IT STARTS WITH YOU

All good coaching conversations start with the client’s awareness of how day-to-day actions and feelings are affecting their life. There are many versions out there of this ‘wheel’ to investigate various categories. After ten years of coaching, particularly working with those age 50+, my wheel has evolved to the drawing presented here. This is an opportunity to look at your current life situation, as well as to envision how you wish to be going forward.

Exercise:

– draw a large circle and plot the different categories around this circle [like the image above]

– contemplate your level of fulfillment (satisfaction) in each of these areas. Mark them on a scale of 1-10, 10 being extremely fulfilled, or percentages (ie, 70% satisfied) or draw a pie shape, filling in slices with different colours…get creative!
For more detail on each category, read the descriptions further down the page.

– now imagine what needs to change to increase these levels. Don’t think too much about it, just quickly jot down a ‘wish list’ of how you would like things to be. While we can try to influence people and situations around us, the power of change lies within us, to imagine how we can change our attitudes and actions to bring about the kind of results we want.

The results may surprise you and it could be beneficial to discuss them with someone. If improvements are desired, send me a note and we can set up some coaching sessions to work through this. Coaching is a mindful process for facilitating change – welcome this opportunity to consciously curate your life.

WELLBEING

At the heart of a well lived life is a thriving person, who is able to live with ease (a feeling of equanimity) and is engaged through a sense of meaning (what is important to pursue). Wellbeing is broader than feeling happy or satisfied; these are experiences in the moment that roll with the ebb and flow in day-to-day living. Overall, wellbeing can be charted as a general sense, deep down, no matter what is happening on the surface.

ENGAGE

Here we start with our ‘lifework’, our daily effort.

Essentially there are two kinds: money generating  and non money generating. Job/Career work takes up a lot of our time and focus, and this greatly impacts our wellbeing. In the second category, it is interesting to think of all the ways we exert energy in life, from our home tasks, to having fun, to contributing to others.

FINANCES

Money makes the world go around, as the saying goes. Our finances impact all areas of our engagement, as well as the related causes and effects. We spend it and we save it. Is the flow of cash and the approach to savings reflecting who you are becoming as you age?

HOME

We need a safe, comfortable space to inhabit. This can mean the very roof that you sleep under, as well as the streets in your neighbourhood and indeed the environment of your town, province and country. Assess with these inner and outer lenses how your ‘home’ is a great fit. Project into the near and far future – how will it serve you then?

RELATIONSHIPS

Although the pandemic may have implied otherwise, we do not live in a vacuum. We are constantly relating to others and we affect them as much as they affect us. I separate relationships into two categories: our personal and professional connections (friends, family, colleagues, community…) and support network (who do we lean on when we need help, such as key connections, people in our community and professionals (medical, financial…) And with either, these people must foster growth within us, and we do for them as well. Otherwise, we drain each other. Identify gaps in these two networks, and who is supportive and who is not.

HEALTH

There are several aspects to body health – mental, emotional, physical, spiritual.. We suffer when these are not aligned and yet we can easily ignore them. What parts of your health are at a deficit and need care now? Look past being able to ‘cope’ and shift into ‘thriving’ mode. An important conversation that extends from health is the one condition we all will face: dying and death. How prepared are you for this eventuality and what conversations need to take place?

INTERCONNECTEDNESS

To further your exploration, consider how the categories in this wheel affect each other.
– one angle can be to imagine each category as having an inner component (self-identity) and an outer component (beyond self-practical)

Enjoy!
Jo