Tools for the Life You Want

The Wheel Of Life

Consider all of the areas of your life and draw a line at the level of your satisfaction with each one: if you are 10% satisfied, draw a line along the “1” and if you are 100% satisfied, draw the line at level “10.” If you are saving for something big and are on track but not at your goal just yet, you still might score that a “10” because you are on track. If you are single and happy with being that way, you might score the Significant Other/Romance a “10” – it’s about what you feel and not what others might say.

Values

Values are those principles or ways of being that make our life worth living. When we allow our circumstances to prevent us from honoring our values, we feel stressed, unhappy, and disconnected from the life we are living. A person with a strong value of family might feel oppressed working 80 hours a week, while the achievement-oriented individual, working on a meaningful project, might find those same 80 hours exhilarating. Defining some of our values is easy, since we may naturally pay more attention to them. Family, spirituality, being fit, service and learning are values that might be detected in how we spend our time. Other values such as justice, humor, connection, adventure and freedom may be discovered in what we long for. Another method of mining for values is to recall a time when we felt terrific – when life seemed great. What was going on? What values were you honoring?

Below is a partial list of values. Take a minute to circle your top 10 values.

Humor/ Family/ Integrity/ Achievement/ Excellence
Honesty/ Accuracy/ Spirituality/ Creativity/ Independence
Joy/ Beauty/ Risk taking/ Recognition/ Tradition
Freedom/ Harmony/ Success/ Contribution/ Fairness
Innovation/ Kindness/ Zest for life/ Learning/ Connection
Physical health/ Service/ Adventure/ Responsibility/ Compassion
Free spirit/ Romance/ Order/ Serenity/ Intimacy/ Authenticity
Discovery/ Silliness/ Justice/ Empowerment/ Sincerity

Where do your values show up in your life? Especially in those areas of your Wheel of Life that you scored the lowest, what can you do to honor your values more?

(Wheel of Life derived from Coaches Training Institute, thecoaches.com)