What is a mandala chart? Introducing the process for clarifying and achieving your goals! [With illustrations]

Do you ever feel like you can’t achieve your work or personal goals? In fact, the reason you can’t achieve your goals may not be just because you have a weak will towards your goals. In fact, it may be because you lack the elements and ideas necessary to achieve your goals.

There is a recommended method for you. That is to draw a mandala chart and then move towards achieving your goals. So, this time we will introduce what a mandala chart is, how to create it, and how to use it.

What is a mandala chart?

A mandala chart is a thinking method or framework that uses tables and diagrams similar to the “mandala” in esoteric Buddhism. It is also called “Mandarato” or “Mandala sheet”.

Mandala is said to originally mean “round thing” in Sanskrit, and refers to paintings that are visually drawn in a round shape. In many cases, the main deity is depicted in the center, and the various Buddhas and deities are depicted in detail around it. The mandala chart, which arranges multiple elements surrounding this central thing like a mandala, is used as a framework in modern times.

In recent years, it has become a hot topic after a story about a famous professional baseball player using it since his student days was introduced.

A mandala chart basically consists of nine 3 x 3 squares. Also, you may draw multiple frames of those 9 squares to form 81 squares.

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Uses of mandala chart

You may have a question here. That is, what is a mandala chart used for? Mandala charts are often used for “goal achievement” purposes.

I will explain in detail how to create it later, but with a mandala chart, first write the “goal” you want to achieve in the center of the square. Then, in the squares surrounding that goal, write and fill in the elements and ideas necessary to achieve the goal you set.

Then, it becomes clear what you need to do to achieve that goal. The bigger the goal and the further away it is from the present moment, the more overwhelming a person will feel. For example, let’s say your company is about to launch a new product. The brand awareness of the new product is low, and if you suddenly set a big sales goal of “selling 2 million units!”, you may feel that “there’s no way it will sell that many.” Furthermore, you may feel that it will take a tremendous amount of time and effort to achieve that goal, and your motivation may actually decrease as you feel that it is impossible.

However, in such cases, if you use a mandala chart, you will be able to see what specific elements and actions you need to take in order to achieve your goal of selling 2 million units. There may be many elements filled in that square, but they are finite. When a finite object is concretely visualized in front of one’s eyes, people tend to think, “If I do this, I might be able to sell 2 million units.”

In other words, by using a mandala chart, your vague thoughts will be organized and what you need to accomplish will become clearer. That’s not all. It is up to you to fill in the squares. In the process of filling it out, you will desperately think about what is necessary to achieve that goal and deepen your thinking. In the process, you may be able to use your wisdom to come up with things that you hadn’t thought of before, and you may also deepen your thinking about things that you already know.

This will increase your motivation to directly reach your goals, making it easier to take action.

Although it is a very simple framework, it has a wide range of applications and can be used in various situations such as business planning, qualification acquisition, sports, study, dieting, etc.

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Effects obtained by creating a mandala chart

There are many different effects that can be obtained by using a mandala chart. Therefore, we will introduce the effects that can be obtained by creating a mandala chart, divided into sections.

Goals become easier to achieve

As mentioned earlier, mandala charts are effective as a goal-achieving tool. By creating a mandala chart, you will be able to clarify your goals and the actions you need to take, and by increasing your motivation, you will be able to achieve your goals efficiently. In fact, there is a track record of a professional baseball player becoming a professional baseball player by using mandala charts since his student days. Knowing this gives me hope that I too can achieve my distant and big goals.

thoughts are organized

When you create a mandala chart, it becomes easier to organize your thoughts that were previously vague. If you just have a vague idea in your head of what is needed to achieve your goal, all the factors will be intertwined and you will not be able to understand it yourself. It is human nature to be unable to take action when we are in a state where we do not understand the reason. Creating a mandala chart has the effect of organizing your thoughts and making it easier to take action.

thinking deepens

It not only organizes your thoughts, but also deepens your thinking. For the mandala chart, after making 9 squares of 3 x 3, create multiple sets of 9 squares of 3 x 3. By doing so, you will be able to branch out each element and deepen it. Even if you can only think of a part of it in your head, by creating it on a mandala chart, your thoughts will be broken down into smaller parts, and when you are thinking in your head, “Is this possible?” You may come up with something you haven’t thought of yet. It is thought that this will deepen your understanding of one thing.

priorities become clear

The multiple things scattered in your head are not only difficult to organize until you write them down on paper, but also difficult to prioritize. By listing items in the squares of the mandala chart, you will be able to prioritize them while comparing them. Priorities are very important when it comes to actually taking action to achieve your goals. If you know your priorities, it will be easier to take action, and it will be easier to take action to achieve your goals, which has the advantage of making it easier to achieve your goals.

