% | Focus | Monitor

Last week, we talked about resilience and shared a tool for your benefit. This week, I’ll introduce you to another tool: the “wheel of life”. 

It sounds grand, right? Don’t be scared, this is one of the simplest yet most effective tools out there. 

Thanks to it, and some coaching, my life improved by 57%! 

When I told this to my coach, she laughed but, in all seriousness, in 18 months of being coached and using this tool my life improved by 57%! No joke. 

This tool is one of the most visual, pragmatic, and easy-to-monitor tools out there. 

This mighty wheel is literally a secret weapon! One of the best kept secrets of the coaching industry, or should I say the default tool of many coaches. Unfortunately, many coaches don’t know how to do without… 

Today, everything around us is moving fast and in so many directions. It might feel totally overwhelming. Family, friends, work, health…. everything with its own demands, urgency, importance. What to focus on? When? What is important? Probably EVERYTHING is important to you!

You cannot not take care of your kids, nor let your career go, take time to manage your finances, and if you’re doing all of that, are you compromising on your health? How do you balance all of this with quality time with your friends?

THIS is the equation we ALL face EVERY DAY! 

How the heck do I manage to keep all those plates spinning?! Because, at the end of the day, you have to…somehow! Those different dimensions are not independent. We need all of them in our life to feel balanced and happy. 

And that is exactly where the challenge lies, the shape of this balance. There is a natural order that starts to form but it might not be the best for us or the one we consciously want. So how do you change this?

Recently, I had a couple of coaching sessions in which my clients couldn’t figure out what they wanted to prioritise. Relationship? Career? Finance? Not knowing where to focus is normal and everyone faces the same dilemma as everything constantly vies for our attention.

The benefit of this wheel is self-explanatory, so let’s dive in for you to build yours….

So…

• Take a piece of paper and a pen.

• Draw a circle.

• Divide the circle into 8 or 10 equal sections.

• Mark 0 (the centre of the circle) to 10 (the furthest point from the center) each of the 8 or 10 drawn segments.

Now that you have the tool ready…

• Brainstorm 8 or 10 areas that are important to YOU.

  • Mine were Finance, Health, Career, Relationship, Emotional, Time Management, Spirituality, Contribution.

  • But there is no right or wrong, you could also split relationship into love and friendship, add others like home comfort, personal growth, fun, achievement, autonomy, community engagement, etc…. It is YOUR wheel.

  • What is important to you? This is the first finding with value in its own right!

• Write each of those 8/10 areas, just outside the circle facing each one of the 8/10 segments.

• For each section, score yourself from 1 (the worst) to 10 (the best) where you feel you are TODAY.

  • There is no right or wrong. Where do you think you are today? Don’t think too much.

  • Some people beat the hell out of themselves when they realise they are a 6/10. Cool! Relax… be gentle with yourself, it is not that bad after all!

• For each section score yourself from 1 (the worst) to 10 (the best) where you imagine your your IDEAL YOU!

  • And NO, 10/10 everywhere is not the ideal score! What is ideal for YOU? What do you value? e.g., “If I am a 6/10 in health, that is enough.”

Now it should start to take shape…

• What is the lowest score? The highest?

• Where is the biggest gap? Where is the smallest gap?

By the way, I assume that the gap is positive. I have never yet heard someone who wanted a lower score than their current one…but never say never 😊

So, what does this tell you? My 2 cents would tell me that the biggest gap is where the biggest imbalance between what you want and where you are is, and possibly what is weighing the greatest on all the other areas.

So maybe, just maybe, this could be a focus area, or maybe not, but only YOU can say.

Ok… So, you got...

• The tool

• Your scores

• Some sort of focus area

….then what?

You decide how to close the key GAP! 

But waiiiiiiit, you are not going to say I am 2/10 (whatever this means to you) on finance and want to become 9/10, which again means VERY different things for different people. 

The question is how you move from 2 to 3, from 3 to 4, from 4 to 6 as a stretch, maybe you then realise that it is too much of a step so instead, go to 5. Step by step to gain momentum….

You might realise then that you don’t need to be a 9, and that actually you are perfectly fine at 6 since the bank is not calling you every day anymore, and that actually you are better off focusing on another dimension, e.g., your health?

All of a sudden, you can

• Prioritise

• Focus

• Balance

• Having it all

When I did this exercise for the first time, all my 8 scores combined came to a mere 35/80, not even a pass! 18 months later, all my scores aggregated equalled 55/80…or +57%!

I scored the same attributes both times, BUT if others become more important to you over time, that’s fine too. Feel free to change it up! 

It is YOUR tool, it is YOUR wheel, be playful and you will see some improvement! No false claim!

Question: What is the area of your life that needs the most attention and will have the greatest impact on all the others?