Brainstorming Essentials: Graphic Organizers Such as Mind Maps & Venn Diagrams

How useful are graphic organizers such as mind maps and Venn diagrams to brainstorming?

There are those who equate brainstorming to coming up with a series of terrific ideas that help us get something done or some problem solved, and on the levels of simplicity, there is truth to that. In some circles, the concept of brainstorming is also referred to as idea management or creative thinking.

Yet, brainstorming, especially when done in a group setting, is much more precise and organized. There are tools and techniques that have been developed to help minimize a random brainstorming approach, and instead develop it into a precise technique. These tools help an individual or a group to focus on a problem, and then very deliberately develop creative solutions to that problem.

Some of the more common tools used in the brainstorming process are graphic organizers like mind maps and Venn diagrams. These tools are most useful when the brainstorming process is being embarked upon by a group.

Chief among the brainstorming graphic organizers are the mind map and Venn Diagram. There are also the KWL tables, which although this graphic organizer is often used as a creative tool in a learning environment. The KWL Table for example is very often used by instructors KWL is an acronym for What We Know.

The mind map helps one to see how the key word radiates out from a centralized point. The mind map is a diagram that one draws by placing the key word in the center and then mapping out radially all the words, ideas, tasks or other items that are linked to that key word or key idea. It can help the brainstorming group visualize, structure, or classify the ideas. It can show how one idea feeds into another, etc.

Concept mapping is structurally different in that the key concept is placed at the top of a chart and many other concepts are added below. It can often help to stimulate learning in the sciences and other subjects. It is also used to represent the expert knowledge of teams for business or even government projects.

Then there is the Venn diagram, which has been in existence since 1880. The Venn diagram is named after its inventor, John Venn. Venn diagrams are used quite extensively in a number of fields to help show all the possible relations between groups of things. They can be used in as complex of settings as logic, statistics, set theory and probability, or as simple a setting as a brainstorming session to determine and visualize possible relationships within that specific creative problem solving arena.

As the web develops and grows, it is now possible to locate templates or research possible tools to buy or create these various graphic organizers. For example, there are a number of websites where one can download mind mapping and concept mapping charts, as well as Venn Diagram templates. It is possible to make these items on one’s own computer, but many have found the ease in downloading these various graphic organizers to be much swifter and definitely more efficient especially when you take into consideration that their primary goal is to use the mind maps and Venn diagrams in their brainstorming not have to first create those graphic organizers to that they can finally get on to the higher goal of brainstorming.

By: Stephen Watson

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MindBerry is first mind mapping app for the Blackberry platform

It was only a matter of time: A developer recently launched the first mind mapping application for the popular Blackberry line of mobile devices, called (naturally enough) MindBerry. It appears to make the most of the diminutive PDA’s screen, and leverages the handheld’s keyboard extensively to speed the completion of common tasks.

Version 1.0 of MindBerry was released on March 24th, and includes these features:

Map navigation using the trackball and number keys to move from node to node – the 2, 4, 6 and 8 keys are used for up/left/right/down navigation Scrolling of larger maps, using a combination of the ALT key and the trackball Utilizing the spacebar to fold and unfold map branches – clever! Using the Blackberry’s shortcut menu to access MindBerry’s map editing commands The ability to drag and drop map branches (using the M key to select a node and the M key again to “drop” it in its new location) Cutting and pasting of map nodes “Reflecting” a map node – moving it from the left side of the map to the right side, or vice versa The ability to customize topics with icons, colors and fonts (dialogs for each of these options are once again accessed using specific keys, such as C for the color palette and I for icons) Notes can be attached to maps

MindBerry can also import and export Freemind maps. It would be great to see compatibility with MindManager maps in a future version, since that is the mind mapping program that is most widely utilized in corporate environments. Overall, it looks like the developers have done a great job of creating a highly functional mind mapping application for the Blackberry!

source: The mindmappingsoftwareblog http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com

Get MindBerry software: http://mindberry.net



By: miberry

About the Author:

Chuck Frey is the author of The Mind Mapping Software Blog. He has written numerous articles and reviews about mind mapping software, and is widely regarded as one of the leading “gurus” of this technology.