Easy to check for leaks

It is difficult for people to think without being conscious of “no omissions or duplications.” Especially if there is a leak, there is a high chance that the goal will not be achieved. This is because the lack of just one element may result in a lack of action to achieve the goal. By placing it on a mandala chart, you can see it from a bird’s-eye view, and you can also check to see if there are any omissions.

Increased amount of ideas

The desire to fill in the squares of the mandala chart may lead to ideas that you would not have thought of just in your head. Mandala charts can also be used by teams. It can also be used as a tool for team members to come up with ideas.

Goals can be shared within the team

If you create a mandala chart as a team, you will be able to share your goals, and it will strengthen the team’s unity as they work toward the same goal. Mandala charts can also be effective in projects where you are working as a team to accomplish something.

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How to draw a mandala chart

Next, we will introduce the basic method of drawing a mandala chart. Basically, all you need is a piece of paper about A4 size and a writing utensil. Please note that if the paper is too small, you will not be able to make all the squares in the mandala chart.

There are also sites on the internet that distribute empty mandala chart templates for free, so you can download them and create them on your computer, smartphone, or other digital device.

1. Draw 81 squares First, draw a total of 81 squares, 9 squares x 9 squares. You can add squares each time you fill in an item, but if you create the squares from the beginning, you will be able to draw the mandala chart more smoothly without stopping to think.

2. Decide on your goal and write it in the center square.

Once you have filled out the squares, decide on your goal, which is the main theme of the mandala chart, and write it in the center square. It is important to note that goal setting is the most important aspect of mandala charts. All items are derived from that central goal. In other words, if you set your goals incorrectly, your thinking will not progress and you will be stuck creating your mandala chart. However, it is not always possible to write appropriate goals from the beginning. There are cases where you write down somewhat abstract goals and later change them to more specific goals. If you are writing for the first time, it may be a good idea to start by writing your goals exactly as you have in mind and then change them as you go along.

The key is to be more specific about your goals.

For example, you could write something like, “Achieve twice the sales of a new product as an existing product.”

2. Fill in the 8 surrounding squares with what you associate with the goal. Next, fill in the 8 surrounding squares of that goal. Instead of filling in 80 squares all at once, first fill only the center 9 squares. Think of these central 9 squares as the basic set.

What should I enter? For example, write down what you need to do to achieve that goal. In other words, write down the things that come to mind from that goal.

For example, if the goal is to “achieve twice the sales of a new product as an existing product,” the surrounding mass

etc. are possible.

3. Fill in the 8 squares you filled out in the center of the surrounding 9 squares. After filling in the 8 squares with the 8 items related to the central goal, move those 8 items to the center of the surrounding 9 squares. Fill in. For example, write the item “Double the number of customers” in the center of the surrounding nine squares. In this way, place the remaining seven items in the center of the square.

4. Write in the 8 squares around each item what you associate with the center. Next, write in the 8 surrounding squares what you associate with each item you wrote in the center.

Write related things in the 8 squares surrounding “Double the number of customers”. for example,

etc.

In this way, fill in all 81 squares in total.

5. Check and adjust 81 squares

Once all 81 squares are filled, look objectively to see if there are any omissions or if there are other suitable items, and then create them.

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Points to remember when drawing a mandala chart

When you are actually writing a mandala chart, there will be times when you get stuck or don’t understand something. In such a case, please check the points when writing this mandala chart.

The basic rule is to fill in all 81 squares.

Basically, fill out all 81 squares in a mandala chart. However, it may be difficult to fill them all. In that case, it would be fine to make only the center 9 squares perfectly and leave the rest with holes.

Although the purpose of the mandala chart is not to fill in all 81 squares, it is thought that by filling in all of them, you will be closer to achieving your goal.

be as specific as possible

When filling in the squares, you may be a little confused about the choice of words. In such cases, choose to be as specific as possible. For example, rather than writing vague and abstract words such as “doing marketing,” you can use more specific items such as “conducting listing advertisements” and “creating web videos,” which are specific marketing methods. It becomes easier to connect to action.

If you can’t fill it, fill in the others first.

When drawing a mandala chart, there will be some squares that cannot be filled in. In that case, instead of just focusing on filling in that square, try filling in the other squares first, and you may suddenly come up with an idea about that square that you couldn’t fill. No.

change center in some cases

If you still can’t fill in the squares, it may be because the central goal is not the goal you really want to set, or it may be too abstract and vague. In some cases, you may want to consider starting over from a central goal setting.

