Balancing life and leadership with the wheel of life tool.
Leadership is a performance sport. You want to bring your A-game every day. But life is bumpy! These bumps make life interesting and exciting, but they can also cause you to stumble and lose your balance. You may be so busy with the daily demands that you don’t notice that you’re neglecting yourself and your life. It’s understandable in our uncertain times.
Balancing the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
Resilient careers last a lifetime. With progress comes new challenges and opportunities. You need to pace yourself for the marathon, not just the sprints. Taking care of the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of your life is crucial.
Enter the Wheel of Life, also known as the Balance Wheel. This simple, visual tool draws attention to the potholes in the road ahead, giving you the self-awareness to alter course. It’s designed to help you assess and understand the balance across all dimensions of your life: what’s important and what’s missing. This reflection is a critical step towards being a thriving leader.
Customising your wheel of life.
Start by downloading or drawing your own Wheel of Life. Customising the wheel to fit your unique circumstances makes the tool even more effective. Begin with the four main dimensions: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Take a moment to consider the most important areas of your life. Typical areas to include are:
- Career
- Finances
- Health
- Relationships – family and friends
- Personal growth
- Fun and recreation
- Hobbies and interests
- Physical environment
- Contribution
Finding balance.
Once you have created your wheel, follow these two steps:
Self-assessment
- How would you score each dimension from one to ten based on your current fulfilment? Take a moment to immerse yourself in each area of your life and answer honestly. It might be helpful to think about what a ‘10’ would look like and where you are today, recognising that achieving a ten might not be important to you.
Identify imbalance
- Fulfilment. The size of your wheel will give an indication of your overall fulfilment. Is it where you want it to be? Is there anything you want to improve?
- Balance. Assess how balanced your wheel is. Are there any highs and lows, peaks and troughs? If an area has a low score, does it require attention, or is this acceptable? Conversely, could you give it less attention if an area scores highly?
- Compromises. Identify specific areas that are compromised. For example, if you are focusing on your career, you might be neglecting your health, friends, and family.
- Acing It – Scoring a ten in each category is not the desired outcome. However, are there any areas of your life where you would like to excel?
Building your action plan
Turning insights into actions is the next powerful step. Choose three areas you would like to start changing now. What do they score today, and what do you want them to score and by when? What will a good look like when you have achieved your result? It might help to discuss this with a trusted friend or coach to find new solutions.
Write a goal to capture your ambition. SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely) goals are best because they hold you accountable to a time with a sense of realism. Goals don’t have to be big; sometimes, a small habit change is all that you need to start. Consider resources like BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits or James Clear’s Atomic Habits for guidance.
Smoothing the pathway
The main benefit of the Balance Wheel is that it provides a clear visualisation of your life, fostering self-awareness and underpinning holistic personal growth. With the insights from this tool, you can better manage your time and, more importantly, your energy, to thrive as a leader.
The Balance Wheel is not set in stone. It’s a dynamic tool that you can return to at any time to support your overall well-being and performance. Why not start today?
