How to create personal Goals with the wheel of Life

Do you know what you want?  Do you know where you are headed?

Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses your energy, learning, your . career and helps you to organize your time so that you can make the most of your life. There is no right or wrong way of doing this however a little guidance and structure can help you to coach yourself through that process easier and with more success.

In this post, I want to introduce the  Wheel of life

• How to use it for understanding our present situation
• How to reflect on your present situation
• How to  visualize your future
• The difference between goals, wishes, wants
• The 5-year vision, 1-year goal and 90-day goals 
• What to do before you  start a change your life project 

Your  Wheel of life

Have you ever heard of the wheel of life? 

What is the Wheel of life? 

The Wheel of Life Exercise is a  powerful diagnostic and goal setting tool. The basic idea is that there are 8 ( or more) specific categories that form the cornerstone of your overall life experience.

The wheel helps you quickly assess your current levels of life balance, and to clarify priorities for goal-setting. 

Us the Wheel of life to envision your future life.  How you would like your life to be in the 8 different segments?  Use the 8 Wheel of Life categories, to imagine for each wheel segment what you would like your life to look like. 

You can also use it for a regular life check-in and to review and assess progress.

 The Wheel of Life Categories

The Life categories are a set of different areas in our life that can help us to make sure that we do have balance and we can cope with setbacks on our way using the energy from the other areas. We use 8 categories but some coaches use as well as 10 or 12.

Here are some typical categories:

1. Love / Relationships. 
2. Family and Friends
3. Adventures. ...Fun & Leisure
4. Environment. ...Workplace, Home, Desk,  
5. Health and Fitness. ...
6. Intellectual Life. ...
7. Skills. ...
8. Financial. Money or Financial Security

The  Wheel of Life Exercise

Step 1.  Download the Template

Download the template or draw a circle containing the 8 slices representing the different categories. Make a subdivision of 1 (close to the center) to 10 (outside of the circle) to fill in the scores. 

If you would like to do that exercise for our own life assessment, please download your free wheel of life template and exercise workbook here. 

Step 2. Assess your Present

Fill in the scores by asking yourself.: How content do you feel in the various categories? Take your time for this,  and make sure you don´t get distracted.

Reflect on each category requires concentration and only by filling it in seriously, you can get an accurate view of your balance in life and the setbacks.

The scores 

With scores from 8 to 10, you are very satisfied in a specific category. 

With scores from 5 to 7, you are reasonably satisfied with a category,

Scores from 1 to 4 show that you are not happy about this particular area.  Maybe you had forgotten that area or life. 

Use the most obvious description per category, that fits you best.

1. Business & career

How satisfied are you with your job, is it the job that you had imagined or would you rather pursue another career? Does the job bring you happiness and satisfaction? Does the job earn enough for a living?

2. Finance

Are all incomes enough to meet all basic needs and other needs? Are you not dependent on loans? Do you not have any debts? Is money the only thing that makes a person happy? 

3. Health

How physically and mentally healthy are you? How do you feel? Are you satisfied with your appearance and weight? Do you have any physical discomforts? To what extent are you engaged in sports? 

4. Family & friends

Are friends supportive, unconditional and trustworthy? Can friendships be built upon and friends always be counted on? To what extent do you spend your free time with family and friends? 

5. Romance

Have you found happiness in love? Do you have a new partner or a committed partner on who you can build? 

6. Personal development

How do you deal with personal growth? Are you open to new experiences and eager to learn? Are you spiritually connected to both the inner and outer worlds? 

7. Fun & Adventure
   Are you enjoying life? Do you practice hobbies or sports? How do you spend your free time? 

8. Contribution

Do you help others? Do you volunteer? To what extent are you active at (sports) clubs, in the neighborhood or taking care of family members?

Step 3. Reflection

After filling in all of the scores, The Wheel of Life is completed. The wheel or spider shows now either surprising peaks and drops or regularity.

The following coaching questions can help you:

• Why did you give yourself such a low score on this category?
• What is the ideal score for each category?
• What score do you want to achieve after a month, after 3 months, after 6 months and after a year?
• Which categories score less?
• Which categories are of individual importance to be able to achieve balance?

The completed Wheel of Life is an individual starting point and It says something about how efficient and effective someone is in life. Of course, it is easy to be extremely satisfied with one category, but what else should happen to the other categories?

For example, if you spend all the time and energy on your career, that will undoubtedly also have a positive effect on the finances. But to what extent are you then satisfied with relationships with friends and family? What is the result of this for health, well-being, and relaxation?

By looking at all aspects and ensuring that they are all connected, the balance can be found in life. The key is to find the balance and that is exactly what the Wheel of Life is about. It allows people to see what we are currently living in, forcing us to think ahead and find limits, which makes the wheel expand and grow.

As we grow and expand the wheel expands and what is a 9 today maybe not be anymore a 9 in one year.

