THE BRUTAL REALITY OF WORK/LIFE BALANCE
The brutal reality of work/life balance is this.....the challenge is real and it won't go away on its own. After exploring this challenge with many great clients, I know one thing for sure.....if things feel "out of whack", they probably are "out of whack". A recurring theme with many of my clients today is difficulty with achieving a healthy work/life balance. Yet while they often know that an imbalance exists, they often struggle with identifying exactly where the imbalance exists.
To make any intentional change, we have to know both "where we are now" and "where we want to be in the future", and we have to be specific about our plan to bridge the gap. Acknowledging that our work/life situation is out of balance today and stating that we want it to be in balance in the future is not enough to make it so. We must understand our satisfaction level with all parts of our work/life situation to know exactly what we need to fix to return to a balanced state.
use the "wheel of life" to identify your work/life "imbalance"
The Wheel of Life is a picture of what is important in your life. It is used to identify your satisfaction level now, the level of satisfaction you would like in the future, and the gaps you need to close to achieve greater balance in your life. Each important dimension of your life is represented by a “slice” on the wheel. The Wheel of Life template available using the link below contains eight dimensions that are often identified by clients. Feel free to swap out any of the pre-populated dimensions with dimensions that are most important to you.
Now imagine the center of the wheel is 0 and the outer edge is 10. For the first dimension, choose a value from 1 (very dissatisfied with the time you spend here) to 10 (fully satisfied with the time you spend here). Draw a line from one side of the slice to the other at the point that represents the value you selected. To make the visual even more vivid, shade in the section of the slice from the center of the wheel to the line you have drawn. This depicts the satisfaction level for this dimension. Repeat this process for the remaining dimensions of your life.
IMPORTANT: Use the FIRST number (value) that pops into your head, not the number you think it should be!
What do you see? Are any dimensions clearly out of balance? Keep in mind that the dimensions might call for different levels of attention at different times in your life, so the wheel of life can be a dynamic depiction. The real objective of this tool is to consider how much attention you'd like to give to each part of your life. So plot your ideal scores on the diagram, too, and visualize how things could be for you.
GIVE IT A TRY:
The Wheel of Life Template
Now it's time to give it a try! Spend some time on your development and complete the Wheel of Life. If you identify any gaps between where you want to be and where you are today, identify intentional actions for yourself that will help you focus more on what's important to you. While some areas of your life may be neglected, other areas may take up too much of your time. Once you have created your action plan to regain balance in your life, execute the plan and make it happen!
Click here for the "Wheel of Life Template"
To learn how Success Minder can help you succeed through transformational coaching and customized HR consulting, review our website at www.successminder.com and contact us directly through the website or LinkedIn. Follow us on LinkedIn to receive additional tools and resources that can help you succeed.
We wish you nothing but success.
Comments