A balance life test will show you the areas where you need to pay attention in your life. There are many time demands on our lives but are you spending enough time and energy on the things that count in your life?
Perhaps you feel tired and exhausted because you spend all day working for your employer or taking care of your family. Perhaps you find that work is actually suffering because of an over-active social life. Whatever is missing from your life could be affecting your ability to find enjoyment and feel good about yourself.
A balanced life will put the different aspects of your life into proper priority. Struggling through day-to-day life can cause us to lose focus on the big picture. Spending an adequate amount of time and energy on the key aspects of your life will help you find balance, and less stress.
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This five minute balanced life test easily identifies the areas of life that need your attention. You just may surprise yourself when you see the results!
How The Balanced Life Test Works
The Life Balance Wheel or the Wheel of Life, is a simple, yet powerful, self assessment tool commonly used in coaching and counseling. The tool is great for self reflection, and gives you a visual representation of how balanced your life really is!
First, draw eight pie shaped sections without the circular border. Make the sections large enough to label each one. By the end of this exercise you will have created a graph that plots each aspect of your life and shows how balanced you are.
Label the sections accordingly: Home, Career, Money, Health, Friends and Family, Love, Personal Growth and Fun. You may choose to change one or more of these sections depending on your lifestyle and priorities. Time and attention for Education, Travel, Spiritual Growth or Volunteer Work may be substituted.
Once you have labelled your sections take a few moments to contemplate how satisfied you are with the time and effort you give to a particular section. Think of the inner point of the pie as least satisfied and the outer edge as completely satisfied. Place a dot within the wedge that indicates your level of satisfaction.
When all of your sections are completed connect the dots to form a complete circle.
What Does the Balanced Life Test Tell You?
Have you formed a perfect circle or is it lopsided?
Do you see an area of your life that has been ignored? Ask yourself about it. Do you spend any time taking care of your health – preparing healthy food, exercising or managing an illness?
Is your home clean and comfortable or are you always pushing clutter out of the way?
Is your work satisfying? Are you making enough money or do you need to spend time and effort improving your situation?
Is your family life happy and healthy?
Have you taken time to consider your spiritual needs or desire for education?
Are you in a meaningful relationship with a significant other?
Are you taking time for yourself to stay active?
If you have been neglecting areas of your life you may feel frustrated or unfulfilled. It is not possible to find full satisfaction in every area of your life due to factors beyond your control.
You can also not achieve perfect balance in all areas at all times so stop trying to be superwoman. Sometimes your kids will require more, or that deadline at work will need to be dealt with. However, by identifying areas that need your time and attention will help you become more mindful of them.
Some Tips for Finding Life Balance
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Get off the couch and go for a walk or hit a yoga class.
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Disconnect on the weekend. I hear the excuses already, but try it, at least for one day or even a few hours each night.
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Take a class, learn to paint or try something new that you’ve always wanted to learn.
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Adapt healthier habits into your lifestyle; for instance, consider waking up one hour before you have to go to work and go to the gym first or meditate.
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Change your snacks to more energy-efficient food groups such as fruits and vegetables or seeds and nuts.
- Making time for you is probably the hardest thing to do for the typical overworked and overwhelmed person, but it is crucial for lowering stress, increasing happiness and encouraging creativity.
None of us can really know how well we are doing with change in our lives unless we are willing to reassess where we are. Don’t feel that your decisions are made in concrete; if something feels that it isn’t working, be willing to look at a new decision!
Make time for yourself every day, in a quiet meditative state, to relax and “check yourself out.” By becoming more mindful of the areas which tend to be lacking on a regular basis will help you to achieve a happier, more balanced life with the time and energy you do have.