Life Balance Wheel
No matter where we are, who we are with and what we do, we have the option of choosing at any moment how we will manage our energy and the balance between ourselves and the work that we do. But we may run into a setback and are unable to proceed. We may feel stuck and cannot move forward. Often, we are (too) busy or all of our energy is misdirected as we are not devoting enough attention to certain areas of our lives. This situation is anything but easy, and we find ourselves being out of balance.
If we live a fully occupied life, it is sometimes difficult to recognise that we are swamped by work so we lose the positive connection to others in the working environment. Individuals who experience burnout during or at work, start to feel certain changes coming up in their life, either willingly or unwillingly. What can I do when I do not know how to go on? That is the moment to take a helicopter view of life so as to rebalance everything.
The use of the Wheel of Life allows us to take a helicopter view of our own life and try to find out where we are balanced and which areas of our lives are imbalanced. It also helps us to become more efficient and better satisfied with ourselves.
The wheel presents the aspects of eight areas of our life. Think about your health, career, finance and relationships. Where are you doing well at this time and where you could do some work on yourself or would benefit from some knowledge? Are you feeling energised and full of vitality, are you trying to establish a real connection with people? Are you on the right path to achieving financial freedom, but got stuck somewhere along the line in your work that has no real meaning for you anymore? Which parts of your life have you ignored in order to place your attention elsewhere?
The Wheel of Life is a powerful tool as it visually presents the current state of your life. Based on what we saw and the potential solutions, we can arrange certain areas like the spokes in a wheel. Using knowledge, we then create measures to achieve the desired change. The tool thus helps us recognise areas requiring more attention. No matter how successful or happy in life we are, there are always details that could be improved.
Now, the challenge is to progress and take action so as to incorporate the desired changes and achieve balance. Ask yourself whether there are areas in your life that are out of balance. Perhaps, you are neglecting some of them and are devoting too little time to others. Think about what you want more and what you want less of.
No matter how busy our days, we must think about ourselves. We must consciously decide what kind of attitude towards ourselves we will establish, meaning that we will ourselves consciously steer our life.
Ana Marija Blažič (anamarija.blazic@ric-nm.si), Novo mesto AEC