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Mind Mapping an Easier Life With a Mind Map Template

Loving life with optimism is living with seeing more of the bright things in life. Positive reinforcement as a means of thinking can help a person look at life from a more colorful perspective. Optimism is an outlook in life with a view of the world as a positive place. In so doing, a wonderful life makes it worth loving.

Research in the sciences has shown that optimism can greatly affect not only ones way of thinking but also his or her way of life. There seems to be a lot closely associated with a positive outlook. Thinking in the positive seems to be strongly connected to one’s self-esteem. Positive thinking seems to help improve a person’s psychological and mental well-being. Thinking in the positive seems to help more people avoid becoming too affected by stress and by the problems that may come their way.

Not only that, it seems that positive thinking may also help keep the body healthy. Optimism has been linked to people with better immune systems and well-protected against certain ailments associated with stress. For some people, having a positive outlook in life can be quite challenging. But people may still be able to do it by trying to work hard on it.

One can be made to practice thinking positively over time. It is all a matter of choice really whether one wants to make optimism as a habit. One way that one may be able to start making positive thinking a habit is through positive affirmation. Affirmation is a means to try and reinforce a certain state of mind through various means. And in the case of positive affirmation, one tries to affirm certain positive beliefs and reinforcement in such the way as to influence one’s behavior as well as state of mind.

There seems to be an association between thought and action. What one thinks can actually influence what he or she will be doing. Thinking can also extend to influencing our behaviors and state of mind. This means that by trying to change one’s way of thinking, one may also be able to influence and change one’s behavior as well as outlook.

In the case of positive affirmation, people try to reinforce and establish such a state of mind through self-talk and undergoing some inner dialog with oneself. Regular positive self talk using positive affirmations can help influence a person from a subconscious level. As the subconscious gets accustomed to the positive affirmations, it is then used to influence the behavioral patterns of people as they respond and react to certain events in life. What positive affirmation does is to challenge and undermine the negative beliefs and replace them with positive ones gradually.

What is important in the process of loving life is that positive affirmations should be used as often as possible to be able to work. Its work on the subconscious level that spreads through a person’s behavioral patterns happens gradually. The positive reinforcement builds up and builds up until the mind perceives it as an inner truth and eventually is used to influence external behavior and reaction to certain situations.



By: Gary Pettit

About the Author:

http://www.ExtremeLifeMakeover.info
Live a Happy Fulfilling Life.
So far 34,248 Cusomers Using ExtremeLifeMakeover.info
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Map Your Time and Make Your Life Work

For women starting a small business — especially women who have a zillion other things to do like tend to children and home and partner — how you map your time is going to mean the difference between sanity and serenity or guilt and go nuts.

I feel like a phony as I write this. After all, I am no one to talk about time mapping or management as I still am in “respond to crises as they come” mode.

However, I have recently been introduced to Julie Morgenstern’s Time Management from the Inside Out, second edition: The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule–and Your Life. What I’ve gotten from this book is a new system and approach to time.

First of all, time is not to be “managed” nor “saved” nor even “spent.” Time just is. And it is our experience of it that creates problems! So I have adopted Julie’s time mapping concept and now have a general map of the day/week on the wall behind my desk. At any given time I can look up at the current time slot to see what kinds of activities I said I should be doing at this time. If it’s 7:45 a.m., for example, I’m going to be having family time with my 3-1/2 year old son, my 9-month old and my husband.

At around 9:30 a.m. my work hours begin. I will work consistently until it is again family time around 12:30. My son and I will enjoy lunch together and perhaps read a book and snuggle in for an afternoon nap.

Mind you, I cannot always abide by the map I’ve created for myself. It is evolving, a work-in-progress. But what I see as possible with this new approach to my business/personal life, is that while I’m with my children, I’m not feeling resentful or anxious that I haven’t gotten to my work. And while I’m doing my work, I’m not feeling guilty or frustrated that I can’t spend time with my children.

This alone is the first major breakthrough I’m experiencing because I had gotten to a point where my day was pretty much joyless because of all the angst. Now I know there is a time allotted for each activity and I can take a stand for each.

