Learning Objective
Understand the key events that have shaped your life, reflect on your personal response patterns and explore the meaning that each individual event has had on subsequent event and how they have shaped you.
Step 1
- Note the key events you feel have shaped your life, both negatively and positively.
- Record your birth on the left-edge of the paper.
- Draw a continuous line mapping your life from birth to the current day, mapping the high points with peaks and the low points with valleys.
- Write a couple of words description and your age at each of the peaks and troughs (e.g. moved city, university, graduated, parents divorced etc.)
-
Here are some questions to think about before you get started:
- What are the significant milestones/events in your life to date?
- What things have you done that you are proud of? (achievements big and small, from childhood onwards)
- What were you interested in as a child? What were your childhood passions?
- Before answering the review questions below, ask yourself, “What is needed to make my life-map more rounded and complete? What seemingly small event had a big impact on my life?” Now add these event(s) to your map.
- Please note, this exercise is meant to be complete quickly. grab a sheet of paper or use your notebook, start drawing the line and see where it takes you.
Step 2
This step is about learning about yourself and noticing what your life-map is telling you.
- Imagine your life-map belongs to someone else. How do you feel about that person when you look at the life-map?
- What values do you notice reflected in your important events?
- When/what risks did you take?
- How did you overcome obstacles?
- When/what were the best decisions for you and what impact did they have?
- When/what were the worst decisions for you and what impact did they have?
- What would you change about your life-map, if you could?
- What patterns can you recognise?
- How might you be holding onto the past?
- What beliefs (about yourself, life and/or others) were formed at each key event/milestone?
Step 3
Now, draw your life map forwards into the future to identify goals and fears. Put pen to paper, then without thinking draw your anticipated peak and trough life experiences. Add your expected age and a short two-word description, as before.