Step 4. Envision your Future

Create for yourself a   

• 5 -year  Vision (10 year)
• 1-year goal 
• 90-day goal

Us the wheel of Life to not only assess your present situation and but choose priority areas you want to create lasting change.

Now pick a key area and start dreaming and visioning.  

The Visioning exercise

Remember everything is possible! Sure if we look at your skill set, personality, and talents it may take more time. It definitely makes sense to appraise the situation and be aware of our strengths and weaknesses.  But for now, just dream and think outside the box 

1. Use our Guided Visioning meditation
2. Write your goals and dreams into Journal,  
3. Review  your dream list  and wishes to pick the most important ones

The difference between Dreams, Wishes, Wants, Needs  and Goals

Do you have dreams, wishes, wants or do you have goals? in this section, I want to help you get more clear about the differences between this definition of Goals, Wishes wants and share a powerful exercise for your journal.

A dream or Vision is mostly not linked to a time or budget like Project goals. It is something we wish or we want for our future that we cannot exactly say how we will get it now. Maybe we want it but we doubt or we are not clear about the path to make it come true.

This exercise is meant to help us focus our energy towards that dream, vision and let go of doubts. 

Like in every project it takes energy to make something happen. To attract the right people, clients financing for your project as in Business so in our Life.

How can we start?

1. First: Take time to dream and become aware of your wishes.
2. Second: Record or write down your wishes into a journal 
3. Third: Get clear on what you really want and need now
4. Four: Visualize the outcome
5. Five: Create a Project Plan to put your Vision into action

( I like to use Evernote on my phone and Ipad but I purchased a bulletproof journal as I learned that  handwriting seems to have a magic component to the manifestation)

But once we are aware of our wishes  I recommend to write these wants down in a journal or notebook.

Here is a 3 step exercise that helps you to journal your dreams, wishes, and goals. wants needs.

Step 1. "I wish . . ."

Complete the following sentence three times, ending this section with three separate answers!

Your journal should now read

I wish (your completion of the sentence)...
I wish (your completion of the sentence)...
I wish (your completion of the sentence)...

As you complete the sentence three times the only limitation placed on your wishes is that you may not wish for any additional wishes. 

When you have completed this sentence three times you are ready for the "wants"

Step 2.  "I want . . ."

Write now into your journal the following sentence three times without referring to your sentence completions for section one.

I want (your completion of the sentence).
I want (your completion of the sentence).
I want (your completion of the sentence).

For the moment do not concern yourself with whether wishes and wants are the same things. just follow your feelings in completing these sentences.

Step 3. "I need . . ."

Complete the following sentence three times without refer- ring to either section one or section two of the work you have already finished.

I need (your completion of the sentence).
I need (your completion of the sentence).
I need  (your completion of the sentence).

When you have completed section three read all your responses over but be sure not to change any of your wording.

What is the difference between the wish - wants and needs.?

We are often confusing wishes and wants with needs.  Here is a widely-accepted definition.

A wish is a strong desire that is not backed by the energy necessary to attain it.

A want is a strong desire backed by whatever energy is necessary to attain that desire.

A need is a thing or circumstance necessary to the existence of a person's "self." 

Sometimes people feel they need much more than they actually do in order to fulfill the "self" in them.

Now you are ready to evaluate your responses

Before we pick these wants and choose the ones we want to turn into specific goals like long term goals, 5-year goals, 1-year goals or 90-day goals I want to invite you to look back on your Wheel of Life assessment of your present situation so you can easily set priorities.

In order to have enough energy for manifesting all our dreams and goals, it makes sense to set goals in different areas of our life so if one dream takes a bit longer then other parts will fuel our energy on our way.

Create a Vision board

Once you picked up your goals for the areas  Choose specific pictures that represent with picture how your goals came true showing you in the new position, your dream job your dream relationship dream destination, new habit..put them on a picture or chart and put in a frame and on a place. Have a digital version on your phone and computer.

Write a Vision statement

Write a Vision statement in your journal and on a card so you can repeat it daily and your mind gets triggered helping you taking the right actions.

Step 5. Create a Change Project Plan for one Vision statement

Pick one Vision and Create a Change Project Plan for that  Vision statement.

Depending on how realistic how big how far this is you will start with more or fewer details. Maybe you see just a first step.

Don`t be afraid to set smart goals and milestones.

Use the SMART Goal formula to create specific measurable actionable realistic and timed goals.

Remember the longest path starts with the first step.

 You may always improve that plan on your way as agile. The more clarity you have about the next steps the faster you will get there.

If you wish coaching or more training for your journey  or want t share your insights and write about your insights reach out to [email protected]

Take away

• Set Goals
• Write  and Visualize your Goals
• Have Longterm and short term Goals
• Create a Project Pan to make your Vision a reality
• Get accountability