to have you at the workshop this Friday!
Please read the following before the workshop on Friday. It will give you some context for the conversation we’ll be having, as well as some important logistical details that will help you come prepared.
There is a downloadable Values Workbook that we will be using during the workshop. If you have the ability to download and print it out, great! Just hit the button below. If you don’t have printing capabilities, no worries! I will show you an easy way to make a handwritten version of the workbook.
What Do I Mean When I Say Values?
Values Exploration can be the single most helpful process in all of Creative Mapping; whether I’m teaching a 2-day retreat or a 12-week course, it’s the first place we always start.
Exploring your values gives you the ability to pinpoint the patterns behind what makes you happy and fulfilled and will make it easier to feel clear and confident as you make decisions in your daily life.
The word 'values' gets used a lot in many different contexts-- when I use it, I'm talking about those core needs and desires that, when fulfilled, allow you to be and feel most truly yourself.
They are the things that are most important to you. The things that are most valuable. Valuable. And when I think about it that way, it makes sense to me to call them values.
Why Map Values?
The first stage of the Creative Mapping Process is ‘Knowing What You Want,’ where we start exploring our values and needs. Lots of us have ideas about these, and many of them are usually pretty specific-- we want a better living situation, a car that won’t break down, a partner that we get along with, a job that makes us happy, a government that feels like it’s making the world better. But behind each of those specific desires is something more general, something deeper. What is it about you that makes a particular job feel right and another one wrong? What part of you is in charge of determining what qualities make you compatible with a friend or partner? What are the core guiding qualities that determine happiness and fulfillment or sadness and stress?
I once heard someone define integrity as living a life that’s in line with your values. I really like that. It reminds me that integrity can mean different things for different people in different situations.
From what I can tell, you don’t choose your values, and at the deepest level, they’ve been with you your whole life-- how they are applied can change drastically, but at the root, I know my Core Values are the same now as when I was a kid --my parents’ stories confirm this. I’ll be curious to hear if you end up noticing the same thing; so far, everyone else I’ve worked with has.
Being able to define your values is like fitting into a pair of your oldest, most comfortable shoes. It’s like remembering a song that you learned when you were a kid, forgot, then heard again, and realized you knew all along.
Values Mapping is the tool that I wish I’d had ten years ago.
And now, after several years of discovering it and honing it with every one of the hundreds of people I’ve worked with, I’m excited to bring you this workshop.
It takes a process that used to take hours of one-on-one time with me and distills it into something you can do in your PJs in less than 90 minutes.
Some Details on How We’re Doing This
A word about the format for Sunday.
There will be listening sections where I share an idea. And there will be writing prompts, where you’ll be free writing or making lists. This will be interactive so I recommend blocking off the time, and ideally finding a location where you give the workshop your full attention.
Most of the prompts are timed, and I recommend adhering to the timers. The prompts are open-ended enough that you could, in some cases, keep writing about them for a long time. The timers are meant to help you spend a focused amount of time while keeping your experience streamlined and moving forward with the group.
The main thing I want to say is that this whole course is like your rough draft, a first pass. It’s more about learning a process than ending up with a finished product.
I often find myself getting perfectionistic -- deep self-knowledge feels super important, so I want to get it right. But that’s just it -- it’s not about right and wrong; it’s about exploring and observing. So if you see yourself getting caught up with ‘am I doing it right,’ just remember that yes, if you’re doing it, you’re doing it right. Even just exploring for 5 minutes and feeling like you’re getting nowhere is giving you practice.
Materials You’ll Need
Besides the device you’re using for the call, you can do the whole course with a few pieces of paper and something to write with. I’ll include instructions in each section about how to set up each activity on a blank sheet of paper.
Optionally, it will be helpful to have at least three to eight colors (eg. colored pencils, markers, or highlighters). I recommend red, yellow, and green plus any additional colors you have/like. But you can use any colors, and if you don’t have anything to color with, we can just use the pen or pencil you’re writing with.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with Chris by email
chris [at] creativemappingproject.com
