Would you like to make some changes in your life, but you don’t know where to start?
Sometimes we can get lost in the chaos and can’t find our way out. In many situations, the desire for clarity and the willingness to actively look for the light at the end of the tunnel will guide us to the clarity we seek.
Although it may not seem at first that chaos can be beneficial, it does reveal that you may need to stop and take a break.
Taking some time in order to create space to reflect on your life could be an important first step for getting clarity.
A key element of clarity, perhaps the most important one, is knowing that you can find it. I will share with you a more practical tool, used mostly but not only by professional life coaches – the Wheel of Life®.
This self-awareness tool is used to give you a clear picture of ‘where you are’; help you assess what’s important to you and get an idea of the first steps you can take towards the life you wish to have.
Let’s Start the Journey
Draw a circle on a piece of paper and divide it into 6/8/10 segments (as in the picture below) to create a visual representation of what is important in your life.
This wheel is used as an example and can be downloaded here.
Think about the important areas of your life – for example these could be:
- Professional development, career & studies
- Relaxation & joy
- Money, financial security
- Health & wellbeing
- Social Life, Family & Friends
- Partner & Romantic Relationship
- Personal, spiritual development, time in nature
Or, you can use roles that you play in your life:
- Partner
- Mother
- Colleague, etc.
Then give each area a score from 1 to 10 (10 being completely satisfied).
Now draw a second wheel of life and grade the areas as you would like them to look.
That will represent the ideal wheel – where you want to be.
When the areas of the Wheel of Life are balanced everything feels easier, the road flows smoothly.
But as soon as some areas are unbalanced the road becomes heavy with bumps and jolts.
Helpful Questions
- Before you started working with the “wheel”, what area of your life did you think represented challenges for you? Did that change after you finished drawing the wheel?
- How balanced is your wheel? What areas of life would you like to pay more attention to?
- What areas of your life are going well? How could you use these areas to take better care of and support yourself?
- Where would you like to start creating more ease in your life, to make your path smoother? Describe some specific, with clear steps you would like to take.
- What would I like to change? Why would I want to change that?
- How would I feel if nothing changes?
- What small change could I make?
- How would I feel if nothing changes?
- What should I give up on?
- What could stop me from making the changes?
Look at the differences between the two wheels drawn and then complete the bullets below. This will form part of your personal action plan for the life you wish to have.
- Things I will START doing to regain balance in life
- Things I will STOP doing, reprioritising or delegating to regain balance.
At the end of this work save some time to reflect on WHAT INSIGHTS DID YOU GET?
Taking the initiative and feeling like the captain of your life means taking responsibility for your life, for your future and sailing it to the direction of your dreams.
Yours sincerely,
Mariana