It seems to me that so many people I work with seem stuck in a rut. They are doing what they are doing today simply because it is what they did yesterday. Days turn into months which turn into years and then they wake up one day and wonder where the time went and why life doesn’t quite seem to be working for them.
Not only are they asleep at the wheel of their own life they aren’t heeding the concept that life itself is a wheel. Let me explain.
Each of our lives are made up of a combination of components that make up a healthy whole. In the work that I do I call it the life wheel. Think of your life as a circle (the wheel) and then divide it up into 8 major categories like a wheel with a hub and spokes (or a big pizza pie if that works for you). The 8 categories I typically work with (and feel free to tweak the wording to make it work for you) are:
- Health and Well-Being (Body, Mind, Spirit)
- Money and Finances
- Fun and Relaxation
- Spirituality and Personal Growth
- Relationships
- Primary Relationship/Romance
- Career
- Environments (home and surroundings)
These represent the different areas that create a complete picture of a rich, varied, and fulfilling life. And, to keep with the wheel metaphor and driving down the road of life, these represent the foundation of and quality of your life. Have you ever driven in a car with a flat? Not fun, huh?
The key to creating a balanced wheel that flows is to spend the right amount of time and effort honoring each of these areas in your own life. How much time and what that looks like is up to you and unique to each individual. The bottom line is to be able to go through the different categories in your wheel, rate your satisfaction regarding that area of your life and feel good about how it tallies up.
When you neglect one or more areas of your life, it is like trying to limp through life. It would look a little like riding through life on this bike:
How far are you going to get? More importantly, how enjoyable and fulfilling will the ride be?
Conversely when you consciously and intentionally choose to honor all the different areas of your life you will naturally feel better and be more productive. That bike ride through life would look a lot more like this:
Now, that looks infinitely more appealing, doesn’t it?
Wonder what your life wheel looks like?
Take a few minutes to write each of the categories above on a sheet of paper. Go somewhere you can be quiet, relaxed and uninterrupted. Then, rate on a scale of 1 to 10 your degree of satisfaction with this area of your life (10 being WOW- couldn’t be better). Then, draw a circle on a piece of paper and divide it into 8 slices corresponding with the categories. Starting from the hub (middle of the wheel), shade the portion of that section based on your rating. For example, if you rated Career a 5, shade in approximately half that piece of the wheel. When you’re done, the shadings will give you some insight into whether your wheel looks more like the first or second picture.
Need support exploring this exercise? Feel free to e-mail me and I’ll be happy to help you out!
lesbian , lesbian business owners,LGBT ,GLBT ,success, burnout, avoid burnout, authentic
Okay, at first look at this Wheel, I can say that the only three areas I'm satisfied with right now are the Personal Growth, Health and Well-Being, and Primary relationship. The Primary relationship is the easiest one right now.
Personal Growth and Spirituality has always been a strong point for me because I am constantly exploring in this area. Health and so forth is moving well…I'm loosing the weight I want to loose, I'm working out and things are moving well there.
However, the area of Fun and Relaxation, Finances and Career seem eternally molded together. I'm moving forward in my Career, having identified what I need to do to keep it going and gaining in consistent income. My finances are the worst area for a lot of reasons and I'm attempting to resolve that issue. This then is tied to Fun and Relaxation because everything I like to do costs money to do it — so, there's a visious cycle that I'm breaking.
Relationships — I've built a few business relationships here in Colorado, but it's not the easiest place to be. Having come from a small town in Ohio, I'm used to getting to know people easily. Here, it seems that if you're too different, you only have casual relationships with people.
Sooo, there's my wheel. I am not sure how I'm going to work on each one of these areas for the next few weeks though…any ideas?
Hi Diana,
What I might offer as a way to play with the areas you are not as satisfied with is the following. What is one thing you can do in each of the 2-3 areas (the ones you share are "not as strong") in the next week that would make you feel like you honored that area of your life? I hear you saying fun & relaxation is one area that gets lost in the shuffle…what is one thing you can do in the next week that is just fun and relaxing? Then give yourself permission to go & do it.
I've found it doesn't have to be hours upon hours, just something to get that more neglected part consciously back on the map.
Is that something that sounds on the mark for you? I always say – the more that is going on in our lives, fun is always the first thing to go (it seems in my life anyway…)
Hope that helps you a little….if not — drop me another e-mail & we'll play with some more ideas….
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