Wheel Of Life

Many coaches use the ‘wheel of life’, some know HOW to use the information and some don’t.

Are your needs been met by being asked to complete the wheel of life?

What information does the wheel of life hold?

Well you can answer the first, and I guess you may not know if the wheel has actually helped.
Just because you score low on a wheel of life in a particular area doesn’t mean that that area is to be worked on immediately. Yes it may need work however what reason have you been given as to WHY?

The answer is in the calculation required to properly evaluate the areas that need immediate attention.

It is recommended that the wheel of life be completed at least twice in one 12-month period, more if required. However the areas covered in the WoL are not trivial they cover the 8 major areas of all our lives, because this is the case it may take more than a few weeks to make any significant changes, requiring multiple stabs at the wheel.

Here is the correct way to use the wheel of life and calculate the average of your scores. In doing this you will be highlighting what areas on the wheel you need to concentrate on first.

You can draw your own wheel or you can download one from http://www.successbydesign.ltd.uk/wheel.jpg.

The below descriptions are supplied by Glen Mcquirk of the purpose club; I am an authorised distributor of his products in the UK and founder member.

The areas covered are FAMILY, MENTAL, PHYSICAL, FINANCIAL, CAREER, SOCIAL, RECRIATIONAL & SPIRITUAL.

For each area there are a few guidelines to consider before rating your score.

FAMILY: Relationships. Spouse. Children.

If you are un-married, your parents and siblings (brothers and sisters) or perhaps your boyfriend or girlfriend. Relationships with friends and strangers or extended family would also fall into this category, but are far less important for this evaluation.

MENTAL: Personal development. Problem solving. Ideas. Inventions. Innovations.

The brain is the most exciting creation in the universe. Are you feeding it? Are you continually growing? Do you have a personal development programme?

PHYSICAL: Health. Exercise. Eating habits. Weight. Dress. Grooming.

Your body is key to your success. You cannot do without it. The poorer it is looked after, the more difficult it is to sustain the energy required to reach great goals. Do you have an exercise programme? Do you eat healthy food? Do you dress well? Are you your ideal body weight? Do you injure your life sustaining body cells through smoke inhalation, alcohol or any other drug intake?

FINANCIAL: Money. Wealth accumulation. Lifestyle.

How much do you make and how much do you keep? Do you earn a residual income? Is your income continually growing? If your income stream stopped today, how long could you maintain your current lifestyle? Do you have sufficient income to realise your dreams?

CAREER: Job. Business. Hobby. Purpose. Mission. Vision.

Where are you going? Are you doing what you were born to do? Do you love your job / business? Have you a plan to improve your position? When have you planned to take your next promotion? Do you have a career plan? Is this career going to allow you to reach your dreams?

SOCIAL: Community. Environment. Giving. Voluntary service.

Do you give back to society? Do you support others financially or in kind? Do you contribute to or do any charitable work? Do you use your expertise to help and benefit others? Giving to those less fortunate than yourself is most rewarding: it energises you. Are you taking care of your environment? Are you making a difference in your community?

RECRIATIONAL: Holiday. Time out. Rest. Restoration. Recuperation.

Rest and Restoration, when did you last go away and just do nothing? Taking time out is more important than you think, to recharge your batteries. Holidays are enjoyable, but sometimes they can drain you. What are you doing to ensure that you have adequate rest and restoration throughout the year?

SPIRITUAL: Creator. Relationship. Worship. Scripture. Meditation. Prayer. Faith.

Do you have a personal relationship with a creator? Is this a strong relationship? What are you doing to strengthen it? Do you know and understand your purpose? Are you thankful? Do you exercise faith or fear? Have you investigated your faith? Do you pray/meditate regularly?

Spirituality is a difficult area and often substituted in the wheel, however it is very important. We are all spiritual entities so belief in yourself would appear in this area. If you believe in a God or the Universe then here is where you would rate your belief. If you are not sure then this area would score a low rating and may need some work.

The key is to score yourself by comparing where you are in relation to where you want to be. Not to score yourself in relation to other people. Their position has no relevance to your future success.

After drawing your wheel or downloading it you will then start from the top of the list and score yourself, taking into account the subject guideline. A score of 10 would mean that you have reached all your goals in a particular area of life and you are totally satisfied with where you are. A score of 0 would imply that you have neglected that particular area totally and feel that you need to take some action to rectify your identified imbalance. Don’t spend too much time analysing each area psychologically or scientifically, but rather go with your instinct, your gut feel.

Work in a clockwise direction and continue to score yourself, use a pencil in case of errors and place a dot adjacent to the area under consideration.

Join all eight dots.

How smooth is your wheel?

The steps that follow show how you should go about achieving a balanced life. Calculate your average score by adding all eight scores and dividing the total by eight. EG (5+6+7+4+4+7+2+3+5)/8 = 38/8 = 4.75. Draw a circle in dotted lines representing your average score. The areas whose score falls below this average line are the areas that require your urgent attention. Your first goal is to raise these scores to equal the average line.

Once you have successfully raised your low scores up to the average level, you are ready to take the next step towards living a balanced life.

Draw a circle to mark the score of your best performing area, in the case of this example the score as a 7.

All areas falling below this line must be raised in order to achieve balance. This you do by strengthening your areas for improvement in all areas that fall below the perfectly balanced wheel.