Why You Need to Be Your Own Data Analyst: Discovering the Secrets of the Wheel of Life
“The most adventurous journey to embark on; is the journey to yourself, the most exciting thing to discover; is who you really are, the most treasured pieces that you can find; are all the pieces of you, the most special portrait you can recognize; is the portrait of your soul.”
C. JoyBell C.
The journey of discovering and understanding our inner selves, would lead to a sense of fulfilment, happiness, balance, and purpose in our lives.
Let’s start with the definition of wellness.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), wellness is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
The definition refers that wellness is more than just the absence of illness. It has different dimensions/components such as work, family, relationships, personal growth, social, etc. And they all play a role on our overall wellness.
To lead a satisfied life, it is so important to find a balance between these components. It helps us to avoid burnout, to reduce stresses of our lives and to live more fulfilling life.
In this article, I would like to write about the Wheel of Life. I heard that term years ago. It was in a book with name Serendipity’s Secret. It is about a cat trying to find out how to live a meaningful life.
What is the Wheel of Life?
It is a visual representation of our overall lives. It is a powerful tool for self-reflection and discovering our inner selves and evaluating our lives.
It helps us to be aware of what is working and what is not working in our lives.
Let’s look at the different aspects/dimensions of our lives. We may divide it as follows:
- The Environment You Live
- Health & Fitness
- Family
- Social
- Romantic
- Career
- Financial
- Personal Growth
- Fun
- Spiritual
Note: You are free to change or remove any areas or add some others which are parallel to the needs of your own life.
Then scale and colour every area from one to ten.
One refers to very unsatisfied and ten refers to completely satisfied.
Now you have a better picture about your life areas which are going well, you feel more satisfied and which areas you need to pay more attention.
The key point in here is to make the wheel as round as possible. If you want your life to move properly and with balance, it is crucial it to be round. You can’t move forward in life with a flat tire. Eventually, it will lose its track.
Why do you need to be your own data analyst?
Everyone’s needs, preferences, conditions and dreams are different. Most importantly, our starting points are different. It is valuable to have self-awareness on our behaviours, thoughts, and feelings.
What is working? What is complex? Which areas contribute most to your happiness? What are the scores for those areas? When do you feel happier? With whom you feel energized? What do you enjoy doing? How can you create opportunities to experience joy or happiness more? What activities make you feel fulfilled? How can you incorporate more of them in your daily life? How can you have more meaningful relationships in your life? So on…
These are your personal data to analyse.
In different periods in our lives, we have different needs. Some areas may need more attention since we have focused on some other areas. What can you do differently to balance your life?
At the end of this calculations, you would be able to know which areas keep you feel down, and which areas are working fine!
Finding the balance is not a piece of cake all the time. It is an ongoing process, takes time and needs practice. That would be nice to do the wheel of life practice at least two times a year to keep track of ourselves. It allows us to re-evaluate our lives and take appropriate action before getting off the road.
It is a lifelong journey, and it is important to be kind to ourselves. It can be a challenging, yet the most rewarding journey!
I hope you enjoy reading it!
Happy Analysing,
Melis.
References
- Serendipity’s Secret, Samantha Babington, 2007.