Starting Up Your Own Self Detective Agency
Part 9 - Using Diagrams and Shapes

If you draw a straight line, you immediately get two points either side of a length. These points could be a start and a finish, as in a journey from A to B, or they could be a rating where A is low and B is high. Where you put an X would decide where you are on your particular journey, or your rating.

For example, where would you put your X if you wanted to show how much sleep you get, where A is lousy and B is plentiful? Or where is your X when it comes to showing how much closer you are to where you want to be?

A line can also represent a continuum.

A continuum is used to highlight two poles that are as far apart as they can be from each other. Every point in between these two poles is a gradual move away from one pole towards the other, so you can say that the middle of the line is the most neutral point.

Let’s take another example. As two extremes, let’s say that A represents decisiveness and B procrastination. Where would you put your X? Or let’s say that A is being comfortable with yourself, and B is being uncomfortable with who you are.

If you represent yourself as a circle, then you can start to break yourself down into smaller wedges that highlight any given proportion. Take the case study of Mary.

As a self-assessment, Mary drew herself as being made up of 60% thoughts, 30% feelings and 10% actions. When asked if she was happy with these proportions, she shook her head.

She then drew the proportions that she wanted to have: all of them as equal amounts.

If you attempt the same exercise as Mary, what would your circle(s) look like?

Venn diagrams are a great way of showing where things or people are in relation to yourself (or other things and other people). They can also reveal the influence one thing has over another.

For example:

a. Show what happens when three things come together

If, say, A = motivation and B = energy and C = action - what might happen when all of these three things come together?

b. Show which people you feel closest to and which ones are more distant.

In the example above, both Lee and Bee are close to Me, whereas Fee and especially Dee are somewhat detached.

Knowing this could make Me reach out to Fee and Dee in order to bring them closer – or not, as the case may be.

c. Show which issues affect you the most. Here you get to alter the size and shape of the Venn diagrams.

In this diagram, Michael is being dominated by guilt. Part of his guilt includes regrets. Blame, anger and shame are also interlinked with his guilt as they are with each other. Michael is going to work on his guilt while being aware that his other issues need tending to as well.

Graphs can highlight some of the themes and patterns that are going on in your life, where other diagrams and shapes cannot.

For example: During the course of a day, Jay goes through ups and downs. By plotting Jay’s wellbeing from the morning (8am) to midnight over the course of a week, she is able to see some patterns emerging.

Waking up and getting ready for the day ahead is not a good time for Jay. It takes her until midday to get into the rhythm of the day, and she realises that this is because she just doesn’t get enough sleep. She also recognises that the second dip in her day (at 2pm) is because she doesn’t eat enough during the day. The big buzz around 4pm is when she gets to speak to her partner on the phone, who is away for two months. After this phone call there is a slow and steady descent, as she has no plans to do anything except to doze off on her sofa in front of the television.

If you were to plot the course of your day for a week, what might it look like? What else might you plot on a graph?

The notion of an equation is that the content of two sides of an equals sign (=) amount to the same thing.
So, 1 + 1 = 2 or 4 = 6 - 2.

Other words connected with equations are matching, balancing, and comparing.

Using equations in self detective work may be an interesting way to understand some of the things that are going on for you, or perhaps equations can open your mind to new ways of thinking or tackling problems.

Below are some equations that other people have come up with, that feel right for them. If they fit with you too, by all means adopt them. Otherwise, you may wish to experiment with your own equations.

Being real = self-awareness x courage

Joy = love – fear

Jealousy = mistrust ÷ self-esteem

Anxiety = uncertainty x powerlessness

Hope + awareness + investing time in yourself = greater opportunity for change

Hopelessness + fear + no time = no change

Below are some examples of incomplete equations that you may be able to complete, or alter, to suit your needs:

What + what + what = guilt

Something – something = shame

When x where x how = action

If you are good at this sort of thing, you could progress to some advanced equations to solve some advanced issues that you may have. This might involve using more complex mathematical concepts, or it might simply involve juggling more and more material around on the page. Or it might involve multiple equations coming together.

Example of advanced equation:

Keeping a secret = tension + stress x ongoing distress

Sharing a secret =

Which might then become:

Overcoming fear + hope of a better life = sharing my secret

Which might become:

Finding out my fear = possible way to tip the balance between sharing and not sharing my secret

Finding out who would be the best person to tell my secret = possible way to tip the balance between sharing and not sharing my secret