TENACITY - WEEK 13
|
The Wheel of LifeA Self-Assessment Tool
Here is our version of a classic tool; The Wheel of Life. It is a very useful and visual tool if you are looking to review where your life is currently at and brings clarity and balance to your current reality. This is a tool often used hand in hand with coaching and goal setting action planning. |
The Wheel of Life Self Assessment
Welcome to Your Life!
As we look at stepping out and creating a brighter, more balanced and successful life, we find that this tool: The Wheel of Life is a good place to start. The results from using this tool, will give you insight into how balanced your life is right now and what areas need some tweaking in order to get the best outcomes.
You can leave it there or you can delve deeper into the rabbit hole to ask deeper self-reflection questions that can really be a catalyst for great change for you.
You can reflect on why your wheel looks the way it does and what you would like your wheel to look like. This very quickly indicates where you are spending your time and what areas of your life you are satisfied or dissatisfied with.
The Process
Essentially, we have divided the Wheel of Life into 12 different areas or categories of life that we believe are important to consider. You can of course do up your own with your categories if you choose.
There is a scoring system behind using the wheel, where you simply reflect and rate your satisfaction levels out of 10. Here you will find 0 is closest to the centre of the circle and represents that you are not at all happy with that area and 10 is at the far edge of the circle, and shows that you are absolutely ecstatic with that area.
This simple visual representation keeps it simple so that you can easily reflect and see where changes need to occur. When you have completed this exercise, the wheel will give you a spiderweb-like picture of your satisfaction levels and allows you to quickly and easily identify any gaps between where you are now and where you want to be.
Now that you understand the process, let’s start and create our self-reflection tool for ourselves!
Step 1 – Getting Organised
Print off or draw up the wheel below.
As we look at stepping out and creating a brighter, more balanced and successful life, we find that this tool: The Wheel of Life is a good place to start. The results from using this tool, will give you insight into how balanced your life is right now and what areas need some tweaking in order to get the best outcomes.
You can leave it there or you can delve deeper into the rabbit hole to ask deeper self-reflection questions that can really be a catalyst for great change for you.
You can reflect on why your wheel looks the way it does and what you would like your wheel to look like. This very quickly indicates where you are spending your time and what areas of your life you are satisfied or dissatisfied with.
The Process
Essentially, we have divided the Wheel of Life into 12 different areas or categories of life that we believe are important to consider. You can of course do up your own with your categories if you choose.
There is a scoring system behind using the wheel, where you simply reflect and rate your satisfaction levels out of 10. Here you will find 0 is closest to the centre of the circle and represents that you are not at all happy with that area and 10 is at the far edge of the circle, and shows that you are absolutely ecstatic with that area.
This simple visual representation keeps it simple so that you can easily reflect and see where changes need to occur. When you have completed this exercise, the wheel will give you a spiderweb-like picture of your satisfaction levels and allows you to quickly and easily identify any gaps between where you are now and where you want to be.
Now that you understand the process, let’s start and create our self-reflection tool for ourselves!
Step 1 – Getting Organised
Print off or draw up the wheel below.
Step 2 – Complete Your Wheel
Score your satisfaction levels against each of the different categories you have on your Wheel. I always recommend taking your time on this task. 15 to 30 minutes to really put some time aside to reflect on you. I find it best to do this in a place that is quiet and you aren’t going to get disruptions. Hand in hand with this exercise you might like to look at our Purpose Driven Life Assessment that gives you some questions to ponder on each of these areas of life. The questions you find there should really assist with your self reflection process.
Step 3 – Reflect
So step 1 and 2 completed, you should now have a wheel of life that looks something like the below.
Score your satisfaction levels against each of the different categories you have on your Wheel. I always recommend taking your time on this task. 15 to 30 minutes to really put some time aside to reflect on you. I find it best to do this in a place that is quiet and you aren’t going to get disruptions. Hand in hand with this exercise you might like to look at our Purpose Driven Life Assessment that gives you some questions to ponder on each of these areas of life. The questions you find there should really assist with your self reflection process.
Step 3 – Reflect
So step 1 and 2 completed, you should now have a wheel of life that looks something like the below.
Really take a good few minutes to look at this. How bumpy is your ride? Or is it a nice smooth wheel that gives a comfortable ride? Is there anything that stands out to you or you weren’t expecting?
Basic rule of thumb is that you have scores of 8 to 10 for any of the categories, well done! You are very satisfied in those particular areas. The thing to be mindful of here is not to let those areas drop as you revise other areas of your life that might need tending too.
If you have scores of 5 to 7 for any of the categories, you are reasonably satisfied in this particular area but there is definitely opportunity to put in some time and effort and improve these areas to push that number even higher.
If you have scores of 0 to 4 for any of the categories, you are not very satisfied in those particular areas and you will need to create ways of building your satisfaction here.
Make sure you don’t judge yourself based on these scores. It is just a reflection of where things are at, not at how they can be for you. This lets you know that there is a lot of scope for you to get your teeth into those areas and really get excited about the process of change for yourself. Every challenge is an opportunity waiting to be explored.
Below are some questions for you to ponder to really get the most out of this exercise. I would recommend you opening a word document or a journal and recording your answers for each category of the wheel of life…
When you take off from a stationary position and your wheel is all bumpy, what happens to your journey forward?
