How often do you stop to take a look at every area of your life and evaluate how you feel about each one of them compared to your ideal? In this week’s article, I would like to propose to you a very simple yet powerful practical exercise called the Wheel of Life. This will allow you to take a close look at your life right now, evaluate it, and become aware of which areas need more work and in which ones you are thriving.
This is a personal and introspective exercise so it’s important to be sincere with yourself. After you do the evaluation exercise you will be able to start implementing practices that will allow you to get better in those areas that right now are not doing so well. For instance, you can focus your daily affirmations in those areas to get more and better results.
But first of all, let’s see what is this exercise about.
The wheel of life
This tool for personal growth was invented by Paul J. Meyer, an authority in the fields of goal setting, motivation, time management, and personal and professional development. Many coaches use this too nowadays to help people understand their level of satisfaction with each area of their life at the moment.
Nowadays there are many variations of the wheel of life and you can even find interactive ones online. You can try the wheel of life by Tony Robbins or this one by noomii.
You will notice that the areas can vary but the core of the exercise is the same. The exercise consists in taking into consideration each area of your life and asking yourself how satisfied you feel about that area at the moment on a scale from 1 to 10. When doing this, keep in mind what would be a 10 for you, not the one accepted by society or your friends or relatives.
Not everyone will have the same 10 for money for instance. For some people, having just enough to live comfortably would be a 10 while for others a 10 would be being a billionaire. For the latter, barely getting to the end of the month would maybe be a 2 but for the first type, it could be a 6. So always evaluate each area compared to what would be the highest level of satisfaction for you.
Here you can find all the areas with a few questions to guide you in creating your wheel of life.
Health
How satisfied are you with your current level of health? What do you think of your physical shape? How do you feel about the type of food you eat and about your energy? And how happy are you with your overall wellness level?
Love life
How do you feel about your current relationship? Are you happy with the way your partner treats you? And how about how you treat your partner? If you are not in a relationship, how do you feel about that? Do you see it like something is missing in your life or do you feel good about it?
Friends & family
You can also divide this one into two different sections if you wish, it’s up to you. So, ask yourself how you feel about the relationship with your family? Think about both your parents and sibling and your children if you have any. If you no longer have your parents it can be helpful to ask yourself how you feel about not having them in your life anymore. And how about your friendships? Are you satisfied with the way you treat your friends and the way they treat you? Do you spend enough time with them? Is it quality time?
Career
When asking yourself how you feel about your career, make sure to consider the different aspects. The amount of work you have, your work environment, your colleagues, your attitude, your boss, your salary. Are you doing the job that you want or is it just something to earn some money?
Money
Are you satisfied with the amount of money you have at the moment compared to what would be your ideal? And how do you feel about the way you spend your money? Do you think that you manage your money well?
Fun & recreation
Do you have fun in your life at the moment? Do you manage to cut out some time to relax and enjoy yourself? Or do you feel like you are working too much and not having a lot of time for recreation?
Personal growth
Are you dedicating enough time for your personal growth? Do you take time for yourself, to learn something new and develop yourself? How do you feel about your personal development at the moment?
Spirituality
This can be from a religious perspective but it doesn’t necessarily have to. You can also ask yourself how connected you feel to the world surrounding you? Do you believe in something greater and how do you feel about that belief?
After doing the exercise
When you’re done with evaluating each area of your life, take a look at your wheel. Does it even look like a wheel? If you had a car with such wheels, would you manage to get far?
It usually becomes pretty obvious which are the areas you thrive in and which ones need more work. Having this birds-eye perspective of your life will allow you to identify the areas you should focus on and you can start implementing practices to raise your level of satisfaction in those areas.
It’s also recommended to redo this exercise regularly to have a better idea of how your life is changing and evolving and understand if the practices you put into place are actually helping.
So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and try the exercise. Just draw a circle, divide it into 8 or 9 (depending on whether you divide friends and family) and take a few minutes to evaluate your life. Or check out one of the online exercises mentioned above.
Doing the wheel of life exercise may just help you achieve that life balance that we’re all looking for.