I can also see clearly where I have given minimal amount of time for myself — allowing myself some leisure, reading a book, taking a nap, watching Dr. Phil or getting a pedicure. Whatever it is. While I’ve built a sliver of self time into my week, I can now see — visually — where there could be more.

FYI, I used a simple Excel spreadsheet to create this map. I used color formatting for the different cells to code the activities.

This week I’m also having a breakthrough in fun and leisure. I’m taking off one day to take my son to Sesame Place. I have — unbelievably — absolutely no guilt or anxiety over the fact that I won’t be getting any work done that day. Pretty unbelievable. I give credit to my time map as I can see where there is plenty of work time scheduled in this week and I will get to it.

I’m also thinking in terms of “dancing close to the revenue line,” another concept Morgenstern discusses in her book Never Check E-Mail In the Morning: And Other Unexpected Strategies for Making Your Work Life Work. Many successful entrepreneurs talk about this idea of putting your money-making activities first.

We are all so prone to getting into our email and the daily minutiae and wrapping up of loose ends, the real “meat” of our business often gets squeezed into the next time slot, and the next and the next.

Julie talks about doing the top revenue-boosting thing before 10 a.m. in the morning. That way, if your whole day goes to pot, you will be sustained by that productive and effective spurt you had first thing in the morning.

And after all, the reason we’re in business for ourselves is to enjoy our lives and experience freedom on a daily basis. Now then, I’m off to enjoy my life!



By: Kennerly Clay

About the Author:

After multiple layoffs Kennerly launched her first business in 2001, determined to decide for herself when she would go to work each day, how much vacation she would get and how much money she would make. She now helps others recognize the entrepreneur within and launch their own home businesses. Read her personal advice and tips here.



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Study Tips — Using Mind Maps

If you are a college student, you have to make notes when you are attending lectures or studying at the end of the day. You latter use those notes to study for your exam at the end of the semester. This can be tedious and often counterproductive. How often do you take notes and never look at them again or find that they are incomplete.

You may have thought there must be a better way take notes. Is there a method that will work better than than my current technique?

There is probably no one way of note taking that works best for everyone in all classes, since people all have their own learning style.

The big issue with conventional note taking is that this is a passive process. Simply taking notes during class does not get the brain to interact with the material and store the information. When your brain is more actively involved in organizing the learning material it will recall it better later.

If you are a strong visual learner, one thing that you can benefit from is making notes that include lots of images, such as graphs, drawings, or even cartoons. If you are a lousy writer and more of an auditory learner than a visual one, tape recording your lectures may be the way to go.

For highly visual learners a particular method of note taking is called mind-mapping. Sometimes referred to as a learning map.

Although it takes some exercise and training to utilize mind-mapping effectively, people who become efficient at it find they can retain and remember more material in a lot less time.

The technique of the learning-map is very simple. The supplies you need include: a blank piece of paper, the larger the better, at least one pen, more if you want to use a variety of colors.

A mind map can become quite busy as you add your notes to it, so it is important to keep the size of your writing quite small. A fine point pen can help with this. Over time you will be able to judge what size of writing will work best.

Determine what you think the central theme is as you listen to the lecturer, or as you read the textbook you are studying. For example, you might be reading about the Great Depression where you decide the main topic is , “What was the new deal?” .

Write down the main topic in the center of the page and circle it. You may also want to highlight your central topic. Do not write formally. Just write down a sentence or a fragment, whatever it takes to bring the ideas back into your mind.

Continue reading or listening, and paying attention for the first main sub-topic.

When the first major sub-topic presents itself, write down a few key words on the page to summarize the sub-topic. Circle the the words you just wrote down. Connect the sub-topic with the main topic by drawing a line.

Repeat this every time you come across a new sub topic. Eventually it will start resembling a wagon wheel, with the main topic surrounded by sub-topics.

Remember this is not an art project, the lines or spokes do not have to be straight or perfect, and they can vary in length as needed. The circles do not have to be round; they can be oval, triangles, or squiggles, or even hearts if you prefer. Different colors may help you organize the thoughts more completely.

