The Doodle for
Self-Development Course

Some words of caution...

Let me just begin by saying that the Doodle for Self-Development Course is absolutely INTENSE!!! So I hope you're ready for a roller-coaster of a ride. 🙂

I mention that it's INTENSE because this course will awaken fears that you may not want to acknowledge. It will uncover limiting patterns of behavior that you may be embarrassed to admit. And it also involves a great deal of thought, effort and attention to detail, which is difficult for most people. I've personally struggled with this my entire life. In fact, I fight through this challenge every single day. Sometimes I'm victorious, and other times I fail miserably. 🙁

As you work your way through each module of this course you may even be tempted to procrastinate and quit. It's scary and it feels uncomfortable opening up the deepest and darkest parts of yourself using doodles, but it can be oh so incredibly rewarding. 🙂

I apologize that I'm being so blunt with you, however, what you're going to go through here is certainly not a walk in the park. This is not going to be an easy process. Getting real and honest with ourselves is emotionally taxing. But the rewards can be absolutely tremendous if you can get through it successfully.

All of this might of course just be a little difficult to grasp at the moment. So let me take a little time to explain to you what this course is about before delving into more details about how this course is unlike anything you have probably ever gone through before.

I am confident to make a bold statement, that IF YOU PUT IN THE WORK, THIS COURSE WILL TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE!

This is No Ordinary Course

As you work your way through each module of the course you will be going through a total of 20 visual thinking templates. Each template builds on from previous templates. This entire course, therefore, follows a progression of steps that begins with foundational principles. We then keep adding more layers until you have a comprehensive understanding of all critical aspects of your life relating to the one major goal you have chosen to focus on.

I must reiterate that this is not your typical personal development course. This is something much, much different.

The combination of using visual thinking templates, doodling, life coaching principles, and with the addition of IQ Matrix maps and IQ Doodles (that come part of the Achievement Accelerator version of the course) help you to fully integrate what you are learning. There is really nothing quite like this in the marketplace.

Reading a typical self-help book or going through an online video course can certainly be worthwhile. However, our brain often finds these kind of learning experiences a little boring and bland. And this is why we often fail to implement what we learn. In fact, many people implement very little actionable advice into their lives. But why is that?

We fail to implement what we learn because reading a book or watching a video is a passive learning experience. We are very much like bystanders observing from a distance. Through observation we gather some fantastic information. However, because we are not involved in the "action" we fail to act on what we know to improve our lives.

The Doodle for Self-Development course is not a "bystander" course. This course involves your full effort, attention and participation. It gets you involved within every step of the process as you work through each of the 20 visual thinking templates.

You are always an active participant within each of the 15 modules. And if you're not participating, then you simply won't gain much value from this course.

I cannot tell you how transformational it is to work through a visual thinking template. You won't really understand the impact it will have on your life until you experience it firsthand. The process of filling in one of these templates using doodles and the written word will very likely transform your life and your perspective of reality.

As you doodle and work your way through each module you are literally bringing your thoughts to life on paper in front of your eyes. No longer are your thoughts just in your head, they are now down on paper. You can, subsequently, work with them like never before. This new perspective of seeing your thoughts in this way brings about more clarity and greater insights that help you to better understanding yourself at the deepest possible level.

I'm telling you right now, this process is absolutely transformational, however you will only get out of this course what you put into it.

I am going to give you very clear instructions of what to do for each module and how to complete each visual thinking template. In fact, I'm also going to give you a working example that you can use for guidance throughout this course. This example is based on the life of Mr. Doodle.

Our Mr. Doodle Avatar

Throughout this course for every module I will be presenting you with an example of how to work with each visual thinking template using Mr. Doodle.

Mr. Doodle will be our Avatar for this course. You might already be familiar with Mr. Doodle as he is the character within the IQ Doodle logo.

He has graciously volunteered his time to work through each visual thinking template and allowed me to use his work as an example to help you throughout this course.

Now, of course, you might be thinking that Mr. Doodle isn't really an actual person, but he kind of actually is. Mr. Doodle and his life is kind of loosely based on my own life, goals, and aspirations. There are certainly differences between the two of us, but in some respects we mirror each other. Therefore, his life is kind of my life, his fears are kind of my fears, his problems are kind of my problems, and his goals are kind of my goals... sort of. 🙂

We are the same, yet somewhat different. But I guess that's not that important. What's important is that you will have a working example for each module that you can reference to help you complete all 20 visual thinking templates.

Before you get to see how Mr. Doodle worked through each of the modules, it may be helpful to explore his background and get an understanding of his current life reality.

Within the doodle example below you will see an outline of Mr. Doodle's current life and circumstances. As you get an overview of Mr. Doodle's life you may even relate and empathize with some of the problems, fears and dilemmas he faces. Just maybe, these are also areas you struggle with as well.

Mr. Doodle is 33 years old, is married and has two kids. His wife's name is Alice and his two kids go by the names of Alex and Ali. He works in a corporate office and earns approximately $50,000 per year working 60+ hours per week as an accounts manager for a pencil company. He doesn't have a passion for this line of work, but he sticks at it for the sake of supporting his young family.

Mr. Doodle feels overworked, dissatisfied and underappreciated. He works long hours and doesn't get enough time to spend with his family. There simply isn't any work-life balance to speak of.

He struggles paying off his debts, bills, car loans and mortgage. In fact, he kind of feels as though he's living from paycheck to paycheck; especially now that both kids are going to school. All this, along with an unsatisfying job leads to high levels of stress, which he doesn't particularly handle very well.

