The Life Balance Wheel
Your Life In A Pie (Chart)
Who doesn’t love pie???
The Life Balance Wheel is a simple exercise that provides a visual representation of your life and how the pieces of your life may (or may not) be working together. In my complimentary 90-minute coaching session I frequently use the Life Balance Wheel exercise as a starting point; however, one can do this exercise on their own as well. If you would like to try it on your own, I recommend setting aside 45-60 minutes and finding a quite place alone to work. Be sure to have a piece of paper, colored pens or pencils would be ideal and a journal to jot down your thoughts.
To start, write down the 6-8 major areas of your life. These can be roles you have (parent, friend, leader), things you do (work, exercise, school), or anything else that is important to you (health, finances, spirituality). The only requirement of these areas is that they resonate for you and reflect the major areas of your life.
Once you have your areas identified, draw a circle and divide it into as many equal pieces as you have areas (if you have 6 life areas, divide your circle into six pieces of pie or, like the example below, 8 life areas are divided into 8 slices). Then label each slice as one of your areas. So you have something like this:
Now you are going to examine each area and give it a little rating. You can use “satisfaction” as your rating system; as in, “How satisfied do I feel in this area of my life?” Or perhaps there is a different word that you know you are looking to feel in these areas of your life: “inspired”, “content”, “happy”..... whatever your word, look at each area and give it a number on a scale of 1 to 10 with one being low and ten being high. For example, 1 is “not very satisfied” and 10 is “incredibly satisfied”. When you determine your number you will mark that on that slice of pie with 1 being very close to the center of the circle and 10 being all the way to the outer rim of the circle. When you have done each area, you should have something like this:
Now it is time for reflection. Open up that journal and reflect on the thoughts you had while doing this exercise. For example, While the circle above was just a quick example I created, I was surprised to notice that I rated both business owner and finances at a 6. I immediately paused to ask myself, “Is my relationship between those two areas tied to each other? Does it have to be?”.
People see different things in their completed wheel. What questions or thoughts come up for you? I have had clients comment on the colorfulness and how that makes them feel, other clients notice how much of the wheel is not colored in, while some clients start seeing immediate areas for growth and even sometimes sudden clarity on which areas of the pie they want to dive into right away. There is no right answer or right response. Whatever you are noticing or feeling, journal about it.
If you are someone who likes writing prompts, ask yourself:
“What thoughts came up for me as I did this exercise?”
“What am I noticing as I look at this wheel?”
“If I could focus my attention on just one area of the wheel that would have the greatest affect on all areas of the wheel, what area would that be?”
“What would I like to do with the information I have acquired from this exercise?”
The purpose of the exercise can be varied. A quick google search says the purpose of this exercise is to help one realize where their life is out of balance and what needs to be worked on. For some this is true. However, I have also worked with clients who have done this exercise and come out of it feeling pleased and accomplished with how much their life is working, or noticing areas where they have experienced recent growth. The first time I did this exercise, I was surprised at how much fuller my life circle was than I had expected it to be. As someone who can be rather hard on myself, it was quite rewarding to see in full color on a sheet of paper that I was rather pleased with several areas of my Life Wheel. The fact that this exercise is done on a piece of paper and is quite visual (and ideally colorful) , gives one a lot to look at and will often cause its own reactions and realizations.
The one consistent thing I can say about this exercise, is everyone comes out of it with clear ideas of where they want to go next. Sometimes its the realization that there are some areas seriously out of balance that one wants to give more attention to, but it can also be the realization that there is something new one wants to add to their life, a whole new slice of pie. What you do with this information is up to you. For my clients we typically use this as a starting point for the creating of short term and long term goals. Try it for yourself, or if you are interested, click the box below and we can work through the exercise together. Either way, I wish you the best of luck!