There's nothing like a diagram to put things into perspective for you. Deb at Home Life Simplified... challenged us to audit our current reality, using a "Wheel of Life". Once again, this is a tool that I haven't applied to my personal life, but I was up for the challenge.
"The Wheel of Life is powerful because it gives you a vivid visual representation of the way your life is currently, compared with the way you'd ideally like it to be. It is called the "Wheel of Life" because each area of your life is mapped on a circle, like the spoke of a wheel." - Mind Tools
The idea is to rate your level of satisfaction for each area of your life, and map it out on the wheel. For my wheel, I have ten categories (see below); 0 representing deep dissatisfaction, and 10 being completely satisfied. I don't know of anyone who is completely satisfied with their life, and to be honest, if you are...you may just be kidding yourself!
A. Home / Physical Environment Score: 6
I'm starting to see the home I have always envisaged. It's been a long time coming, but slowly and surely, our space it starting to be the beautiful home I always thought it could be. It's taken a long time to figure out a style that suits our whole family. I have plans for the future regarding more decluttering, organising and beautifying...while retaining functionality. This area of my life is under constant improvement. Sometimes it feels like it's one step forward, two steps back...but on the whole, our home has improved dramatically over the last 12 months.
B. Partner / Love / Relationship Score: 8.
Andrew and I have a great relationship, but like every couple, it's not perfect. We are constantly working on our relationship and talking things through. We never go to bed cranky, and I often fall asleep mid sentence. lol. It's actually my favourite part of the day...laying in the dark, talking about the day's events and what's on our minds.
C. Health / Fitness Score: 3
My actual health is not too bad. I don't have diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol. My doctor is always surprised when my blood test results come back. For a morbidly obese woman, I should be displaying all of these signs. I'm really thankful, I'm not. This is the lowest score on my wheel, and therefore the biggest priority for me to work on. I'm too young to give up on myself, and there's too many fun things I want to do that involve me being fit and healthy. Watch this space...
D. Growth / Learning Score: 7
I feel like I'm continuing learning and seeking out new information. It's like I crave it! I'm pretty happy with this area of my life. People often ask me how I know certain things...it's because I'm constantly on the path of learning. I'm self taught in a lot of areas of my life. I taught myself how to drive, how to do all kinds of technical computer stuff, and my knowledge of useless trivia would astound you! lol. Of course, there is always room for improvement. :-)
E. Career / Business / Work Score: 6
I don't really consider myself a "career woman", and I never have. That was never my goal in life. I live by the motto of "work to live, not live to work". I would like to be a higher grade than I am right now, but that's more for my self esteem, not the actual work involved. I have started taking on more work recently, and am learning new things which I love. I think you do tend to get a bit stale after a while. It's time to inject a bit more interest into my working life. This isn't a priority for me, but definitely something to think about in the future.
F. Money / Finance Score: 5
I earn a pretty good wage, and so does my hubby. We're not rolling in cash, but we do okay. The one area we're not good at is saving. At the moment, most of our income falls under the "spendings" category. It would help if we set a budget, and stuck to it. This is one area I really want to improve. I have always spent way too freely, and it's time to reign it in a little.
G. Family / Friends / Social Relationships Score: 7
I have a good relationship with my family, and I'm very lucky to have a good relationship with my in-law family too. I have some really lovely friends...some in real life, and some I only talk to online...but I know that they're there for me when it counts. Love that!
H. Community Score: 6
This was a difficult one to score. I feel that I am community minded, but perhaps I could do more. There are small things I do, like shopping in my local area, and promoting what's great about our local area to help boost the local economy; giving to charity, by either donations of cash or items; and other things, but I don't feel like I'm "serving" my community if you know what I mean. At the moment, I do what I can. Hopefully in the future, I can do more.
I. Fun Score: 5
I definitely need to have more fun. I feel like I'm only half way there on the fun-o-meter! I want to laugh more and play more...this is most certainly a priority for me.
J. Spirituality Score: 7
I am not religious, but I am spiritual. I am happy with the spiritual path I'm on. It's a journey I'm taking day by day. Eme has suggested that I need to pray more often (the kids go to a Catholic school), and I let her know that in my own way, I do.
Have you ever analysed your current life in this way? It's a lot more difficult than I thought! I have used Mind Tool's "Wheel of Life" tool to compile this information graphically. Have a go, and see what you come up with...
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Week 4...Home Life Simplied
