I thought I had a balanced life. That was until I did a visualization exercise that highlighted to me very clearly that my life is anything but balanced. There is so much room for improvement and I am up for the challenge.
Recently I undertook an exercise that got me thinking about the balance of life. It was a wheel split into 8 sections known as the ‘wheel of life’. The idea behind it is if you have a balanced life the numbers on the wheel will be similar all the way around. The wheel is a metaphor for your being able to commute through life with the most efficiency. If you have a poor wheel of life you are not going to have a smooth ride and something is lacking.
Each section of the wheel needs to be marked out of ten. Ten being the sections of your life that are absolutely complete to a level you are satisfied and fulfilled by. 1 or even 0 is a section of your life that is completely unfulfilled and requires a lot of work.
Family and Your Inner Circle
Everyone has different family situations and some people have much bigger inner circles than others. Not to say that one is better than the other. Ultimately it is what you feel you need to achieve that balance.
Physical & Health
This is one we need to be very honest with ourselves about. So many people over-estimate their physical health. Just because we look healthy on the outside doesn’t mean we can eat foods constantly that are detrimental to our health.
Vocational Work and Volunteer Involvement
How much of yourself to you give to others? This involves making an effort to give back to your community and helping others where you’re able to.
Spiritual and Personal Growth
This involves going on that path of self-discovery and really understanding how you think, why you act certain ways and understanding yourself inside and out.
Relational, Romance and Significant Other
Having that significant other you can share your life with and how your relationship is with that person.
Social and Friends
This is an important aspect that shouldn’t be taken for granted or forgotten about. Continue to constantly work on all your relationships with your friends and put yourself in as many social situations as possible.
Recreational, Hobbies and Vacations
Are you doing the things you love in life? How often do you get that holiday you want or are involved with hobbies you are passionate about.
Financial and Cash Flow
This area is related to career, income and cash flow. Are you waiting for that promotion or maybe you feel your services and workload warrants a higher pay package.
When I looked at my own circle these are the conclusions I came to without giving away the numbers I rated myself for each you might be able to have an educated guess.
Family and Your Inner Circle
My family and my closest friends mean the world to me. I am very happy with the aspect of my life. I have a huge amount of support from my family and I have two brothers I would do anything for. At times I definitely take my family for granted. After traveling for 4 months you start to realise just how much you miss them.
Physical & Health
This area of my life could use some improvement. My diet is extremely average with fast food often on the menu. I play a lot of sport and try to reach 10,000 steps a day on my fitbit but I definitely need to add some high intensity interval training to my improve my general health and fitness. In terms of getting sick I very rarely get sick. I have had 1 sick day in the last 2 years and that is because I needed to go in to the doctors for a minor surgery. There are definitely a lot of improvements to be made in this area. I would love to run a marathon at some point of my life.
Vocational Work and Volunteer Involvement
I give up a lot of my time. Especially working with children, I have volunteered with Anglicare in various programs where young boy need a male role model in their life. I have worked with children extensively at US Summer Camps, I coach an Under 12’s basketball team and I volunteer my time at disabled sporting clinics. While I am happy with this aspect I feel there are always more opportunities to give back each and every day and this is not an area you should ever get complacent with.
Spiritual and Personal Growth
I am very self aware. I know myself inside and out. This is probably one of my strongest areas. I know my strengths and I know my weaknesses and I am continue trying to learn new things and gain new skills.
Relational, Romance and Significant Other
This area is definitely my weakest area. It has been a considerable amount of time since I have even considered looking for someone that I want to share my life with. I am of the feeling that I will meet the person I am meant to be with when it’s meant to be. Who knows maybe I have already met them I just haven’t explored that option. It is definitely an area of my life I have not put a lot of effort into.
Social and Friends
This area I can also improve on a lot. I don’t get out a lot. I often talk myself out of it at the last minute and stay in my comfort zone in the comfort of my own home. I would love to increase this aspect of my life and add a larger social aspect to my life.
Recreational, Hobbies and Vacations
I have so many hobbies and love my sport but I always feel I wish there was more room for them to be a larger part of my life. In terms of vacations I have had some amazing experiences traveling but again I want this to continue to be a large part of my life and I really want to add more of these components into my life for the pure fact that I enjoy them so much and they are responsible for the memories I am always reliving. This section is where living happens for me. I don’t want to look back and regret not traveling and seeing the world while I have the opportunity.
Financial and Cash Flow
This is an important aspect of my life and something that always have more room to improve. I never worry about this too much as I have the self belief that the projects I work on and I’m passionate about will come through in big for me in the long run and I am looking forward to that adventure. But if I had to rate this of where it is now and where I want it to be long term then it would be ranked very low how things are currently
I challenge you all to take this challenge and get a visual on your own life to help you identify areas where you can improve and where change needs to happen.
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