On this episode of the #CoachYourself series, I’d like to share a great tool for beginning any kind of self-inquiry: The Wheel of Life ♥
I first encountered this exercise when I was a coach-in-training with The TLC Solution. On the very first day of our training, we were asked to fill out our own Wheel of Life and immediately, coach each other with that as a jump-off point! Things were happening too fast for me to even doubt if I could coach or not but blessedly, the Wheel of Life did around 60% of the work for me.
Let me explain how it works – then you’ll get why it’s such a great starting point for self-inquiry.
The Wheel of Life shows us eight categories that comprehensively cover different aspects of our life. Here they are with some guide questions that could be useful to you:
Personal growth – Overall, are you growing as a whole person from one day to the next, one week to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next?
Fun and recreation – Do you have enough time in your life to lay back and do things just for the fun of them? If you do have the time, do you do things just for the fun of it, without any agenda?
Physical environment – Do you like the environment or physical space you find yourself in? What’s your relationship to your physical environment? Are you mindful of your physical environment/
Business / Career – Do you like going to work everyday? Do you feel you’re work now is part of a larger plan? Do you have clarity with where your career is going? Do you feel a sense of purpose with your daily tasks?
Finances – Are you making enough to sustain your lifestyle? Do you have savings at the end of the month? Do you have extra money to spend on emergencies? Are you spending outside of your actual financial means?
Health and Spirituality- How much physical energy do you have every day? Is the food you take in giving you energy or is it making you feel tired? Do you get to exercise within the week? Do you get sick often or not? I added the spirituality part too. How much time do you devote to self-care such as resting. Are you often very anxious mentally or emotionally? Do you feel you have a healthy connection to whatever it is you believe in? If you do not believe in anything in particular, do you still feel supported somehow by family and friends?
Family and friends – Are you able to be honest with friends and family? Do you feel that they understand who you are? Do they feel that you understand them? Do you get to give time to your family and friends?
Romance – If you’re single, what is your view on dating and relationships? Are you ready to venture out and try dating? What has been the theme of your past relationships? If you’re in a relationship, how do you think the relationship is going? Do you feel that your partner understands who you are? Do they feel that you understand who your partner is? Do you get to give time to your partner?
As you’ll see, there are ten levels to each section of the pie. Once you print this out or even draw this out for yourself, fill out each section according to the PRESENT situation — 1 being very low, 10 being complete satisfaction and positivity. (Here’s a form you can print out from www.saperechoaching.com)
When you fill this out, try to do so without judging yourself or where you find yourself now. Though you may be tempted to see it that way, The Wheel of Life is not an evaluation form to check how good or successful of a person you are – it’s simply an accounting of what’s happening now. If you’re having a hard time filling it out or a hard time disengaging from the tendency to judge your answers, maybe try these beforehand:
- Sit first. Close your eyes and count 21 inhales and exhales.
- Do physical exercise to clear the mind slightly.
- Do guided meditations. (GO TO: Guided Meditations)
After, look at your personal Wheel of Life.
Immediately, you’ll see the existence of balance and imbalance. It will be obvious what needs to be worked on, what needs your attention and so on.
To make the exercise a bit more productive you can:
- Journal about the results, taking stock of new insights and realizations. Asking yourself, “Why is it this low or high?”
- Talk to a trusted friend about the results and even encourage him or her to do the exercise with you
- Have a conversation with a life coach about the results, especially if you find it hard to make sense of it yourself. If you like, you can try it out with me 🙂 (GO TO: Get Life Coaching)
- Do the exercise again, one month later and see what has changed.
Pretty simple, but very powerful.
If you’d like to see what The Wheel of Life looks like when it’s actually filled out, here’s mine for July 2016:
Again, If you do this and you find, you need a little bit of help in the aftermath of what you’ve discovered, perhaps try Life Coaching. If you’d like to try it with me, visit this page: Get Life Coaching.
Thank you for your time and namaste 
Let me know if you have suggestions or questions.
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