As the lecture continues, you will find that some of the material being covered includes details that support one of the sub topics that you have all ready isolated. Using just a few words, write down these second generation topics, put a circle around them and connect them to their sub topic with a line. It is best to use a different color pen for each sub topic.

As the lecture progresses and the instructor expands on her ideas your sub-topics will have many second generation topics surrounding it. When you look at your paper you will instantly know the dominant themes of the lecture and the organizational structure of the topic.

Do not be afraid to write down any ideas or even questions of your own while listening to the talk.

This shows you have your brain actively interacting with the material and will remind you of where further study is needed.

The visual document that is created through the mind mapping technique differs a lot from classical note taking methods.

People who learn very well visually will love mind mapping; people that do not learn visually tend to find mind maps a waste of time. What kind of learner are you?



By: Gene Grzywacz

About the Author:
Gene Grzywacz write about college study skills, how to become a nurse and other college tips including essay writing, scholarships and time management.



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Oh! Mind Rest Please

1. Continue efforts in case of failures till you get success.

(a.) Ant and its philosophy:

(i) Whatever obstacles are placed in front of ant, either it goes around under it or above it.

(ii) Ant never quits and it is focused on its goals.

(iii) When it is summer, it plans for winter i.e. it has tremendous planning ability.

(iv) Commitment to do its best.

(v) Team is together empowering to achieve more.

(vi) Humility is strength not weakness.

(vii) Team and team intelligence.

(viii) Communication chain – move in chain.

2. Failures to be treated as learning experience.

3. (a) O God! Give me the strength to change what I ought to change.

(b) Give me the courage to accept what I can not change.

(c) Give me the serenity to know the difference.

4. There is absolutely no need for an external peaceful atmosphere for one to pray or meditate, it is possible to pray without mantras and shlokas provided one has peace within.

5. Contemplation:

(a) the most intelligent of all is a person who refuses to profit from his miseries.

(b) You can not demystify the mystery of life

(c) Kindly follow the traditions.

(d) I do not dance because I am happy, I am happy because I dance.

(e) Prayer is not to lighten your burden but to strengthen your back

(f) Fear is similar to darkness, absence of love is fear.

(g) Plan for your future, there is no harm in that but your fear about the future would only ruin your happiness.

(h) Life is a series of examinations, we need to pass them with flying colours; this is the gift we can offer to god.

6. Greed is one of the sources of unhappiness. If we allow it to expand unreasonably,

Then joy or peace of mind would be casualty. Happiness and satisfaction are within us. Water poured into a cracked pot will not remain in it; similarly people without contentment can not be happy. Think for a while! Is there any difference between the dog biting the dry bone and those human beings gaining pleasure from cigarettes and alcohol.

7. The joy and happiness are not outside us but within us. Story of a rich man not having peace placed all his wealth at the feet of a yogi. The yogi ran away and the person thought he had been cheated, so he ran behind the yogi and ultimately got hold of him. The yogi returned the wealth. The person was very happy. With the same wealth he was unhappy and now with the same he was happy.

8. The kingdom of Heaven is within you, do not get lost in the trivial aspects of life.

9. Unhappy mind often gives small things a big shadow. Therefore, do not miss seeing the bigger gifts of life.

10. Life is like a lock and understanding is like a key. Let alertness be your inner guide and not tension. Be alert and attentive to what a man is and not to what he has been. If you are tense, you are wrong. If you are joyful, you are right.

11. Knowledge is often a mask we wear to hide our ignorance. Let us open wide the window of wisdom. A house full of fowls and animals was all stinking. The husband complained to the swami. The swami told to open the windows but that will allow pigeons to fly away. So to save the pigeons, we do not open the windows of wisdom and continue to suffer of stinking.

12. Treat each experience as a unique experience. In this wordless experience, you start relaxing. Then you will find your life not being a series of vacuum or emotional dungeons.

13. Do not complain too much. The wheel that squeaks the loudest is the one that gets replaced often. Depression, fear, anger, disgust are generated by our thoughts and the thoughts are where we allow the words to flow freely without moving our lips or tongue thoughts take place. We should not make negative statements such as “It is so boring “, “I’m so tired, “I feel so bad, etc. Buddha went for alms but the house lady rebuked. He did not mind as “he did not accept those words”. Never call yourself a failure.

