LifeCircle 2012 - Wheel of Life, revisited

So, if you were around in late September, you'll have done this before so doing this again feels like meeting an old friend. However, I've almost been procrastinating about doing it but I can't put my finger on why. The fact I dislike the period after my birthday until the end of January does not help with this so I am expecting lower scores than before all round.  I've been trying not to look at my previous scores so I'm not influenced by them but I'll compare once I've finished. As before, I have a self-imposed rule not to blog about my relationship so I will skip that but the other scores are there. Here's the squiggly line bit:

Fun and Recreation - 6. We do have fun but what limits us is finances. We're very lucky and I know we are blessed with the blogging opportunities that come our way. I'd like to have a bit more fun and not to have to think about whether we can afford a treat or not. I don't want to shower the children with everything, I just want to go mad a little occasionally.

Career - 7.  You probably know this by now, but I started my own business working as a virtual assistant last ear. That is code for I'm available for someone to use my services - my business is just me, working from home with my computer. I do love what I'm doing although I'm still learning the juggling bit as when I've been busier, it's been hard to fit everything in. I have had more work recently but this looks like it won't continue. That means there is pressure on me to find more work soon as I need to earn more to keep our finances on track. But the fact I enjoy the work is a big plus for me, as is the fact I can work from home, be here for the children and don't have to rely on other childcare arrangements.

Health - 5. I know I have given myself a lower score from this. Generally, I am fine and have no major illnesses. What is bugging me is my weight. I don't weigh myself but I know it's going back up and I don't feel in control of it. Yes, I know we all put weight on over Christmas - although to be honest, I paced myself Christmas Day and didn't do too badly. But it's not just about that and I know it's creeping back. I still go to class 3 times a week but I know I have got to control this and stop getting back to very old, very bad habits.  I've been trying to eat healthily since Christmas but I am seriously hungry in the evenings which is a bit worrying.

Personal Development - 9.  I am pretty happy with this aspect of my life. My job means I'm learning new things all the time. I have a philosophy of lifelong learning so even if I am not actually studying for a paper qualification, I always try to learn. I don't need any major qualifications to do my job, and anyway I don't think I could afford to go off and get any more qualifications at the moment.

Friends and Family - 8. I am reasonably happy with this. As I said before in September, I'd like to have some more friends locally who I could go for a coffee with from time to time, although I have met some great people through blogging which has really enriched my life. My family - well, it is what it is. No family is perfect and we are the same, and much is beyond my control so I'm not going to worry about it.

Environment - 7. I love living where we do. I'd like more money to decorate and do some more things to make the house better so again, I'm constrained by money. I'd like there to be less clutter. *glowers at children who drop toys everywhere* And over the next few years, we'll need to decide if we do stay here or  move as we're just outside the catchment for the school most of the children's classmates would move onto, although both options are good schools. And I'm well aware things can change in the time, which is less than 4 years away, before we have to decide and choose where they go.

Finance - 4. I know this is same as last time as I feel this has not really changed, I've just survived for longer. I need to earn more money and I just want to be more comfortable than I am, I hate worrying about money. It impacts on other aspects of my life - it's impacting my scores for Fun and Recreation, Environment and Career. It's tough - I know that if I had a job, I'd be less happy with it and how it would keep me away from  the children but it would remove the pressure to earn to an extent. It is the eternal dilemma.

My squiggle turned out fairly square - generally, the scores are mid to high and I know that my two key areas are Finance and Health, and some work on Career may help the Finance aspect. Other than that, the scores are pretty similar - nothing else has changed dramatically. That's good because I wasn't as negative as I feared I might be.

How did you do? How did you find this exercise? Did any of the results surprise you? If you did the exercise before, what has changed and why? Can you see any progress since last time or has one area of life had a setback?

Do join in with by blogging what you want to share about the exercise and linking up below. The linky will stay open for 2 weeks so don't worry if you don't get it done straight away.


I'll set the next week's task on Saturday so come back and check it out then. I can't wait to read your posts.

Life Circle - The Wheel of Life

Are you ready? Off we go. It's going to be one hell of a ride! I hope this week's task was thought-provoking and useful to you. What you have probably found is that one area you're particularly unhappy with can have knock-on effects on other areas of your life, and also, that this exercise provides a focus for your thinking about what you want to change. You already know these things about yourself but they are there in the background. Most of the time, this exercise brings those issues into the foreground and they give a clearer indication of what it is that needs to change first that will have a huge effect on other areas of your life - what they call a quick win, although some solutions are not so quick, I'll admit.