To take action, start with the highest priority/importance.

When it comes to the stage to take action, it is important to take action from the highest priority/importance. You need to do all of the items to achieve your goals, but it’s generally difficult to start all of them at the same time. For this reason, we recommend that you rate the priorities and importance and plan to implement the items with the highest scores first.

It is better to also set due dates for each item.

Goals, of course, have a deadline. First, set when you will achieve your central goal. Then, for that date, set the time by which each of the surrounding 8 squares will be completed. This will make the action itself easier to perform.

There is no need to write the due date in the squares of the mandala chart. In order to make it easier to review later, it is a good idea to avoid writing in too much detail and create a schedule to manage it.

Disadvantages and cautions of mandala charts

As mentioned earlier, mandala charts can have a variety of effects. However, there are also drawbacks. We recommend that you check the shortcomings of mandala charts here. Let’s take a look at what can be done to fill in these shortcomings.

[Disadvantage 1] If you create a mandala chart for a business that is of low quality but difficult to notice, there is a risk involved because you will act based on that mandala chart. This is because it is difficult to notice if the quality of the mandala chart is low, such as when there are leaks or the grain size is not uniform. In other words, it is easy to become complacent. If you are setting goals for personal hobbies, there may not be much of a problem. When it comes to business, that’s not the case.

If this is your first time working on a goal, you may not necessarily be able to cover all the appropriate items because your experience level will be lower. In most cases, there will be items that are left out or that have not been scrutinized.

[Solution]

In order to solve quality problems like this, it is important to seek advice from experienced people. For example, when creating a mandala chart related to sales, it is important to incorporate success stories from experienced salespeople and carefully examine what is needed.

Also, by creating a mandala chart as a team, you will be able to prevent omissions. In order to create a mandala chart as a team, wouldn’t it be easier in this day and age to have a system that allows it to be shared digitally?

[Disadvantage 2] It is not suitable if more than 9 elements are required to achieve the goal.As mentioned earlier, in the mandala chart, first write the goal in the center, and then write the necessary elements in the 8 squares around it. As you may have noticed at this point, if a goal requires nine or more elements to achieve the central goal, it will be unattainable. Therefore, mandala charts are not suitable for goals that clearly require many elements. If there are fewer than 8, you can still use the conjugation, but if there are more than 8, you may end up not making a mandala chart.

[Solution]

If you need more than 9 elements to achieve your goal, it may be a good idea to use other tools. For example, there is something called a mind map. A mind map is a method of writing items derived from a goal or theme, connecting them with lines, and describing them like a flowchart.

It doesn’t matter how many items you add to your mind map, as long as you have enough paper. You can also use a mind map even if you have clearly less than 8, for example 3 or 4.

If a mandala chart is not suitable for your situation, you may want to try a mind map.

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Key points to successfully achieve your goals with a mandala chart

Once you have created your mandala chart, you will definitely want to use it effectively to achieve your goals. Here are some points to help you do that.

Quantify your priorities and act from the highest numerical value first.

After creating the mandala chart, take action for each item. The key is to prioritize what to do and start from there. To do this, prioritize each item numerically. If you start with the ones with the highest numbers, you will be less confused.

Create an action plan

A clear schedule setting is also key to success. It is recommended that you separately specify a schedule and action plan, such as when you want to achieve your goal, when you need to start to achieve it, and what you need to accomplish at intermediate stages. I will. The action plan table makes the mandala chart come alive.

Don’t forget to look back after taking action

The important thing is to always reflect after taking action. The items set in the mandala chart may be incomplete or incorrect. By taking action, you should be able to judge for yourself whether or not you have really contributed to the goal you set. There may be cases where the effect was less than expected, and there may be cases where it was extremely effective. By looking back, you will find it helpful the next time you create a mandala chart for a different theme, and it will also serve as a good resource for future team members who are working toward the same goal.

Difference between mandala chart and matrix method

Many people may feel that the mandala chart is similar to the matrix method in terms of filling in the squares. However, the mandala chart is different from the matrix method.

Both methods are similar in that they involve thinking by filling in cells, but the difference is that the matrix method asks questions about the positional relationships between items.

For example, suppose you create a matrix like the one shown below. In this case, the four squares will contain the items specified in this way. It makes no sense if the position changes.

The matrix method is also one of the most effective thinking methods, especially for business. We recommend that you properly understand the differences between mandala charts and the characteristics of each, and choose the appropriate thinking method.

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