How balanced is your life at the current time?

I think reflecting on how you can find better balance is really important in the current circumstances, and ensuring you reflect on your whole self and not just the areas that create noise for you at the current time is crucial.       

The Wheel of Life can be used as a Reflection Tool for individuals to understand how they can better balance their lives. The visual nature of the tool enables people to view themselves and their lives in a more interesting way than just talking about it. Life is always going to keep pulling you in different directions. One day the most important thing may be family, the next day, Work. A Wheel of Life is the starting point for getting clear on what matters most to you in your life, seeing if anything is out of balance and deciding what needs to be done to close the gap between your current situation and your ideal one. When you first do the exercise on your current state, don’t be afraid if you have a “Wonky Wheel”!

So, what exactly do you need to do?  

• Create your Wheel (there are many templates available via search engines, but here’s one above)

• Identify your areas of focus – I normally suggest 8 sectors and these can cover any number of areas for example: Career, Health, Personal Growth, Partner, Me, Family, Fun, Recreation, Hobbies, Friends, Spirituality, Giving, Attitude  

• Review your Current and Future State – Mark out of 10 as to where you see your current state, and then where you would like to see your future state. You need to be clear on where you are in your current situation, in order to assess where you should go, and rank as follows: 0 = completely unsatisfied to 10 = completely satisfied. Then in the Future, reflect on where you’d like to see it. If you are struggling to decide, ask yourself some questions around the sector i.e. for career, am I earning enough etc.  

Once you’ve drawn up your current and future wheel, you need to identify the goals you need to work on to move from the current state to the future state. You should generate explicit action plans by sector to move you from your current state to your future state. If you struggle to do this, think about using the following questions:  

• What is the smallest thing I could do to make progress in this area of my life immediately?

• What would i need to do to get to a rating of 10 out of 10"?

• What is one big thing that I know I need to do in this area of my life to make progress, but what is holding me back?

Why don’t you take some time out of your day, decide on the key areas of focus for yourself, and generate and then review your wheel? It could open up a better understanding of yourself and what matters most to you. I’d love to hear from those of you who complete the exercise, and how you found visually reviewing your wheel, rather than discussing the issues without this tool.  Enjoy drawing up your wheels!