Not long ago, I wrote about the importance of pruning regularly so, like plants, we can grow stronger, flourish and bear more fruits.
But how do you decide which branches to prune?
It's a fundamental question I've been exploring for a while now.
To understand the extension of the things on which I'm infusing energy and attention, I've created a mind map with everything I'm doing in any capacity. Seeing everything together in one map was quite revealing. It confirmed that I needed to prune a few things, but which ones?
I'm not a farmer by any means, but by reading online about pruning, it looks like I should remove:
Dead, dying, broken, or diseased branches;
Branches that double-cross others or grow inward or grow downward;
Suckers: the long shoots that grow out of the base of a tree and drain its energy.
That's a good starting point, but how do I identify those branches in my map? The idea came up yesterday while walking through the woods with my mentor. I just need to transform my map into a tree.
A tree of which I am the trunk and the branches are all the things I do, personal and professional. I can even create more than one tree. One for my work, one for my relationships and so on.
I guess I will have to ask myself questions like:
Where is this branch stemming from?
How old, thick and long is each branch?
In which direction is the branch growing?
Is it alive or dying?
What kind of shape do I want to give to my tree?
Etc.
I'll keep you updated while I draw the Tree of Me.