14. Most of us are lazier in mind than in body.

15. Whenever ugly heads are raised by depression, low self esteem etc. It is a good idea to boost ourselves telling, “I am born to be successful”; “I am a great achiever”. Call “Rama”,”Rama”, when bad thoughts come. Heart attack patient comes to doctor and talks about lottery. He tells the doctor that in case he got a lottery for four laws, he shall give one to him. On hearing this, the doctor got heart attack.

16. A king tells a sage that he had vast wealth and kingdom but still was not happy. The sage told him that “He will be happy when I die”. The king readied himself to kill him. The sage told him “I” does not mean “He”, but “I” means ego i.e. “Iness”. So petty egos hide the vast happiness of heart.

17. Do not be trapped in the tradition of “ego” but purify it. Attitude of egoless ness creates attitude of joy. Executives who are very busy in office are chided by wife for sitting late hours in office. He asks swami the way out. Swami told that one executive came from office early and his wife complained that he was always around. So it is not quantity of time spent with wife but quality. So if you speak for ten minutes with love that should be enough.

18. Ego is edging lead out. A shallow man is one who is full of oneself. Transform ego into prayer.

19. There are two types of boring people – those who talk too much and those who listen too less. “We know every thing “philosophy”. Hawker selling fans for life. Raja asks for one but it got broken in a day. Raja called him but the hawker told that it should have been placed at one place and face moved around it. That way it would have lasted for life

20. We create maps and want people to fit into our maps. We are experts in justifying our follies.

21. God creates opportunities but expects us to search for them.

22. We face problems in life and get disturbed but if we are opportunistic, we should take problems as opportunities. A journalist was sent to cover independence celebrations on a vessel but the journalist returned without any coverage. When other journalist asked why he was not preparing any report, he told that there was some trouble in the ship, so there was no celebration. The other journalist ran to the ship and made out a report after checking out the reason for the trouble and it made a good report.

23. You know the art of destroying. I know the art of joining. Many view even a small matter through a magnifying glass and get terrified. A lady worked up with her son not listening to her and got afraid if she shall marry him with the girl of his choice. The marriage of the son was far away and she had fear of the marriage and not to the listening at that time. Do not consider the problem as punishment; take it as a challenge and you will feel energized. A palace was put for sale and 10% of proceeds were to go for charitable cause. The palace was likely to fetch high value. So the owner was not prepared to give so much for donation. He therefore devised a method. He put the palace and a cat for sale and told that the price of palace was one thousand rupees and that of the cat one million rupees and that the two shall have to be bought together. This way he donated one hundred rupees (10% of the sale price of palace). Therefore prayer is not a demand draft. The divine honors no drafts when there are no deposits. So let there be a

Deposit first and that too of gratitude in your prayer.

24. Anger: There can be so many reasons for getting angry. When we deem ourselves to be inferior. There is a reaction and it shows up as anger. There is neither hell nor heaven. Hell or heaven is states of mind only. Reactive mind is hell and responsive mind is heaven.

25. Marriage is a commitment to change each other’s habit for better living. Mental hospital case where one patient standing upside down had been calling Laila! Laila! A visitor asked him why he had been crying. He was told that he wished to be married with Laila but could not. So he has been crying for her. The visitor then saw another patient too crying Laila! Laila! On asking for reason he was told that he had by force been married with Laila and is not happy with her. So he is crying. The major trouble in married life occurs when couple begins with a firm resolve that they should have no difference of opinion whatsoever. But when differences arise they are not able to compromise due to ego and no compassion.

26. Do not worry about the future. We are manipulative but we ourselves are not aware pf our manipulations. Today is tomorrow of yesterday. One should not worry for the past or the future. Worry about the present only.

27. This moment, this minute is absolute. What is inseparable wealth in our life, the reply is this minute, this moment. Be alive to the present and stay clear. No one can climb a mountain just by gazing at it. One has to act only.

