Make conscious choices

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The oil light on my daughter's car keeps coming on telling her to check the oil level. It is faulty and coming on even though there is enough oil in the engine but it got me thinking. These days with all the automation around we are use to getting reminders to do things; Get the car serviced, get your MOT, check your oil. etc etc

It doesn't stop at the car, we have reminders to renew our car, house and travel insurances and if we are money savvy we will go on-line and check that the ones we have are still suitable for us and value for money. There are even apps that will check the best service provider for our usage of gas and electricity and then move us automatically. 

But, how often do we get a reminder to stop and check how we are doing in our lives instead of just dealing with what is thrown at us ?  Life is so fast paced these days it is easy to let our lives become a series of things we have to do or happen to us. Unfortunately, the reminder we usually get is a build up of discontentment that can permeate into all areas of our life and make us stressed and unhappy.  

The 'Wheel of Life' is like a thermometer to review where we are at this moment in our life.  Each segment of the wheel reflects an area of your life.  On each segment you mark 1 - 10 to indicate where you feel you are in that area.  1 being unsatisfied and 10 being completely satisfied.   Not all areas may apply to you and if you want to change or add an area feel free to do so.

Once you have marked up your scores you can then join up the dots to see how smoothly your 'wheel' would travel.  That is how you are travelling through life and the more balanced the wheel the easier the ride. For example someone might score highly on the work/career section but family/friends, romance and fun/recreation may be low because they are always at work,  which will eventually lead to burnout and even depression or ill-health. 

Once you've completed your wheel of life you can reflect on why you scored yourself the way you did and make a plan to move in the areas you scored as unsatisfied to satisfied. You can then make conscious choices of what you want or don't want to do to and take control of your life back.  The great part about taking back control is that it makes you feel better about yourself, motivates and energises you.  It puts a zing back into your swing.

I feel I am a very satisfied with my life as a whole, but when I completed it I could clearly see where I wanted to improve it; health (lose weight, control my medication), contribution to society (I'd like to have the time to volunteer more), romance (tell me about it !) and finances (when and how can I retire).  I found it an eye-opener and it has helped me focus on where I want to be in these areas and start taking action.  Try it for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments.