Documenting Structural Tension

1. Mapping Out the Potholes in the Road

When you want to map out the things you are worried will interfere with reaching your goal, try these techniques:

• On one side of a journal page, depict your current reality. What does it look or feel like? You might even label it “you are here,” like on a wayfinding map.

• Next, across the page, depict your desired outcome from accomplishing your goal. Give it its own label.

• Journal about what sorts of things usually happen to derail your progress. What are you afraid will happen? (Ideas: getting sick, getting stuck and not finishing, putting off starting, being distracted by x, falling into a destructive habit, etc.)

• Create a map of the space between where you are now and where you want to be. Sketch in or write down those potential pitfalls. It could look like a street map, a floor plan, even a child’s game board. Whatever kind of map you are drawn to is perfect.

• Now, imagine some rest stops or refueling stations along the route. They hold the ingredients necessary to remedy those pitfalls and keep you going on your journey. What are those things for you? Walks in nature? More rest? Turning off the phone? Limiting TV? Praying? Meditating? What restores your balance and keeps you in the game?