Sometimes, we feel so inundated with life and its challenges, that we grapple with a basic life question – “Where do I begin?”. All of a sudden, snuggling into the quilt, and binge watching, Schitts Creek, seems like a viable option.
Well, as a coach, I find that okay. You need a hustle, most days. But, sometimes, it’s also necessary to get the ball rolling again. When I find my energies low, I find the Balance wheel a great point to begin my starting again with. It is something I use as a tool, with people I coach as well.
What is the Balance Harmony Wheel?
So, first things first, the Balance Wheel is a simple exercise where there are 8 different areas of your life listed and you give each one a score between 1 and 10 to show how satisfied you are with that area. Personally, I like to call my wheel a Harmony wheel, as that is what I strive to achieve. Balancing, in my opinion is still a wobbly act! Our life journeys are different, what we gravitate towards varies and so harmony over balance seems more appropriate to me. Yes, certain things like health are essential and need attention, so ensuring we keep the basics in mind as we work towards finding our harmony.
Usually there are 8 areas that are generally looked at as the main themes for a balanced life, these are career, financial, mental, social, personal growth, physical health, relationships and spiritual. There might be some areas that may not resonate with you. For instance, you may not be a spiritual person and that’s ok, you could just ignore it or replace it with something else more meaningful to you. Then consider each one in a pie and give it a score on a scale of 1-10, 10 being best, on how well you think you are doing at it. As shown in the adjacent image. Whether you choose to draw it out or make it in excel, it doesn’t matter how it looks, just that you have your numbers to work with.
What do I do once I have the numbers?
Self-scoring is a great way to know where you stand. It gives you an idea of where life is good, and where it’s a tad bit blah. The aim here isn’t to score a perfect 10. Everything being hunky dory isn’t really a realistic view and its but natural for things to be low too.
In the adjacent image is an example of a self-score for Manoj, a marketing executive in his mid 30’s. Have a look at his self-score to understand how you might do this for yourself. And then move on to his harmony wheel.
Don’t aim for perfection
Like I said, we aren’t aiming for a perfect 10, we are aiming for harmony and only you know what brings that to your life. So be realistic and also incremental as you work towards creating that harmony.
Setting goals
It’s up to you how you choose to use your numbers on your Balance Wheel to set goals. Here are few ideas, of how I’ve done in the past.
- Depending on the timeline that you are giving yourself for your goals, you may want to pick the top 3 areas to work with instead of taking on too much.
- Or you may write out a small incremental goal for each of the 8 areas.
- Have an introspection session of everything you’d like to work towards and then choose some of them to turn into a goal. Remember that bigger projects need to be broken down into smaller tasks to ensure they don’t get forgotten or delayed.
How often should I be using the Harmony Wheel?
That’s up to you, but I personally don’t think it needs to be done very often. If you used it weekly then you might struggle to do it. It would be more useful for setting direction and keeping focus by –
- Using it for a monthly check in with yourself.
- Assessing the big picture each season.
- When you’re feeling directionless or lost.
- With other aspects of life where you may need to prioritize between various options you might have to work with.
- Or use it to discuss your plans and goals with your coach or mentor.
Here’s hoping you this wheel enables your on your journey to work towards and maintain harmony!