Nov 2, 2009

Life In a Wheel or a Wheel of Life - it is my choice !!





Finding Balance In Your Life using the ‘Life Wheel’

                                                               

Ms. Ona Lage wrote in a recent article Finding Balance in Your Life using the ‘Life Wheel’ (see http://www.workplacerewards.com/ )

When we focus all our energy on a particular project or allow the ‘busy-ness’ of life to overtake us, we neglect important areas of our life and become ‘off balance’. 
While it is important to stay focused and driven in order to complete tasks, too often we allow a project to consume us.  This often leads to frustration and intense stress.  

What we need to do, at this point, is to step back, take a look at our life and put things back into balance.
A very useful tool for doing this is the ‘Life Wheel’. Used by professional life coaches for assessing and identifying areas in our life that are ‘off balance’, this tool can show us where to make the necessary corrections.  “
There are several options of the wheel and one below is an adaptation from many, because of its simplicity.  What we require is a wheel and in a short while we can complete the self-analysis



As we move forward, a lot of us are looking at our lives and do reprioritizing.

To help you in this process, here are some exercises to help you identify where you might be out of balance and get you started on creating the life you want.

  1. We start with a piece of paper. For each of the areas listed above, describe your vision of what success in that area would look and feel like. Write this out as richly as possible.
  2. Our  paper work could result in following columns UNDER EACH AREA / SLICE of the WHEEL
    • Name  (of each Area / slice of the Life Wheel )
    • Priority / weightage (How much is this particular area important to us. Rank from 1 to 10 where 1 is least important and 10 is most important. Remember: the weightage we give to one area today may change when we sit down to re-write again, say after one or two years. It is fine).  
  3. Next, it is time to consider your ideal level in each area of your life. Some areas often need more attention and focus than others do. Inevitably, you will need to make choices and compromises, as your time and energy are not in unlimited supply!
  4. The next step is to assess the amount of attention you are currently devoting to each area ( Identify & remember to be grateful for what already  exists)
  5. Next is to find out where are the gaps? These are the areas of your life that need attention, and remember- gaps can go both ways (too much or too little).
  6. Now that you have identified the areas that need attention, it is time to plan the actions needed to work on regaining balance.
  7. Start with the neglected areas ~ What do you need to be doing to regain balance? Write it down as an action plan. Stay committed to these actions by practicing daily!
  8. Time frame for  achieving it .( Write realistic time frame )
  9. 3 Things we can do towards achieving this goal (Identify 3 things which we can and must do)l
  10. One Action Step to take this week (Identify one thing we can do this week. ANY action towards one of our goals counts as it  starts building momentum )
The challenge now is to transform this knowledge and desire for a more balanced life into a positive program of action.
 
Remember:-
"Guilt means we are focused on the past. 
Fear means we are focused on the future. 
When we are calm or centered, we know we are living in the present." 
Louise Morganti Kaelin
 

1 comment:

  1. Deepak, thank you for the mention on my post. It's been awhile since I wrote this but it is still very true! I do hope it helped you and those who read it.

    All the very best,
    Ona Lage'
    Workplace Rewards

    ReplyDelete

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