Is your Wheel of Life in balance?
Stress for Success
February 6, 2007

Certain stress reduction strategies are universally healthy for virtually everybody. One of them is having life balance. This can mean different things, such as balance:
• between work and home
• in personality traits, for example, an overly independent person would be wise to acknowledge the opposite trait, vulnerability, vs. push it away when it’s triggered • activity with rest to reduce the damage stress does to you physically and emotionally

To assess your overall life balance use the best Wheel of Life activity I've ever found by Ben Dean of MentorCoach that will identify areas of your life that are out of balance.

Draw a large circle on a piece of paper. Divide the circle into eight equal pie segments. Use the following categories to label each of the eight sections (or substitute other labels that represent your life more accurately):
• Career (or retirement)
• Financial security
• Health
• Social life
• Significant other/romance
• Spirituality
• Leisure time
• Physical environment

Regard the center of your wheel as a 0 and the outer edge a 10 to measure your satisfaction.
• 0 = no satisfaction
• 10 = complete satisfaction

For each section rate your level of satisfaction with it then draw a line representing your 0 to 10 score to create a new outer edge for that section. The new perimeter of the entire circle represents your Wheel of Life. How bumpy is your ride with your new perimeter?

Those sections you rated low in satisfaction are the areas to work on. For instance, if you rated six sections an “8” or higher and the remaining two, let's say, career and recreation significantly lower, to improve your life balance you need to engage more often in recreation that’s pleasing to you and to adjust your work life more to your liking.

Make a goal to increase your satisfaction with one section you’re presently discontented with by 2 – 3 points over the next three months. Then, regarding that section, what would you like more of and less of? For instance, with the work section, perhaps you’d want more:
• Uninterrupted time to focus
• Positive feedback on your work

Maybe you’d want less:
• Negativity
• Overtime

Next, figure out how to get more and less of what you say you want, making sure that it’s largely within your control to get. Expecting a boss, for instance, to give you more feedback is beyond your control. However, it’s within your control to ask her directly for the feedback you want.

In our rat-race society it may seem impossible to achieve balance. That’s why small steps are fine. For example, to improve your recreation score you could begin by turning off the TV one night a week and engaging in whatever recreational activity appeals to you.

Re-draw your Wheel of Life annually and make the necessary changes it implies. Eventually you’ll be in much greater balance.

Next week we’ll look at what your employer could do to help you move toward a healthier balance.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.