Do you thrive on being busy? Do you believe that you are at your best when you are juggling several projects and barely have time to do anything else? Does your family or spouse or children complain about you not making enough time for them? If you said yes to any of that, this article is for you. The Wheel of Life is the perfect tool for you!
Modern culture has glamorized a busy lifestyle. As a result, we proudly tell everyone around us, “Oh, I am so busy!” or “Work is killing me right now!”
Work may not be literally killing you, but it is definitely killing your relationships, your health, and your mental peace. According to statistics, poor work-life balance is the leading cause of poor health and familial relationships.
Balance may sound like a fluffy and vague word. But every once in a while, it is worth taking a step back and looking at the big picture. This will help you focus on things that are as important as work. And one of the many assessment tools for doing this is the Wheel of Life.
What is the Wheel of Life?
SUMMARY
The Wheel represents your life and teaches you how to get where you want to be.
Often used by professional life coaches, the Wheel of Life helps you mark down all the important areas of your life. After that, you can assess what is not in balance. It is a visual representation of all the roles you play and what your life looks like right now. You can then compare it to how you would like your life to be.
The Wheel of Life finds its origin in Tibetan Buddhism. It has eight components. These components are also called happiness factors. All these factors are mapped on a circle. The factors look like the spokes of a wheel. That is why it is called the Wheel of Life.
Paul J Meyer, who is the founder of Success Motivation Institute Inc, created the Wheel of Life. There is no set template for it. It is a tool for coaching, goal-setting, personal development, and finding balance.
The Building Blocks of the Wheel of Life
SUMMARY
There are eight components to the wheel, but they are not fixed. You can add or remove categories as per your choices.
Wheel of Life is a pie chart. Each slice represents a value or relationship that holds importance in most people’s life. The categories are:
- Business and Career
- Finances
- Health
- Family and Friends
- Romance
- Personal Growth
- Fun and Recreation
- Physical Environment
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The categories listed above are a suggestion. You can make your own list of categories and relationships that are important to you. You can also remove anything that is not important, or split values like Family and Friends into two separate ones.
The values are rated out of 10 on the basis of your satisfaction level with it. One is closest to the center, and the other is towards the edge. Only you are supposed to use the wheel, therefore, you should make sure that it is clear and simple enough for you to understand. Additionally, you can use color coding for every value to make it aesthetically pleasing too.
The biggest advantage of making a Wheel of Life is that it allows you to see what is most important to you visually. Once you have made a Wheel of Life for yourself, you will get a spider diagram that will indicate your satisfaction level with respect to each of the values.
This will help you find out the gaps between your idealized life and the current state. After that, it is only a matter of time before you find the perfect balance between everything.
Wheel of Life Assessment for Yourself
SUMMARY
The Wheel of Life exercise has four steps – drawing the wheel, filling it, analyzing it, and taking action.
Here are the steps to complete the Wheel of Life exercise:
1. Take out a pencil and paper!
Start by printing the Wheel of Life template given below. You can also draw your own on your computer or a piece of paper. Don’t feel restricted by the categories given above. Add, remove, split – do whatever feels right for YOU.
2. Fill it up!
Now, roll up your sleeves – it is time to do some real work. Think about how satisfied you are with each of the categories. Do not rush and do not be dishonest. Remember that the Wheel of Life is only for your eyes, so you can be completely vulnerable to doing this. No one is here to judge you.
Spend at least 15 minutes filling in the wheel. You should make sure there are no distractions. Switch off your mobile and find a quiet room. Think of the big picture. Life is a great journey, and this is the time when you should think about where you are going.
In order to help you score the values effectively, here are some prompt questions you can use:
1. Business and career
Is your position in the company satisfactory? Are you heading towards your goal? Is your career on the right path?
2. Finances
Is your current pay grade enough to satisfy your needs? Are you planning for financial growth in the future? Is there enough scope for the same?
3. Health
Are you physically fit? Does your diet cover of all macro and micro nutrients? Are you happy with your mental health status?
4. Family and Friends
Are you happy with your social status? Do you have a good circle? Are your friends supportive and engaging towards you? Are you giving enough time to your family and children?
5. Romance
Is your spouse/partner loving towards you? Do you show your love towards them? Are you happy in your relationship? Do you feel loved and supported? Are you expressing love towards them?