He wants to exercise, but finds it very difficult to make the time for exercise. He comes home late, spends as much time as he can with his wife and kids before they go to bed, and then exhausted from the day's work, zones-out in front of the television set. He's required to be at work bright and early the next morning, which means that he gets very little quality sleep and as a result he can't seem to stay focused at work for extended periods at a time.

All his financial burdens and stressors put a sever strain on his family life, and as a result he struggles to communicate effectively with Alice, which leads to further stress at home. They are no doubt in love and have a close bond, but these breakdowns in communication do put a strain on their relationship.

Mr. Doodle feels very much stuck. He feels as though his life is stagnating. And yet he feels powerless to do anything about it because he is riddled with fear. He fears not being able to pay off his debts to support his family; he fears not having the courage to pursue his dreams; he fears not being a good enough role model for his kids; he fears living the twilight years of his life with regret; and he fears that with all this stress that his marriage and health will fall apart.

The hidden fears that are ruling his life are the fears of change, failure and loss. He also fears public speaking, but that's a story for another time.

Emotionally, Mr. Doodle struggles with endless work pressures that put a lot of stress on his shoulders. He feels as though he's constantly overwhelmed, frustrated and/or worried about something. He's overwhelmed because he has too much to do and too little time to do it; he's frustrated because he's not focusing on his passions; and he's worried because of the instability of the job market. In fact, he's probably more worried about being a poor provider for his family than anything else.

Mr. Doodle isn't pleased with where his life is at the moment, in fact he feels kind of conflicted. The following statement perfectly summarizes the dilemma he currently faces:

"I'm far from fulfilled, yet feel too comfortable, which is why I struggle to make positive change."

Even though he's earning just enough to pay off his family's expenses, he's still feeling somewhat comfortable with the way his life is at the moment. There just isn't enough pain in his life to push him to do something different. This all might, of course, have something to do with some of the debilitating habits that are holding him back.

He feels kind of lazy and unmotivated most of the time, however, this has probably more to do with his level of exhaustion after working long hours than anything else.

Some additional unhelpful behaviors that are letting him down include his inability to focus for extended periods at a time; his tendency to multi-task to try and get as much done as humanly possible; his lack of decisiveness; watching mindless television; and overall poor productivity levels.

All of these unhelpful behaviors are somewhat a result of the amount of stress and overwhelm he experiences at work each day. However, these just might be deeply ingrained behaviors that he may struggle with even if he changes career paths.

To get a deeper understanding of why these debilitating habits are prevalent in his life, let's take a look at some of his limiting beliefs:

These beliefs elude to the fact that he is somewhat lacking in confidence; that he has a fear of failure; and that he is somewhat of a perfectionist but maybe uses this as a form of procrastination.

All these limiting beliefs keep him confined to his comfort zone, and as a result he doesn't take the necessary actions he wants to take in the pursuit of his passions.

Speaking of passions, Mr. Doodle certainly has things that he is very passionate about. Reading books, learning, watching basketball, playing golf, helping people, charity work, doodling, teaching and cooking are just some of the pastimes he enjoys. But often he just can't find the time to focus on many of these areas.

Just like you and me, Mr. Doodle also has dreams that he would like realize. Although his dreams are somewhat scattered at the moment; they can be summed up in the following way:

This is a general overview of the dreams he has for his life. As you can see there is nothing too complex here, but he is somewhat scattered in his thoughts about what it is he wants. He hasn't mentioned at all how he intends to bring all of this into reality. In some ways these are all destinations that he is striving for, and yet what he needs is a vehicle that will help him get there.

However, with all the struggles that he faces, he is still hopeful that there is more to life. Here is what he told me:

It certainly seems as though Mr. Doodle is in a tough predicament, and it may very well take a superhuman effort to get him out of his dilemma. But the good news is that he is on board with us. He is willing to work through this course and has allowed me to showcase his work to help you as you work your own way through each module.

He does, however, have some tough decisions to make moving forward:

These are just a few questions that are lingering on his mind at the moment. His future is certainly unclear, but hopefully as he works his way through this course he will progressively gain more clarity to help him make more optimal decisions moving forward.

Making Submissions for Each Module

For the Beginner Doodle Course it has been awesome to see so many incredible submissions. And I would, of course, love to get your submissions as you work your way through the Doodle for Self-Development Course as well. However, I do understand that we are going to be working through more sensitive issues within each module. As such, if you choose to submit a photo or screenshot of your completed visual thinking templates and would like to stay anonymous, then I will most certainly keep your privacy.

Feel free to send through your submissions to info@IQdoodle.com. It will be an absolute pleasure to post your work onto the module pages. Every completed template submitted just adds extra value to this course and helps you share your learning and experience with other participants.

The Inclusion of IQ Matrix Maps

The Achievement Accelerator version of the course includes 47 accompanying IQ Matrix maps and 46 IQ Doodles that add another layer of depth and detail to the course.

These mind maps and IQ Doodles can be of tremendous value as you work your way through the course. They will help you gather deeper insights into each module.

Check out the gallery below to view just some of the IQ Matrix maps and IQ Doodles that are included in the Achievement Accelerator Version of the course:

This is just a small selection of the hundreds of mind maps available from IQmatrix.com. However, these specific maps and IQ Doodles have been selected because of the value they add to each module of the course.