Part #2- The Wheel of Life -Where Am I Starting?

Sometimes we need to change our life but are unsure of how to do it. We may feel like we are stuck, life doesn’t hold meaning anymore, or we are passionless and purposeless, and we know we need a change.

You feel like you are on a hamster wheel running around and around and around. And just like Groundhog Day you get up and do the same thing over and over again. Your days are busy, slightly chaotic and stressful and you get up and do it all over again.

And at some point you wake up one day and wonder what you’re doing, what have you been doing, and where are you going? Because thus far it has basically been in circles. Maybe you are chasing the ever-elusive dream of money. Or maybe you’re just trying to keep up with the Joneses. But whatever the case you are not sure where you are going or why you are going there. The only thing you do know is that you want to get off of the wheel.

How Do We Get Off The Wheel And Out Of Our Rut?

Let’s look at the 3 things to get you out of that rut and really make some changes in your life that will get you in line with manifesting your dreams and goals. Although these 3 things may seem simple will be breaking them out so you can find your way to step forward. If you haven’t looked at Part #1 – What Are My Rocks, click here.

You need to know:

Where you are starting
Where your heart wants to go
A map and a plan on how to get there

Where am I right now?

We need to look at where we are in life. How do you feel about the different areas of your life? For this, we will use a tool called the Wheel of Life.

What Is The Wheel Of Life?

The Wheel of Life as a coaching tool comes from the Buddhist wheel of life called the Bhavachakra in Sanskrit. Not to get the two confused, the Buddhist wheel is spiritual and focuses on emotional and spiritual concepts of life. Whereas the Wheel of Life as a coaching tool concentrates on 8 tangible happiness factors. The evaluation is based on a scale of 1-10 where you can reflect on where you are with each factor, and then set goals based on your reflections. It clues you in to where you are at this moment in your life in terms of your happiness or fulfillment. As we looked at your Rocks in Life Part #1, you might see some of your rocks in the wheel of life.

Life Is A Journey

Let’s say that you are in a small town in the Midwest and would like to go to say, Pocatello, ID but you really have no idea how to get there and you’re not sure why you even want to go there. You just know everyone just says that is the place to be and once there, you’ve made it. You refuse to use a map, finding it embarrassing, because you’re a bit off track. You also refuse to look at your starting point thinking you know the gist of where you are. However, you know you are lost and confused. It’s hard to admit it to yourself and especially others.

Instead, you start off in a random direction and arbitrarily turning directions in hopes that one of the roads will give you a sign that will point you in the right direction. You keep going. Perhaps along the way you talk to a few people never really admitting the extent of your confusion and overwhelm. You start wondering why you are going to Pocatello but push it to the back of your mind. You do run into luck, hit some big road signs, stop in a few big cities, meet some people, maybe even a special person who is just as confused as you are (which you never admit to each other) but he/she also on their way to Pocatello.

The road starts to get frustrating, long, tedious, boring, and uncomfortable. This makes you cranky, angry, upset, even with your companion. Finally, after years of driving around you make it to Pocatello. OMG you have finally arrived! You start cruising around… wait this is Pocatello? What is all the fuss about? Now depression sets in. You have made it all the way here, and it’s not what you thought. Why did you want to get there in the first place? Where are you going to go now? And the bigger question: WHY?

Maybe you are one of the many that never find Pocatello. You spend countless hours going to seminars, making dream boards and visualizing Pocatello but you never get there. It drains your money, your emotional resources, and your passion. You also start to question why do I want to go to Pocatello?

On this journey, you are so obsessed with finding Pocatello you are not open to looking for the other potentially beautiful possibilities and opportunities that are happening all around you and the people you are meeting. Instead, you talk to very few new people as you don’t want them to know your situation and keep telling the people at home that you are fine.

Do I Do That?

That sounds kind of ridiculous, doesn’t it? Well, it is not far from what most of us do. We have random goals that come from, well, who knows where? Our parents, friends, family, advertisements? And then are dumbfounded when we get those things and we are unsatisfied with life. Or you might have an arbitrary goal of where you want to go that doesn’t line up with your heart’s desire so you never reach the intended target and are unsatisfied with life.

So, let’s look at where you are starting from, where you want to go, and finally why. Are your goals in line with your true beliefs or someone else’s? You need to take a really, hard, honest look at where you are starting. If you say, “I am fine, everything is ok, I just want to get to Pocatello”, then you are reading the wrong article.

There is no need to plan out every detail, those will come from the Universe/Source/God/your inner self or whatever you call it. So, let’s look at the Wheel of Life. Click here to get your PDF.

Exercise

The Wheel of Life. You are going to look at these areas of your life (possibly more) and rate them. Click here for the exercise.

Evaluate where you are in each area of your life 1-10. Mark where you are on the wheel.
1 being the lowest (I REALLY need to improve this area of my life) and 10 being the highest (everything is just perfect).
Fill in the chart and table. Fill in your rating, then move on to where you are in your life, and finally where you would like to be. Get the worksheet here.

Below is an example:

Lowest to Highest (Factor)	Number	Where am I now?	What do I want? Where do I want to be?
Fun/ Recreation	2	I don’t have much fun and/or free time. I have no me time. I spend too much time running around and being around people.	I want to have alone time for 30 minutes at least 2 times a week. I also want to join an art class just for fun. I really need some more joy in my life. I think it will help bring in more positive things in my life.
Spiritually	3	I meditate maybe once a week and try to fit in yoga once a week too. I know it would improve my mindset	I want to meditate 5-6 times a week and do yoga 2 times a week. I want to be calmer, more appreciative and positive.
Finances	4	I make enough to have a couple of hundred left over for savings each month.	I want to have a side hustle so that I can make $1500.00-$2000.00 savings each month.

Great! Now you know where you are starting and have some goals to help improve your happiness. Let’s put it together with our Rocks Exercise to make a clear map of where we are going. Then let’s go to Part #3 to make sure your goals and desires fit you!