What is this wheel we are talking about? Imagine you are in a helicopter ride. You have the chance to see all the different ways you have walked through every day. You can observe your neighborhood and find a shortcut to your favorite bakery if you are lucky enough. This is possible because of the 360° angle view that a helicopter ride provides. We also wish for the same view in our lives to help us observe our angles from a different perspective. This is called the “bird’s eye”.
Today I’ll introduce you to a powerful tool for visualizing all areas of your life. This tool enables you to understand where you need improvement, from your intimate relationships to your financial status. Wheel of Life offers you the chance to evaluate your life ultimately leading you to achieve your true balance. It is represented as a pie chart with its subdivisions.
A tool we deserve!
As a means of coaching or setting goals, most people use this concept to identify how an individual spends his/her time. Likewise, this tool serves to measure the satisfaction level of this person about the different parts of life.
Paul J. Meyer who is the founder of the Success Motivation Institute created this concept. The original pie views are also supported by Spider Web view and have been established in several great organizations. In fact, there are several different wheels, but for the purpose of this blog, I will try to explain the most common one.
How to make a nearly perfect wheel:
1-) Draw a circle and split it into 8 pies.
2-) Each pie represents a category so name each pie accordingly.
3-) From 1(close to the center) – 10(outside of the circle, draw a subdivision to make your template ready.
4-) Fiil each category based on how satisfied you are right now. Try to spend as much time as possible and concentrate on your current status. For instance, your relationship with your family may not be strong as seen in public yet you may be OK with it. You don’t need to apply political correctness here.
5-) Draw a tick line between subdivisions and connect them.
Pro tip: You can also fill the blanks that are included in your subdivision. It will help you to create a better visualization of your life.
Now what?
Now you have a wheel! Henry Ford would have been proud of you. Take a look at your wheel. Is this wheel strong enough to drive you away? Are you likely to break and make an accident on the road?
Apart from his capitalist wheel brother, this wheel does not promise you to get success if you work hard. This shows the true balance in an individual’s life. It includes a pile of relationships, physical and mental wellness and career. There is no such thing as “work hard on your health”
After you have examined your results, you need an action point. The more your wheel looks like a wheel, the higher the chance of you having a better life progress. More importantly, you will have increased your life satisfaction.
What about a small wheel?
Some smart friends of yours may assume that a smaller but better-shaped wheel is way better than a bigger but skewed wheel. Your progress speed depends on your wheel size as your brain is the engine of your life. That’s why you need a bigger, well-shaped wheel if you have dreams to achieve.
My dear Croatian friend, Luka, has taught me all about this wheel and it has had great impacts on my life since he introduced me to it. Since then, I have been using this wheel in a few workshops as a great self-realization tool. Moreover, it has been very helpful as a conversation booster in my friend groups. I strongly suggest you have a look at his other blog posts.
How to use it as a weapon?
You can use the wheel as preparation for goal setting in your life. Find the weak points, try to create a plan on how you can improve at that specific area to reach a balance in your life. Again, it is about balance. Quitting your high-paid job to find your true love won’t actually help you improve that area as you would be suffering financially later on.
To prioritize what we need to, we are researching on the Internet to find a productivity tool. Tools are indeed useful however they don’t tell you your current spiritual level unless you are a true believer of the Mercury retrograde. The wheel of life can be used as a prioritization concept, showing where to focus first on your life.
Many people join the wandbagon and not design their lives. To take your control, you need to know the areas where you are strong and the ones where you are weak. This may help you to lead a balanced and less regretful life.
Try to draw another wheel in three months and share the results with us! You will see the progress yourself.