How happy are you, really? I mean, are you happy in every aspect of life??
I’m generally a very happy person, but I still like to check in and seriously ask myself this question every few months – kinda keeps me on track and inspires me to not settle for mediocre – But do I just give myself a good, hard look in the mirror and ask “How happy are you, Paige?” – No, there’s a really simple tool I use which I learnt years ago during my NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) training and with almost a whole New Year ahead of us, I thought it’s the perfect time of year to teach you this very useful tool so that you can kick-start your New Year with even more clarity and fuel for a kick-arse 2020 and a holistically happy life in general.
Now chances are, if you go to a Life Coach/positive physiologist they’ll use this tool I’m about to give you in one of your first sessions. It’s called ‘The Wheel of Life’ and it’s a really great way to gauge where you are and what areas of life you should focus on more.
Every few months, I draw up a big circle in my journal and divide it into 8 and give each slice of life one of the following categories…
- Health
- Career
- Romance / Significant other
- Friends & Family
- Personal Development /Spirituality
- Finance/Money
- Fun and Recreation
- Physical Environment
Although my hand drawn one is nowhere near as neat, it should look a little something like this
Try it with me, go on. Go grab a pen and paper and come back. It will only take a moment, I promise.
…
OK, now that you’re back with a pen and paper and you’ve drawn up your own Life Wheel, it’s time to rate each section on a scale from one to ten – with ten being the most satisfactory and the highest score.
Try not to think too much about it, but be honest with yourself. For example, you may love your job but it doesn’t pay you as much money as you like or you love your partner dearly but you’d like a little more passion and intimacy (remember they don’t have to see this either) so be honest with yourself and once you’re done, take a look at the areas in your life that you should focus on a bit more.
It’s natural to feel more fulfilled in some areas than others and it’s hard to have all balanced at the same time. Let’s just say you’re really focused on building your career at the moment – that means you’re probably investing more of your time and energy in building that, but have less time and energy invested in family and friends and/or fun and recreation. Don’t get all upset on yourself if you see some areas falling behind, that’s completely normal! It should just give you some clarity on what areas to work on to be a happier, healthier you! Understand that life is seasonal and sometimes we must make some sacrifices in order to get ahead. As you probably know, I’m a huge fan of HOLISTIC health and happiness and although I can’t define what makes YOU happy, I believe in order for me to be truly happy, I really need to feel happy and content in all areas of my life. Of course I give myself a little leeway by knowing I will make up for it by working harder in the areas I’m lacking in. If we’re off balance and not working on making ourselves happier then we put our self at risk of becoming ill, physically and mentally (been there) and not living your best life – the life that you deserve.
There are a specific series of questions you can ask yourself after you’ve scored all parts of your Life Wheel that helps you to create a road map on how you’re going to reach your ultimate happiness but I think we’ll leave it at that for today. If you really can’t wait, let me know and we can arrange a call. It would be my pleasure to chat with you and help you on your road to true happiness.
Try checking in with yourself and see how you go!