When life gets busy or you find that one area of your life is demanding a lot of your time and energy, it’s easy to find yourself out of balance and not paying enough attention to what’s most important in your life. While you need to have drive and direction, too much can create a stressful and frustrating routine, as you constantly feel like you are neglecting important people or essential areas of your life. I hear this all the time with my coaching clients, so please dont think you are alone in these feelings
It’s at times like these that we need to take a holistic view of where we are spending our time and energy, and see where we can make some alterations to bring back some well-needed balance.
Today, we are sharing with you ‘The Wheel of Life’—a fantastic exercise to help you see where all your energy and focus is going, as well as the areas you are neglecting.
To start this exercise off, download The Daily Guru’s Wheel of Life Template and then take the following steps:
BRAINSTORMING
Using the template, consider how you categorize your life so you can divide your wheel up into 6 to 8 dimensions. To help you decide how YOU separate the areas of your life, here are some examples:
Areas of your life that are important: This can include education, career, family, love and relationships, spirituality, health and fitness, wealth, money and finance.
The roles in your life: This can include roles such as manager, friend, husband/wife, teacher, leader, daughter/son, team member, boyfriend/girlfriend.
A combination of the two: You can highlight all of the things that you see as a priority in your life.
There is no wrong way of doing this. Choose 6 to 8 categories that feel right to you. Remember, this is your path…your journey!
CREATE YOUR WHEEL
Write down your life categories in your Wheel of Life template. Each segment is to be given one category.
This is a very revealing and eye-opening exercise, which we know you will enjoy! Here is an example of what it might look like once completed…
ASSESS EACH AREA
The next step is to assess the amount of attention you’re currently devoting to each area.
Consider each dimension individually and on a scale of 0 (low) to 10 (high), write down the amount of attention you’re devoting to that area of your life. Mark each score on the appropriate spoke of the Wheel. 0 is represented by the center of the wheel and 10 is represented by the perimeter of the wheel. If you are devoting substantial time to this area of your life, your mark should appear close to the wheel edge. If you have little to no time to commit to this area of your life, the mark will appear close to the center of your wheel.
So, how does your wheel look? Does your wheel look and feel balanced? Can you see the areas you are neglecting and the ones you are thriving at? And if this wheel was rolling down the road, would it roll smoothly?
CREATE YOUR PERFECT WHEEL
Now download the second template HERE which allows you to create your New wheel. Let’s have a glimpse into your ‘perfect life’ so that you know what you are aiming for. A balanced life doesn’t mean getting 10 out of 10 in each segment; some areas need more attention and focus than others at any time. And inevitably, you will need to make choices and compromises as your time and energy become limited.
So the question is: What is the ideal level of attention you can give these life areas at this moment?
Now plot your ‘ideal’ scores on the same Wheel of Life template, but in a different colour.
TAKE ACTION
You now have a great visual representation of your current life balance and your ideal life balance. So… where are the gaps? By answering this question, you now have the answer to creating more balance in your life!
Armed with this information, it’s time to make some conscious decisions and steps to ensure you are creating a new regime that offers you the balance and lifestyle you want, starting now!
And guess what? If you do this, in a few weeks time it will become a habit and therefore a new way of life for you. So let’s get started! Balance, here we come!
Rebecca is the Founder & CEO of The Daily Guru. She sees Growth & Development as a vital part of anyone’s health & happiness, as well as being one of the most rewarding experiences we can all embrace.
