At this point, you should be cognizant of the five aspects of a situation. Because you have also had useful practice in defining your happiness with the template PEACE and its five elements and in getting to know yourself with the template MINDSET and its seven dimensions, you are ready to observe, reflect on and understand a situation, the elements you bring to it and what you experience in it from all dimensions.
WORLD – Template Integration
Choose several different situations in order to practice these observations and reflections, and note your conclusions with respect to the 5 aspects in the template. In other words, use the template to practice using the five aspects for several situations.
To this end, use the template 4b below, which synthesizes the templates PEACE, MINDSET and WORLD.
Download the Template 4b. WORLD Integrated (.pdf, 81 Kb).
Download
Download
Template Instructions
This is the sequence for the use of the integrated template:
Let’s proceed with the sequence:
- Choose a moment in any situation, give it a name and write it at the top of the template under “Name of Situation.”
- At the bottom of the template in the semi-box entitled “PEACE,” transcribe the PEACE elements you have listed previously as your definition of happiness.
- Observe and reflect on the situation from all WORLD aspects as you have learned to do with template 4a and make notes in the corresponding spaces at the top of that template
- Observe the moment in the situation and describe your experience of it, dimension by dimension, and note the dimensions that are conducive to happiness next to the corresponding box on the right and the dimensions that are non-conducive to happiness next to the corresponding box on the left. As you do this, bear in mind your PEACE elements.
Watch the video instructions on how to fill out the Template 4b.
Transcript (.pdf, 121 Kb)3m 09s
Do this exercise several times until it becomes natural and easy.
For all the exercises with template 4b, you have used a moment of a situation in your past or your present. It can be useful to do this systematically across your life, from your birth until the present.
To this end, use the following template 4c:
Download the Template 4c. Lifechart (.pdf, 112 Kb).
Download
Download
The horizontal axis represents the various ages of your life; the vertical axis represents the degree of happiness you remember having experienced at those ages. The age axis is depicted in increments of 5 years, but you may wish to also chart at points between these increments.
For example, you may want to chart how you felt at age 7, in addition to age 5 and 10, because something important happened at that age that you wish to understand better. The happiness axis is depicted in a bipolar fashion (negative and positive) with degrees of unhappiness ranging in intensity from -1 to -5 and degrees of happiness ranging from +1 to +5. This scale is designed for the sake of simplicity in differentiating your experiences of happiness and unhappiness and their relative intensity over time.
Template Instructions
To use this chart, simply move along each age point and roughly rate it in terms of happiness or unhappiness. That will give you a preliminary sense of perspective on your experiences of happiness or unhappiness over time.
Once you have done that, you may want to indicate whether anything, such as a positive or negative “life event,” coincided with your experiences of the most intense happiness and unhappiness. Such an event may be the birth of a sibling, loss of a family member, positive or negative changes in family or work life, a major event in your community or country, etc. If this is the case, simply note the event on the chart at the corresponding rating of happiness or unhappiness at any age point.
Watch the video instructions on how to use Template 4c.
Transcript (.pdf, 124 Kb)4m 15s
Then, use template 4b to examine a life event that you have chosen for this exercise. In the template, note the specific age point, e.g. 10 years old, and name the life event in the “Name of Situation” space. Then proceed to examine that life event as you would any moment of a situation. Use the WORLD part of the template first by describing every aspect as you saw it then at that age and as you see it now in retrospect. This latter description is important because it may enable you to gain perspective on aspects of the situation, such as family dynamics and other aspects, that you would not have been able to fully understand at a much younger age.
You may also wish to add the definition of happiness you may have held at the time, if applicable, to the PEACE elements. Then carry out the observation of your personal experience at the time with the MINDSET part of the template by describing every dimension. Give each dimension careful attention, especially in formulating the notions of yourself, your parents and others in your family or the world around you. Some of these dimensions may not have been conscious then but can be understood now, with hindsight and with the use of template 4b.
Over time, the use of the two templates, 4c and 4b, in this manner, longitudinally, in relation to your experiences of happiness or of unhappiness, in relation to the events occurring, and in relation to the familial and social context at the time, could facilitate knowing yourself better. This reflection could also enable you to evidence how you may have or may continue to carry experiences and notions from the past into your present. These notions may be present, consciously or not, in your current life and be conducive or non-conducive to happiness. If they are non-conducive, they could be the subject of re-examination with the tools of step 5, as well as the subject of transformation with the tools of step 6.
After having practiced LIFECHART mapping to your satisfaction, proceed to step 5.
What Affects Your Mental Health? Tips for Knowing Your World (Case Example)
Available at the end of each step, this video series presents Dr. Jacques Bradwejn, creator of Intrinsic Practice, and Monica Taing, a program participant, as they discuss going through the program’s templates and exercises.
In these videos we summarize Step 4 of the Intrinsic Practice – KNOWING MY WORLD.
1h 05m 24s