28. Male or female, old or young, there is great power within each one of us. On a son’s birthday in Italy, a football match was arranged. The two teams were fighting for the ball. The son told to give one more ball and each team shall have a ball and no more fighting. Rather than enjoying what one had, he cribs for what he does not have. Humanity’s favorite sport is search for happiness. So search for it wisely. Mullah returns from work. The wife finding a long hair on his coat fights that he had been with a lady. Next day again she finds a white hair and fights that he had been with an old lady. Third day he saw to it that there was no hair. Then the wife fought saying that he had been with a bald lady.

29. Treat problems as challenges and have fun with life. Many people have faith in their doubts and doubt in their faiths. An enlightened man is never confused by what he can not understand but a fool is sure to be. Making SIX from NINE by a single line.

30. Each one has his own perception. Woodcutter’s wife goes across the river to meet a grocer after fighting with her husband. She is eaten by a cheetah. Who is responsible!

31. Most of us constantly think as to what we can get from others and we rarely contemplate what we can give to others. God once came to earth. Everyone begged for one thing or the other. God went inside the mankind as he could not satisfy all. So even God cannot meet everybody’s demands. To know and not act on what you know is equal to not knowing at all. Taking a cup of tea with great sense of prayer and gratitude. Discover the power of gratitude and existence will comfort you. Value the power of gratitude. Let it be your mantra or inner song then you will grow and not just swell.

32. Failure is a fertilizer for success. Learn from failures. Failure in life is one who lives and fails to learn. A shoe company sends a man to find out potential of shoes selling in an African country. He came and said there was no scope as every one lived bare-footed. The owner said there was a great potential as every one walked bare-footed, so all will need shoes. .

33. Contemplation:

(a) Fear not tomorrow, God, the almighty is already there.

(b) Be thankful if your work is little harder than you want as you will get used to harder work. A knife can not be sharpened on a piece of velvet.

(c) Be grateful for what you have and not sad for what you do not have.

(d) Be a possibility thinker.

(e) If you do not plan, you will perish.

“Fresh fish sold here” was a sign board. All our problems are like the signboard of the fisherman. Once we learn to view the problem in right perspective, our problem will disappear. In order to face problems what we need is ‘objective vision’ and in order to see something, we need awareness.

34. Think of doubt as an invitation welcoming you to think. Man loves objects and uses people instead of loving people and using objects.

35. Lord Krishna has expounded in Gita ‘Learn to view equally both sorrow and joy; be open to joy; be open to sorrow. Try to learn from both – clarity will emerge. This clarity will bring you bliss.

36. An untrained mind creates its own problems of unhappiness. Misidentify with an unhappy mind and treasure your experiences. The past should only tutor us and not torture us. Very few people live; most of us are committing suicide by unwisely desiring. Hope for the best and accept the worst. Joy is not the absence of problems. There are certain flowers which will not yield their fragrance until they are crushed.

37. There are joys and distresses in our lives. Remember joys and forget distresses. On a birthday of house lady, everyone gave presents. Her husband gave a beautiful saree. She was very happy. Went to temple, where she got the sari spoiled with lamp oil. She forgot all joys and distressed with sari having been spoiled.

38. Drishti, shrishti and vadaa. Our thoughts affect our body. A man after getting ready went to office. Every one on way and in office asked why he appeared tired. He actually fell sick. We must consider that our happiness is more important than our beliefs.

39. (A) Better be with enlightened people in prison than fools in paradise.

(b) Education means destroying the problematic mind and not stuffing the memory.

(c) Imagination is more important than knowledge.

(d) Imagination, inspiration and commitment to excel is the mother of creativity.

There is a negative belief in us. We have to kill that and try to be positive.

40. (A) Acting on a good idea is better than having a good idea.

(b) The most difficult things to open are a closed mind and heart.

41. People lie down and slumber all the time saying that every thing is so boring. During holidays, students sitting idle at home say it is boring. English, Arab and Indian found a piece of cake. They decided to put it in a container and sleep deciding that whoever gets the best dream could have the cake. Next day Englishman said he saw God, who took him to a garden and showed a lot of wonderful things. Arab said God appeared in his dream too but he took God to his garden and showed him Arabian magic. Indian said God appeared in his dream too. He looked at him and said “You such a fool having cake and still dreaming. First go at once and eat the cake.” So he ate the cake as he could not disobey God. Hearing this, the other two were baffled. They opened the container and found the cake missing. “Whichever activity provides us with great joy, we should never postpone doing it”. Learn to enjoy little things as there are many of them rather than wasting time to have the big things only.

