The Manifesto
We unflinchingly look chaos in the eye.
We dare to think outside the confines of conventional siloed thinking.
We find a deep joy in connecting the dots, transforming them into epiphanies.
We are unsatisfied with mere consumption, instead yearning to create with every facet of who we are, every talent, every unique perspective, everything we see, hear, and feel.
We know that keeping these rich experiences within ourselves makes us poor, that sharing them empowers us and makes us part of a greater whole.
We are ambitious and inquisitive in our external lives, sensitive and generous in our personal lives, constantly seeking to combine the two into a third, more meaningful path.
Together we bravely face this chaotic world with eyes wide open.
The blue mind map represents solidity, structure and internal order. There are four nodes radiating from the center for balance and simplicity. The yellow painted circle represents ephemerality, spontaneity and external chaos. It isn’t fully closed because the possibilities and most creative ideas exist in open ended chaos.
In March 2020, a once-in-a-century pandemic changed the trajectory of our world.
In the immediate aftermath, entire countries locked down, the markets went haywire while the economy was put on ice as all of us were quarantined. No one knew where we were going.
It was in this maelstrom that Mind Map Nation was born.
👋 Hi Sheng here. I’m a tech industry veteran (ex-Googler + Niantic Labs + AI startups), mind mapper and writer based in San Francisco.
When I saw how much pain was coming from the chaos and uncertainty caused by Covid-19, I felt compelled to share mind mapping as a way to bring order to chaos. So I made a video and uploaded it to YouTube.
2 years, dozens of tutorials and half a million views later, the world has only become more chaotic, less predictable and changing faster than ever.
In the meantime, I’ve gotten countless comments, emails and words of encouragement from folks like you on how much mind mapping has helped you through these tough times. I realized that I’m not alone in using this tool for pretty much everything from organizing our daily to-do’s to designing products and finding direction in our most important life decisions.
Not only that, I don’t own this tool. It can be made and used by anyone. The number of mind map permutations is only limited by the creativity and diversity of human minds, which is endless. How each person maps is different based on your unique preferences, context and objectives. Therefore, my use cases may not be yours.
This is where Mind Map Nation (MMN) comes in.
With new applications and challenges coming in all the time, we’ll be able to share learnings, insights, and discuss how to make the best use of this powerful tool. I will play an active role in managing MMN, though the real benefit is meeting other connected thinkers who are as ambitious and inquisitive as you are. Together we will face this chaotic world with eyes wide open.
This community is for people who don’t see the world as linear, but instead see life as a connected whole, not just its parts.