When we focus on one category, it can be easy to see how good it is and not work on the other areas…however how long before the other areas will be biting at your heels?
For example, you may have found the love of your life and have a great relationship. You start putting all your time and energy into them and find that your friendships start to drift away, and you missed days at work so your career has taken a nosedive. Once other areas start to blow out, how long before they impact on your wonderful relationship?
The key, as I am sure you have gathered by this point, is to find the balance. So the first step: Creating your wheel as it is right now. You want to be able to see your wheel clearly, so you can know what areas need alignment to give you a balanced and smooth journey forward. This is your time to get green and growing rather then red and rotting. Life does not have to be a trade off where you are continually juggling areas of life, focusing on whichever area is starting to crash. It’s about moving forward, challenging yourself and pushing your boundaries to expand your horizons and make it bigger and better while maintaining a balance that serves you.
Step 4 – Action!
Are you ready to get your Wheels in motion? (pun intended!)
This tool is used by coaches of all kinds, as they recognise the value in it. What a great piece to the goal setting puzzle.
You now have a visual snapshot of how satisfied you are in different areas of your life. Through reflection, you have now identified your biggest gaps between where you are now and where you would like to be.
Now it’s time to decide if you are going to be your own legend and commit to taking some action to build momentum right now
It is time to get some SMART goals going on around this. If you aren’t sure about SMART goals, then be sure to look out for our article next month, as that is the topic of focus. Until then, type SMART goals into your search engine and there will be a load of information just waiting for you there.
Here’s the thing: Put your Wheel where you can see it, to remind you of your journey and where you want to improve…. Have a space for writing down your ideas and thoughts and track your progress.
This tool provides a snapshot in a specific time of your satisfaction levels and ultimately your happiness. Complete the Wheel regularly so you can easily keep a track on where things are at.
In Conclusion
‘Life’s a Wheel of fortune and it’s my chance to spin it’
Tupac Shakur
Basic rule of thumb is that you have scores of 8 to 10 for any of the categories, well done! You are very satisfied in those particular areas. The thing to be mindful of here is not to let those areas drop as you revise other areas of your life that might need tending too.
If you have scores of 5 to 7 for any of the categories, you are reasonably satisfied in this particular area but there is definitely opportunity to put in some time and effort and improve these areas to push that number even higher.
If you have scores of 0 to 4 for any of the categories, you are not very satisfied in those particular areas and you will need to create ways of building your satisfaction here.
Make sure you don’t judge yourself based on these scores. It is just a reflection of where things are at, not at how they can be for you. This lets you know that there is a lot of scope for you to get your teeth into those areas and really get excited about the process of change for yourself. Every challenge is an opportunity waiting to be explored.
Below are some questions for you to ponder to really get the most out of this exercise. I would recommend you opening a word document or a journal and recording your answers for each category of the wheel of life…
- How did you come up with your rating for each category?
- What would a 10 out of 10 look like in each category?
- Where categories are the bumpiest?
- Which area will become your first priority to focus and improve?
- Your second priority?
- and the third priority?
When you take off from a stationary position and your wheel is all bumpy, what happens to your journey forward?
When we focus on one category, it can be easy to see how good it is and not work on the other areas…however how long before the other areas will be biting at your heels?
For example, you may have found the love of your life and have a great relationship. You start putting all your time and energy into them and find that your friendships start to drift away, and you missed days at work so your career has taken a nosedive. Once other areas start to blow out, how long before they impact on your wonderful relationship?
The key, as I am sure you have gathered by this point, is to find the balance. So the first step: Creating your wheel as it is right now. You want to be able to see your wheel clearly, so you can know what areas need alignment to give you a balanced and smooth journey forward. This is your time to get green and growing rather then red and rotting. Life does not have to be a trade off where you are continually juggling areas of life, focusing on whichever area is starting to crash. It’s about moving forward, challenging yourself and pushing your boundaries to expand your horizons and make it bigger and better while maintaining a balance that serves you.
Step 4 – Action!
Are you ready to get your Wheels in motion? (pun intended!)
This tool is used by coaches of all kinds, as they recognise the value in it. What a great piece to the goal setting puzzle.
You now have a visual snapshot of how satisfied you are in different areas of your life. Through reflection, you have now identified your biggest gaps between where you are now and where you would like to be.
Now it’s time to decide if you are going to be your own legend and commit to taking some action to build momentum right now
It is time to get some SMART goals going on around this. If you aren’t sure about SMART goals, then be sure to look out for our article next month, as that is the topic of focus. Until then, type SMART goals into your search engine and there will be a load of information just waiting for you there.
Here’s the thing: Put your Wheel where you can see it, to remind you of your journey and where you want to improve…. Have a space for writing down your ideas and thoughts and track your progress.
This tool provides a snapshot in a specific time of your satisfaction levels and ultimately your happiness. Complete the Wheel regularly so you can easily keep a track on where things are at.
In Conclusion
‘Life’s a Wheel of fortune and it’s my chance to spin it’
Tupac Shakur
INTRODUCING YOUR TASK - The Tenacity Challenge
TO THINK ABOUT (AND FOCUS ON) THIS WEEK
This week:
- How was your Wheel of Life? What sticks out for you?
- Is there anything that jumped out at you that you didn’t realise in your life?
- Do you know what you need to do to create balance or expand your Wheel?
- Don't forget to keep your journal of everything that you are learning.