6. Personal Growth
Are you dedicated to your personal growth? Are you always looking for new experiences? Is learning new things a part of your life?
7. Fun and Recreation
Are you enjoying life? Do you have enough time to indulge in your hobbies? Are you satisfied with the amount of time you have for yourself?
8. Spirituality
Are your inner and outer worlds connected? How content, are you with your relationship with your inner, spiritual being?
9. Societal Contributions
Are you giving back to society? Are you spending enough time volunteering? Is there a social cause you are raising awareness for?
10. Self-Image
How do you view yourself? Do you love yourself? Are you proud of yourself? Do you think of your abilities as praiseworthy?
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Remember, the higher the score – the more satisfied you are with the current state of things in a particular category.
3. Think Long and Hard!
After you have completed your wheel, it is time to take a moment and look at it. Appreciate what you see and ask yourself – are you surprised?
It is now time to reflect:
1. Scores 8 to 10
Congratulations! You are very satisfied with all the values that receive this score in your Wheel of Life. All you have to do is maintain what you are currently doing, and you are good to go. Make sure that you don’t overlook these areas in the future, either. This will help you gain even more satisfaction and grow with respect to these values.
2. Scores 5 to 7
You are reasonably content with your status in these categories, but there is definitely room for improvement. Try to think of ways you can move the score up in these categories.
3. Scores 0 to 4
A low score means that you are not very satisfied with your current state, especially with respect to these categories. They are what stand in the way of you living your best life. It also means that there are opportunities worth exploring and room for self-improvement here.
Spend some time thinking about your scores in this part of the exercise. Are you satisfied with your wheel? Is it balanced? Are you moving forward in life?
CAUTION
Spend some time thinking about your scores in this part of the exercise. Are you satisfied with your wheel? Is it balanced? Are you moving forward in life?
It’s easy to become complacent with a high score in one particular category. But what about the others? Maybe being workaholic means you are satisfied with career and financials, but what about family? Romance? Health?
The most vital function of the wheel is to find balance. To do this, you need to think long and hard about your choices.
4. Get, Set, Go!
Now it’s time to put the wheel in motion (pun intended).
You need to put all the thinking into action. The real work starts now. After looking at the visual representation of your life, you need to find the gaps between the current state of affairs and your desired goal. Make a commitment to take action.
Ask yourself – what steps can I take to move up my satisfaction score in a category? Make a list of such changes for all values. And then get down to it. Make sure you take at least one action to move your wheel to its desired value every day.
Track your progress. Keep revisiting the wheel. Since it is only a snapshot of how satisfied you are NOW, it is worth checking your growth every few months. I recommend redrawing the wheel every six months to see if you are on the right path or not.
What’s the Purpose of the Wheel of Life?
SUMMARY
The wheel can help you focus, develop work-life balance, set goals, track your progress, and get where you want to be. It can also help you grow and manage stress.
The Wheel of Life tool is most importantly used for finding balance. Here’s how it can be used:
1. It can show you where all your attention is focused and whether you are neglecting any important areas.
2. It can help in developing effective work-life balance by helping you figure out your priorities. Work-life balance is one of the most important aspects of our modern lifestyles. It can even help in conflict resolution, and a healthy work-life balance is an important indicator of increased life satisfaction.
3. You can use it in goal-setting exercises. In fact, it has dual benefits. You can set your aims and goals in a more well-adjusted manner with the help of the Wheel of Life.
4. It helps you track your progress in the long run. By using this tool every few months, you can truly understand your life journey and find out if you are moving in the right direction.
5. It can help you find the biggest gaps in where you now and where you want to be eventually.
6. By helping you realize what areas of your life need to be focused on, you get a chance to grow your wheel. This means challenging yourself and pushing your horizons a little bit further every day.
7. Effective work-life balance can help in the management of stress. The Wheel of Life has shown promising results when it comes to tackling the increasing amount of stress in the workplace.
The Ball is in Your Court
Ultimately, what you do with this tool is up to you. The circle of this wheel represents you – the whole of you. Your ideas, your goals, your passions, your dreams. It is a means to get from here to where you want to be.
Assess yourself, find what you are neglecting, and work on it. Arrange the spokes of your wheel that makes you feel content, loved, and happy. As the millennials say – you only live once.
