So, here we go. If you don't know what this is all about, have a read of this post first. I was overwhelmed by the number of people that read and commented on it so I know there is a real appetite for something like this. That also adds to the pressure I feel to deliver something of use to you all, not just me!
I know that quite a few people were a bit hesitant about getting involved in case it's too much of a commitment. Well, I promise to ensure that it's not too onerous to get involved - it will only take a lot of time if you want to put that time in.
Many of you also commented that you are not really sure where to start. Well, let me tell you, this task is perfect for you. In fact, it's a great place to start for anyone. It's an exercise that allows you to take a step back and assess your life as a whole, consider how different aspects of your life impact on each other and work out where you need to start. It also draws a line in a sand, and it's something you can look back on in future weeks or months. It's definitely a task we will return to in future months and it will enable you to track your progress. I used this a lot when coaching because it's a simple but effective tool. It really makes you think.
Welcome to the Wheel of Life!
The Wheel of Life is divided into 8 sections, representing the 8 major aspects of your life. What I want you to do is to score your life out of 10 for all 8 areas. The score should reflect how satisfied you are with that aspect of your life. If you can, mark your score on the lines between the segments - 0 is in the middle and works outwards from here - and join all the scores together. Look at the shape it creates - if it were a real wheel, how smoothly would it turn? How does that reflect on the way your life runs?
Consider each score and ask yourself why you gave it. What factors influenced that decision? What other aspects of your life have affected that score, whether their impact is good or bad? Would you have given yourself the same score 6 months? If not, how would the score be different and why?
Then, I want you to write a post about the results. As I said in the original post, share as much as you feel comfortable sharing with your readers and other Life Circlers. It's up to you whether you give a full breakdown of scores and how you arrived at them all, or you can give an overview of the scores and which areas it has highlighted needs most of your attention. It's really up to you. At the very least, I'd like you to identify one or two areas of your life that you are most dissatisfied with, and why that might be.
Remember, try to be objective and not self-critical. This exercise is about being objective rather than self-critical. What won't matter is how you got to be there - what will matter is what needs some work and what you do to improve those scores.
How Life Circle will work:
Go away and complete the allocated task(s). Blog about the results and publish your post then link up here next Thursday when I will publish my own results. If you can, it would be lovely if you could try to visit 2 or 3 other blogs and comment, offering support and helpful comments. It won't be necessary to comment on all of them, it's just to get the sense of community, or creating our Life Circle - we can't help each other if we don't know the stories of the people we are trying to support.
You can publish your post at any time - it doesn't have to be next Thursday; it can be before or after. Do it in your own time. I will leave the linky open for as long as possible so that people can join up late if they want to, although it will be helpful for you if you manage to publish your post within a week of the linky opening.
And of course, I have a badge for you to use! I hope it works. Beware if you try to resize it in Blogger, it won't return to this small size, but you can get round this by copying and pasting the code again. I haven't tested it in WordPress but any feedback from WP bloggers, be they self-hosted or not, would be useful. Anyway, get grabbing the code and using it in your posts so that others can find the original post and maybe join in.
So, get your thinking caps on. Time to take stock of your life, have a think and get writing. I can't wait to read your posts next week and to welcome everyone officially into the Life Circle.