Anyway, here's my Wheel of Life and some comments about the scores I want to talk about. One of my self-imposed rules on this blog is not to talk about my relationship, so I will skip talking about that on here. As I have said before, only share with your blog readers and other Life Circlers what you feel comfortable sharing. Excuse the hamfisted drawing but I wanted to use the same image! The exact scores I've given are below.

Fun and Recreation - 6. I'm generally happy with this area of my life; blogging events seem to provide plenty of opportunities to do things for me. What limits us as a family is money, so I'm sure I'd be happier if we had more disposable income and felt we could treat ourselves every now and then. When your "treat" is a coffee out, you know that you're limited in cash.

Career - 6. I started a business doing VA and business support work about 6 months ago and I've been building up working with one particular client. These last few months have taught me two things: 1) that I love doing it and want to do more but 2) I need to earn more money for the sake of our finances. I need to do more work for my existing client and find some new ones as well. I'd like to use some of the skills I learned in my 22 years in the IT sector, partly because I know that will pay more than the VA work but also to keep my knowledge current. For most of my working life, I loved working in IT - it just became quite family unfriendly when I had the children and with my husband working shifts, childcare would be quite complicated to arrange unless it was fully flexible.

Health - 7. Good but room for improvement. I'm much fitter than I was this time last year, thanks to regular exercise classes. But my goal is to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes (which are size 12) and I'm still a size 14.  I don't know how to attack this - I seem stuck but I excuse it by saying I'm having a life and not doing faddy crash diets.

Personal Development - 9. I'm actually happy with this area of my life, mainly because I feel like I learn something new every day, whether it be about my work, blogging, or parenting. I don't feel the need to go and get any more qualifications (and anyway, I couldn't afford to take on a course) and I just feel that I have a learning mentality so I will always be looking to learn new things.

Friends and Family - 7.5 I have a good set of friends. I sometimes wish I had a few more friends locally that I could meet up with more regularly for coffee and I feel I am in transition from one set of friends to another with the move to school. I have the odd issue with family that I wouldn't dream of discussing here but they are mostly outside of my control so there is no point working on it.

Environment - 6. I love our home, I've lived here for 12 years and have good neighbours. It needs a few things doing to it, but once again we are back to putting it off for lack of money. Over the next few years, we'll need to decide what we want to do about secondary schools which may involve moving. I'm not saying we will - but most of the children's schoolmates live within the catchment of a different secondary school to us. But I'm well aware things can change in the 4 years before we have to decide what to do. And I would just like the house to be less cluttered and tidier, we're overrun with toys.

Money - 4. For me, this is the key area. I've managed to spin my redundancy money out from 2009 but it's fast running out. I'm good with money so I try to budget but I know our outgoings are bigger than our income. I have everything compared to down to the cheapest going - it's not that we are excessively spending, it's just that it all adds up. I know that we cannot live on my husband's salary alone and the money has given us a breathing space until now. We still have a bit but I have one eye on it and watching my balance drop alarmingly is terrifying, for me anyway. Apart from the mortgage, I have no major debts but that could easily change if I don't start earning more money. I don't ask for much - I don't want to be a millionaire, but I feel much more comfortable when I don't have to think about every single purchase I make, which is what I'm having to do now. I'd like us to be able to go on holiday yearly, but I can't see that happening next year at the moment. And as you can see from the other scores, it's impacting on  Environment, Career (which are interchangeable really - to resolve the money issue, I need to do more work), and Fun & Recreation.

It's obvious that there's lots of things I'd like to improve but they are all in balance and I'm reasonably happy with them, but the money situation is impacting some of them and that area is what I need to focus on first and foremost to see the biggest improvements in in the short to medium term, in conjunction with developing my career and business.

So, now it's your turn. If you haven't done already, then complete your Wheel of Life, write what you've learned from the exercise, include the badge so others can find the rest of the posts in the Life Circle, publish your post then link it up below so others can have a read and offer their support. I'm hoping the Linky will stay open as long as possible so please feel free to come back to join in at any time. Don't feel obliged to leave a comment after linking up but obviously, I would welcome feedback from the rest of the Life Circle. (By the way, where it says your name, feel free to use your blog title rather than your actual name!)

If you are joining in with Life Circle, please do read some of the other posts if you can. It doesn't have to be all of them - 2 or 3 will do - but you might want to visit more for this week, in order to introduce yourself to other people joining in with the Life Circle and to get to know them. Life Circle isn't about getting traffic, it's about mutual support, so please try not to just visit the bloggers linking up first. I will endeavour to read as many posts and comment on them as possible but I may be restricted for time. The badge code, by the way, is here, but I'm hoping to place it on a page on this blog soon.

Life Circle - Week 1

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.