42. For every problem we say Oh! God, “My wife is not good changing her character”. “My children are not O.K. and so on. So we continuously keep nagging God to change others around us but do not change ourselves. Do not postpone being happy. Our prayers are so often mechanical.

43. Life lived happily is the measure of a successful life. Discover the treasure of happiness within. Happiness is the result of not investing in misery.

44. The worst boss anyone can have is a bad habit. Habits are either the best of servants or the worst of masters. Develop a habit of being happy and pure. A rabbit to be delivered to a lady ran away. Rather than catching the rabbit, the servant stood quietly. Other people asked him to catch the rabbit but he said where should the rabbit go, he had the address safe with him. Therefore, do not get satisfaction with address and allow the rabbit to run away. Being foolish is a great punishment. An employee was not well. His colleagues suggested that it was already three o’clock and the manager will not return. He went to his home and saw boss’s car parked outside his home. He stealthily went inside his house and saw the manager in bed with his wife. He returned to office unnoticed and told that he escaped from being caught. Now who caught whom? If one is foolish, look what price he has to pay for it. It is not enough to collect degrees from universities, one should also be intelligent.

Be a winnower and not the sieve. The sieve allows good stuff to pass through pores while retaining the waste and the winnower discards the stones and chaff and retains the good grains.

Enjoy yourself and enjoy today. Do not waste time by grieving over a bad yesterday. Who knows tomorrow may not be as good as today.

By: D D AGARWAL

About the Author:

D D AGARWAL

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Mind Mapping: an Example How-to Guide

Mind mapping is a breakthrough concept wherein you will use the properties of association to come up with a drawing, map, or illustration of the ideas lodged in your brain about a particular topic.

Sounds confusing? Actually, mind mapping is a lot easier than what you think. This is because this technique or concept follows the natural workings of the brain – which associates one word with another word to have a clear picture of the overall idea.

For example, if you say technology, there are several things that will instantly come to your mind. This central theme can branch out to the Internet, gadgets, mobile devices, telecommunications – the list is practically endless. Thus, mind mapping will give you more leeway when it comes to freedom of expression in the sense that one keyword is not just limited to one sub-topic, but it can branch out to several sub-topics. This will help you easily remember and understand the main concept which is represented by one word.

To have a deeper understanding of the process of mind mapping, take a look at the following example and how-to guide:



On a piece of paper, write down the central idea or the main theme of the topic that you want to tackle. Enclose it in a box or circle.





From this main word, what other words can you associate with it? Take the aforementioned example which is technology. How many branches of technology are there? From the circle of box that you have drawn in the middle of the paper, draw branches or curved arrows surrounding the main theme and connect them all together.





If you can think of other sub-topics under the branches of technology, place another batch of boxes or circles to represent these sub-topics.





Let all your ideas branch out until you are satisfied with the results and you have exhausted all the possibilities.



The resulting illustration will be the result of your mind mapping. Now, isn’t this easier than making copious and detailed notes about the branches of technology and all the other sub-topics under it.

You will surely remember this map by heart because you are the one who made it – which is a plus factor, aside from the fact that visual maps are easier to remember than attempting to memorize pages of lists.

There are also mind mapping software available for you, since a lot of people find the process so useful and time-saving. No matter which method of mind mapping you choose, be it using a mind mapping software or through the traditional pen and paper – the important thing is that you can enjoy the benefits of living up to your brain’s potential by making use of this ingenious mind mapping technique.

Put your mind on overdrive:  “The Power of Mind Mapping”

http://mindmapping.pan100.net/?e=kevin121554@yahoo.com



By: Kevin Hensey

About the Author:

Kevin Hensey speaks at business clubs and prisons on personal growth. He has written articles regarding personal development.
His website is:
www-powerbooks.com



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