Is your life balanced? Find out with this fun exercise…

Posted by Renae on 29 September 2011 in Be Whole, Looking In | 0 comments

The idea of balance means something different to everyone, an obvious conclusion after reading each multi-faceted post this month! So, what do you think about balance? Is your life balanced? I initially wrote about the balance-wheel exercise back in the Spring when we were talking about Play. I admit, I am a sucker for this kind of thing. Whether it’s taking a formal Meyer-Briggs personality test or checking off the answers to “What is your Fashion IQ?” in some trashy lifestyle magazine…you are sure to find me hovering over the paper with pen in hand! Some of these are silly, but others can be useful and enlightening as I found this exercise to be.

I discovered this simple balance wheel exercise from Focus Life Coaching and really like the fact that you can individualize it to reflect what is important to you. Start by labeling each “spoke” with eight different aspects of your life. Some examples are: Family, Recreation, Health, Finances, Marriage, Career, Personal Development, Relationship with God etc. I like how Bernhard Zimmerman categorizes the different areas of life in this example if you need more direction. Most life balance wheels have broad categories but you can certainly be much more specific.

After writing labels next to each “spoke”, rate each category on a scale from 1 to 10 based on your level of fulfillment or satisfaction, 10 being the highest rating. Draw a small dot on each category spoke that corresponds to your rating. After rating each category draw a curved line to connect all the dots forming your “wheel”. Shade or color inside the wheel-area to provide a more effective visual if you wish.

I printed two of these templates last night and my husband (who, unlike me, doesn’t usually love all this psychological evaluation) and I made our own balance wheel charts.

Here’s my wheel…colored in with one of my son’s crayons. (I purposely left out the labels because it’s well….personal) :)

Here’s my husband’s wheel.

As you can see, neither of us have a completely round wheel. (if we did, we might be some form of mutant super-humans!) It was very interesting to see this information in a visual way and I was a little surprised. For example, I spend a lot of energy feeling frustrated when I don’t exercise as much as I hoped or have an unhealthy eating day, but I actually rated my health quite high. On the other hand, I wasn’t surprised with my low rating in the “life planning” section. I’m still struggling with this whole budget/organize-my-life thing!

Also, my husband ended up really liking this. He thought the most significant part of this exercise was delineating the most important areas of your life and liked the fact that it was individualized. Doing this together also sparked a great conversation, probably the best one we’ve had in weeks!

Here’s to trying for a balanced life, simplifying goals and….improving my love life! If you want to make your own balance wheel click here for a printable template with instructions.

“We need quiet time to examine our lives openly and honestly. . . spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order.” ~ Susan L. Taylor