Banish Goal Setting Overwhelm with Mind Maps and KIND Goals
Do you ever hit overwhelm city when it comes to goal setting? Whether that’s for a new year, a new project, or even a new month, the intimidation of all that blank space can quickly lead to feeling stuck and shut down. That’s why we are going to explore how to set goals that are KIND as well as SMART, talk about ways to use mind maps to get out of goal-setting freeze mode, and I’m going to walk you through the exact way I approach each step of the process.
Let’s Banish Planning Overwhelm Together
Hey friends! D Michele Perry here from The Wonder Habit™ Substack & Instagram. As a creativity coach, I see this issue so often with clients and as an artist, I have certainly experienced it myself. Blank pages can be intimidating as all get out. So we are going to talk about a crucial mindset shift in goal setting that can help change that.
Our Supplies
When I am mind mapping my way to tackling planning overwhelm and setting some shiny new goals, here are the supplies I use. (You can use my code DMP to get a discount on any of the supplies you pick up from Archer and Olive.)
- Archer and Olive Dot Grid Notebooks: For mind mapping I love the square format because it gives me so much space.
- Archer and Olive Calliograph Pens: I’ve used a whole range of water-based markers and these by far and away are my favorites. But don’t hesitate to start by using what you have.
- A Uni Pen or equivalent pigment ink fineliner. Pigment ink is less likely to smudge once dry when you go over it with a water-based marker or pen.
- A pencil
- A ruler or straight edge
Use my affiliate code DMP to get 10% off your order!
If you are more of a video watcher than a post reader, here is the link to the video version of this post on YouTube.
Fun Pro Tip… I’m slightly packaging obsessed. I keep all my Archer and Olive boxes and reuse them for storage. This one was perfection for holding all my Calliograph pens!
What’s SMART Goal-Setting?
If you have ever heard anything about the importance of goal setting and how to do it, you might have run into the term SMART goals.
SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
So what does this look like practically? Let’s say my goal is to “read more”.
“Read more” is a great intention. Reading more is realistic. I can do it. It is actionable. It is something I can take action on. But it is really hard to measure what more is. How will I know when the right amount of more is reached?
A SMART goal would look like: Read 3 books in 3 months.
This is specific and measurable… 3 books. It is also time-bound… 3 months.
SMART goals can help us see how close we are to the things we want to accomplish. In that regard, they are very helpful.
But I’ve noticed for me, SMART goals by themselves can also have a shadow side of provoking anxiety.
What if I didn’t reach my goal of 3 books? What would that say about me? And my mind goes spinning leaving me feeling even more stuck and overwhelmed than before. Maybe you relate?
That’s why I developed the idea of setting SMART & KIND goals.
Stopping Planning Overwhelm Starts With Creating Goals That Are Both SMART & KIND
So what’s a KIND goal?
KIND is a little acronym I created that stands for:
- Know Your Why: What gives your goal meaning? What is the bigger picture, or as I like to say, the why behind the what?
- Intentional Progress: So often I wait to celebrate until after I accomplish the whole goal. When in actuality, every small step of the journey is worthy of recognition and celebration. Now I ask myself… What small steps can I intentionally celebrate along the way?
- Nurture Curiosity: When things don’t go as planned or we hit bumps in the road, it is so easy to get in a negative headspace. But curiosity allows me to take unexpected twists and turns in stride by inviting me to lean in to learn and ask questions.
- Do it all with Compassion: I start by asking myself what is one practical thing I can do to be compassionate to myself as I am working towards my goals.
Let’s Map Out Some SMART & KIND Goals
Once we understand the type of goals that are helpful, then we can move to actually setting them.
Goal-setting starts to be top of mind for me in the fall and early winter because I start reflecting on my current year and looking ahead to what I want my next year to look like.
I’m a full-time artist, writer and creativity coach with 10 plates spinning at any given time. Day-to-day can be a lot, let alone starting to plan for a whole year. That is a ginormous amount of blank space. And it can absolutely lead down the path of planning overwhelm.
Breaking things down into life categories and mapping these out visually has been a game changer for me. One of my go-to tools is a practice called mind-mapping. Mind-mapping is a way to visually represent the connections between information so I can see it like a map.
I usually start with my big idea in the center. Then around the center I draw more circles and lines that connect them. These circles are parts of that big idea. And each circle can have its own parts and connecting lines.
Here’s what this looks like for me when I am using mind mapping to approach planning.
I put the year in the center. (You can do this for months or weeks as well.) The circles around the year are categories of goals I want to develop. Wellness, Business, Home Projects, Exploration. That last category is a challenge for me to get out of my studio and connect in real life more with the community around me in 2025.
These categories can be anything you want. Usually I have 5-7 of them. Things like: Creativity, Career/Work, Business, Family, Relationships, Wellness, Home Projects, Finances all make great options.
Then I draw a grid at the bottom where I can consider how to make these KIND goals. This process is so helpful because it does three things.
- It gets all the overwhelmed jumble out of my head and onto paper where I can see it and behind to understand how things are connected.
- It lets me visualize my year in smaller pieces as well as a whole. This removes the blank space and gives me a starting place.
- It helps me consider very specifically how I will be proactive about making my goals both SMART and KIND.
And that my friend reduces that sense of the overwhelming unknown. If you are like me, so often I want a scratch sheet I can work with these ideas before I attempt to put them in my gorgeous notebook. I also love to put reminders on my walls to keep the things I want to focus on literally in front of me.
So that's what I made for us. A printable that you can hang on your wall to remind you to set goals that are SMART and KIND. And a second page for you to play with these ideas before you put them into your planning notebook, fancy day planner, or beloved bujo.
With the help of mind maps and goal setting kindness we can say… planning overwhelm, your mischief is officially managed.
If you’ve found this article helpful, don’t forget to check out the video. And please share these resources with anyone you know who might find them helpful as well.