Creating More Life Balance

 Do you feel that some areas of your life are working well but others are not so great, or are being neglected? Would you like to know how to identify what areas you need to prioritise more in order to feel as though there’s more balance?

Today, we’d like to share a simple tool with you that will help you do that.  

All of us have areas of our lives that we value and that are priorities for us. Life can sometimes feel out of control however, especially if we’re struggling to balance the demands that the different areas of our lives require of us. Having balance can be difficult to imagine in those periods when we feel pulled in multiple directions at the same time, and indeed, true ‘balance’ may even be unattainable, because some areas will always be of more priority than others at different times in our life. 

So what can bring a sense of balance into your life? 

The key to feeling more balanced is to identify what specific areas of your life are currently feeling ‘neglected’ and in need of a bit more attention, so that you can put more energy into those areas. So, even when you’re focusing more on a particular area, you know that the other areas of your life are still also going well, you feel like life is flowing and you’re thriving rather than simply surviving.

The tool that we recommend using to help you do this is called ‘the Wheel of Life’. It’s a tool that’s used by many coaches and it’s a great resource to use to get clarity on which areas are currently out of balance for you and need to be focussed on more. It’s a tool that can act as a compass to guide you as to where you need to place your energies and to help you navigate life.  

So how does The Wheel of Life Work?

The Wheel of Life has 10 sections and each of these sections represents a different area of your life. You can see these illustrated below:

For each area of your life, imagine that the centre of the wheel represents ‘0’ and the outer edge represents ‘10’ on a scale of 0 – 10 of satisfaction. ‘0’ means you’re completely unsatisfied in that area and ‘10’ means you’re completely satisfied in that area. The idea is to rank how satisfied you feel about each area of your life right now.  Then you make a mark on each line, or spoke of the wheel, to rank your level of satisfaction in that area. And when you’ve done that on each line or spoke, then you can draw a line to join the dots to create a new outer edge. Here’s an example of a completed wheel:

What does each section mean?

Before you complete your own wheel, we’ll explain each of the sections in more detail. 

• Family & Friends -  What’s your level of satisfaction with the relationships you have with your family (whatever family means to you) and your friends? 
• Growth & Education - This section relates to your levels of personal growth and education. Are you being challenged and growing, or do you feel stagnant?
• Spirituality - This is about your connection to your highest self, and also a higher power, whatever that means to you, whether it’s a god, or the universe, or mother nature, or energy, or something else. Do you spend enough time in prayer, reflection, meditation, or exploring your faith or beliefs?
• Finances - This relates to your financial health, and also the abundance you have in your life. Are you happy with your income, your savings, your investments, your spending?
• Career / Business - This is about your work, if you currently are working, or want to be working, or about your business.
• Significant Other/Romance - This is about your relationship with your significant other, your 1:1 partner. If you don’t have a partner and want one then that would apply here too.
• Fun & Recreation - How much fun are you having? How are you feeling about the level of play, joy and enjoyment in your life right now?
• Contribution & Giving - This is about how you are making a difference. We all have a need to contribute beyond ourselves, whether it’s to our community, our family, our clients or the world in some way. This section is about your satisfaction with your area of life that’s about ‘we’ and not ‘me’.
• Health -  This is about your holistic health i.e. your physical, mental and emotional health and well-being.
• Physical Environment - This relates to where you live, work and spend your time. Are you happy with your home, your office, your area of study and the area you live in?

Creating your wheel

Now it’s your turn to complete your wheel. Reflect and draw your lines of satisfaction currently and establish your new wheel perimeter. As you go through each area, it’s best to trust the first number that comes up without questioning it or trying to explore it at this point. When you join up each section, the new outer edge represents the wheel of your life.

Reflection

If this was a real wheel, and we put four of them on your car, would you be having a pretty bumpy ride going on at the moment based on your own wheel of life? Or perhaps you have a pretty smooth ride, but could do with a bigger wheel, where life feels more satisfying and the ratings are higher?

The Wheel of Life is a useful tool that will help you to identify what you need to focus on for greater life satisfaction. It will help you identify the one or two areas that you’re currently experiencing the least satisfaction in. The next step is then to create a plan of how you want it to be and what action steps you need to take to increase the satisfaction in these areas. We’d recommend using this tool at least once every year, as your priorities shift and as you make changes in your life, in order to get clarity on where to focus next.