Balance Wheel Exercise

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BetterUp Studios
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10 min

A person balancing on a rock

With so many demands on our time and energy, we often feel ourselves pushed and pulled in many directions at once. How do you know which area you should focus on in your own personal development journey? This exercise can help you zoom out so you can pinpoint the areas you can focus on to bring more balance and satisfaction into your life.

    Instructions

    Find a piece of blank paper and a pen. Prepare your sheet by drawing a circle and then dividing it into 8 sections, like pieces of a pie. 

    Step 1

    Reflect on the 8 dimensions of your life that are most important to you. You can consider the roles you play—as a parent, a spouse, a sibling, a friend, a coach, a colleague—or you can consider areas in your life that are most important to you, like your job, family, art, travel, or education. Label each section of your circle with one of these categories. (It's okay to leave one blank, you may think of something to add later.)

    Some examples to get you started:

    • Family
    • Friends
    • Career
    • Finances
    • Relationships
    • Health & Fitness
    • Travel
    • Hobbies & Leisure
    • Education
    • Creativity
    • Spirituality
    • Personal/Professional Growth
    Step 2

    Rate your level of satisfaction within each of these areas on a scale of 1 (not at all satisfied) and 10 (it couldn’t get any better) and make a mark on your circle for each of your sections - 1 is the very center and 10 is the outer edge of the circle. Fill in your circle below each mark and continue until you’ve filled in each of your sections.

    Step 3

    Take a moment and reflect on your wheel.

    • What do you notice?
    • Does your wheel feel balanced?
    • Which sections of your wheel take most of your time, energy and attention?
    • Which ones give you the most satisfaction?
    Step 4

    Now consider the one or two areas of your life where you feel that making a change would have the greatest positive impact on your wheel overall.

    • Where do you think you could move your satisfaction level in these areas if you dedicated time and energy to your goals in this section? 
    • What would be different if you invested in growing in this area of your life? What would you gain? What might you have to give up?
    • How motivated do you feel to improve in this area? What is stopping you from investing in this area right now? How can you overcome those barriers?
    Step 5

    Now you're ready to make a commitment.

    • What are three action steps you can take to raise your level of satisfaction in those key areas of your life wheel?
    • What might get in the way of you making those changes?
    • How can you overcome those barriers so that you can improve those areas of your life?

    You can revisit this exercises in a few weeks or months to check in again with how you're feeling about the important areas of your life and to determine which new area of your life you should focus. You might be surprised looking back to see how much progress you've made!

    BetterUp Studios
    BetterUp Studios creates and curates research-backed content, activities, and tools to help people everywhere pursue their lives with greater clarity, purpose, and passion.

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