With the fast-changing pace of life nowadays, we tend to race through our lives without pausing to consider who we really want to be or where we really want to go. In order to meet the relentless demands, it’s easy to put all one’s energy in a specific area but forget the other important ones; therefore, it makes our lives off-balance. In fact, each area plays an important role in our lives; hence, the balance of life is needed to be considered.
What is the Wheel of Life?
The Wheel of Life is described as a wheel comprising of different categories of life, including Health, Career, Relationships, Finance, Personal Growth, or Social Activities.
Figure 1: An example of the Wheel of Life.
The Wheel of Life is a perfect tool to help us have a look at how we spend our time and energy on each area of life clearly. By using this tool, it enables you to reflect and gain some insights into the balance of life and how content you feel in different areas. With this self-refection, not only does it help you to understand why your Wheel of Life looks the way it does but is also enables you to adjust your time and energy in order to have the Wheel of Life you want.
Create your Wheel of Life
Spend some time to draw your own Wheel of Life. Normally, some important categories in life are Health, Career, Finance, Relationships, Personal Development, Fun & Creation, or Spirituality. However, you can choose any area which is the most important for you to create your own Wheel of Life.
Self-reflection
After creating your Wheel of Life, rank the levels of satisfaction you feel in each category by answering this question:
From a scale of 1 to 10, how do you feel satisfied about your Health? your Relationships? your Career? your Personal Development?
(1: feel dissatisfied, 10: feel satisfied)
By answering those questions, you can see how your Wheel of Life looks like as well as the level of satisfaction you feel in different areas in your life.
Imagine your Wheel of Life looks like Figure 1, how can it move forward in a long run?
Through self-refection, you can now identify the gap between where you are now and where you wanna go in the future; and hence, it helps you to manage your time and energy effectively to achieve your goals and keep your life balanced.
How do I use the Wheel of Life for goal-settings and keep a balance in my life?
(in 2016)
Realizing the importance of many areas in my life, I am now trying to apply the Wheel of Life in order to keep my life balanced and also use it as a tool for goal-setting and time management.
Personally, I choose these areas to create my own Wheel of Life: Health, Relationships, Finance, Career, Travel, Personal Development, and Contribution.
Health: including physical & mental health.
Physical Health
- Wake up early and go to bed early (5:30 am to 10:30 pm)
- Drink enough water (and drink 1-2 glasses of water after waking up in the morning)
- Eat on time and don’t skip breakfast
- Work out at least 3 times per week ( I take a Yoga class 3 times a week)
- Eat enough fruit and vegetable
Mental Health
- Meditate 20 mins everyday
- Visualize & be thankful everyday
Career
Try to gain more knowledge and skills in Life Coaching & HR. (Spend 1-2 hours per day on doing this).
Finance
Learn how to manage my money effectively
Relationships
• Be thankful for the important relationships I have in my life
• Keep in touch with my beloved ones
Personal Development
Learn something new and get out of my comfort zone:
- Learn how to drive
- Learn how to swim
- Learn how to cook
Read books every day (30-45 mins/day)
Continue to improve my English skill
Travel
Visit at least 2 new places per year
Contribution
Blood donation every year
Take part in some volunteer activities
In summary, the Wheel of Life is a perfect tool for both short-term and long-term goal-settings. At the end of every week, every month, or every year, spend some time to reflect yourself to identify the gap between where you are now and where you wanna go. By tracking your Wheel of Life regularly, you can find a whole lot easier to achieve a fulfilled and balanced life. Let’s make it happen! 🙂
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