THE WHEEL OF LIFE
Let’s get you started straight away. You’ll need a pen and a few minutes as you’re about to complete your first Wheel of Life. This simple tool will allow you measure how well you are doing in all the key areas of life. Your wheel will change each time you complete it, so this is a snapshot in time, and your starting point towards that elusive Brilliant Life. This first wheel is going to form the basis of how you read the rest of this book, so take a few minutes to complete it with your full attention. I’ll give you full instructions plus some hints and tips to help you to get the best out of the process.
You’ll notice the wheel is split into eight key areas and we’ll look at every one in more detail later in this book. Right now all you are going to do is give yourself a simple mark out of 10 for how well you think you are doing in each.
Here are a few helpful hints to ensure you get the most from completing your first wheel:
- BE HONEST! It’s easy to fill in the wheel and cheat a little by adding one or two marks to your scores. But, at the end of the day, who are you really cheating?
- Don’t dwell. Your first wheel is a snapshot so you don’t need to spend a long time thinking about each area. You’ll have time to do that later when you go into more detail during the following chapters.
- Avoid half marks. By that I mean if you feel like you are wavering between a 5 or a 6 give yourself a 5 and move on.
Read each of the following descriptions on your wheel and give yourself an honest mark out of 10. Zero is low. It doesn’t get any worse. Ten is high which means perfect, it doesn’t get any better. You may find yourself somewhere in between.
Your health
Do you jump out of bed feeling amazing or do you need to press the ‘snooze’ button several times before you drag yourself from under the duvet and into the shower? Do you look in the mirror and say ‘wow’ or do you avoid your reflection thinking ‘woah’? Do you have an abundance of mental energy or do you feel yourself getting frustrated and stressed? And how’s your diet? You know what you should be eating and drinking but how well are you doing?
If you’re the picture of health then it’s a high mark here. Overweight, lacking energy, body niggles, unhappy with health or just ‘not yourself’ then it’s a lower mark. Give yourself an honest mark out of 10 for your health.
Your family
Is your family unit tight and are all your relationships perfect? Or are you happy with how you get on with some family members, but others you could happily never see again? If your family life is working well and you feel that you are full of love and caring then you get high marks. If not then consider the mark you need to give. Even if some areas are great but others aren’t so good then average out where you stand and give yourself a mark for family.
Your money
Are you a whizz with money and right up to date with all financial knowledge? Do you invest, know the difference between good and bad credit, and are you comfortable with your financial state? Well done; high marks. Or are you the type of person who has too much month at the end of their money? Do you find yourself fretting over finance and worrying unnecessarily about money? If so, that’s a low mark, I’m afraid. Give yourself a score.
Your relationships
How well do you get on with others? What are your relationships like with your colleagues, your boss, your neighbours? This is your chance to measure your relationships with everyone you come in contact with or know. That’s a lot of people, so be honest and give a score based on how you feel generally. Are you the life and soul of the party, the one who remembers important details about people and the one who can be relied on to keep a secret? Or is your idea of strictest confidence only telling others one at a time? Score yourself now for how well you think you’re doing with relationships.
Your contribution
How much time do you give to help others? Are you committed to going the extra mile without the need for recognition or reward? If you’re a person who is conscious of the impact you make on the world around you and is actively making a difference then it’s high marks here. If you would like to do more if you had more time, then I’m sorry, you don’t get marks for what you would like to do, you get marks for doing it. Be honest and give yourself a score for your contribution.
Your vision
Do you know where you will be and what you will be doing in the next 5, 10 or 20 years? Do you have your goals set, written down and with a plan on how you will achieve them? Or is your nearest thing to a written goal your daily ‘to do’ list? Is the idea of a 10-year plan scary because you don’t even know what you are going to be doing next week? You know how this works now so give yourself an honest mark for your personal vision.
Your career
Do you jump out of bed on a Monday morning and think ‘Work – yippee! I love it so much I’d do it for free!’ Are you in the job of your dreams with amazing rewards and a career plan all laid out so you know exactly where you are going? Well done, it’s high marks for you. Or do you simply go to work to pay the bills? Is the idea of an exciting career something from the dim and distant past? If your career isn’t all that great then give yourself an honest mark to reflect that. Score where you are for career right now.
Your personal development
When did you stop learning? Or are you still a glutton for education? What are you doing right now for your own personal development? How much of your time are you investing in making you better? If you’re reading the right books, working with mentors and spending time on you then it’s high marks here. Be honest with this one; it’s one of the most important sections of your Wheel of Life.
Once you have scored all eight sections take a moment to join up your scores. See the example.
Take a look at your ‘wheel’. Is it any wonder that life is a bumpy journey? The good news is that you are about to tackle the challenging areas head on and with the dozens of ideas, tools and techniques in this book you’ll soon have a brilliant and more balanced life.
Where to start?
Do you remember when you went to primary school and you used to play with scales? You probably worked out quite quickly that the heaviest weights had the biggest effects. The heaviest weights on your wheel are the areas with the lowest scores. So they are the ones we are going to tackle first.
Take a look at your wheel and, starting with the lowest score, make a list of your results:
- (lowest score)
- (highest score)
Now you’ve identified your strongest and weakest areas, you can simply jump to the part of the book that covers your weakest area. Giving this your full attention now will give you instant big results. When you’ve completed this one, and feel ready, move on to your second weakest and so on. This is the quickest and most effective way to make your life truly brilliant.