If you feel burned out, tired, or stressed from your daily activities, then the life balance wheel, also known as the wheel of life, helps you refocus on what really matters to you. This tool is frequently used by coaches to help their clients assess and regain balance in their lives. Originated by Paul J. Meyer, it’s a simple tool that looks at the amount of energy you are diffusing in ten key areas of your life. The result is a spider web or pie chart revealing visually how balanced your life is. The ten areas are:
1. Career: are you where you want to be in your job?
2. Physical Environment: how pleasant and low stress are your surroundings where you work and live?
3. Personal Growth: how much energy are you spending developing yourself and learning?
4. Money: how much financial security do you feel you have?
5. Physical Health: are you in a good place physically?
6. Emotional Health: are you in a good place mentality?
7. Family: how much quality time are you spending with your family?
8. Friends: how much quality time are you spending with your friends?
9. Significant Other/Romance: how well is your intimate relationship going?
10. Fun & Recreation: how much time do you spend away from work and obligations to enjoy life?
Based on how much energy you are devoting to each area above, use a scale from 1 to 10 to score the area. The lowest score, one, is used when you are not spending any energy in the area while ten is the highest score for any area where you feel you have dedicated the right amount of energy to. Keep in mind the scale is a range so you can rate an area a four if you feel there is some energy but not enough or an eight where you think it’s about the right amount of energy. Remember this tool is to help you have a balanced life so simply answer the question in each of the areas as honestly as possible.
Once you have scored all ten areas, the spider chart (see below for the Excel tool) is created to show you exactly where you spend your energy. Ideally, you want the picture to look like a decagon (ten-sided two-dimensional figure), but chances are some of the sides will go towards the center. These are the areas that may need your attention.
If you are looking at the results without a coach, you need to conduct a non-bias analysis where you see which areas are not getting enough attention from you presently. Take these areas that need attention and form an action plan on how you can incorporate them back in your life. Self-reflect and consider that there may also be some things you are doing today that are sabotaging the area from blossoming.
A great exercise to get you focused and follow through is an ILM growth mindset technique which is included with the spider chart. You can build your own ILM action plan by getting a blank sheet of paper and drawing a line in the middle of the page. Place the title on the left-hand side labeled “I will stop doing” and on the right-hand side labeled “I will start doing.” Below each of the titles you will list the traits you want to stop or start to do so to regain balance in your life. Post this list where you can see it often as a reminder of what you are working on. This blog has attached an Excel file with this technique below.
We hope this will help you become more self-aware and improve your well-being. If you conduct this exercise and need support, reach out to us and we will coach you to a balanced life. Give us a call today...
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