How do I practice relationship mapping?

The most direct way to practice relationship mapping is through a focused exercise: Pick five concepts you've captured in your knowledge system. Write each one on a separate card or line. Now draw every connection you can identify between them — label each connection with a verb: 'causes,' 'enables,' 'contradicts,' 'supports,' 'requires.' Count the relationships. You should have more relationships than entities. If you don't, you're missing connections.

Common pitfall: Collecting entities obsessively while never mapping what connects them. You end up with a warehouse of isolated facts — perfectly organized, perfectly useless. The notes are there. The understanding isn't. You'll recognize this failure when you can't explain how any two ideas in your system relate without opening both and reading them from scratch.

This practice connects to Phase 13 (Relationship Mapping) — building it as a repeatable habit compounds over time.