We all know being happy is one of the best results of living a great life and many of us strive for that.

It is no secret that I am an advocate of work-life balance and helping others achieve this. Work-life balance is where all the main areas in your life are satisfying, are at a level where you are content, you are moving in a direction towards what you want, energy flows and life feels extraordinary.

Have you said before or know of someone “when I get that new job, or we move to a new house or a new city, then everything in life will be fine!” And things might be fine when you get this, yet this is just one area of your life.
Have you ever met someone whose life just seems on point - they are living the dream - their secret is they have a work-life balance and they know what it means and how to get it.

So let me tell you what you can do to get started. To create more happiness and fulfillment in your life.

Work-life balance, yes easy to understand that these two components must be in equal proportion, but let us break it down to see what work-life really is.

Work meaning your job, your career, your purpose which typically negates to helping/giving/sharing something to others.

Life, well this is a big one as many things fall into this part of the equation. There are about 8 - 12 different areas of life that make this up.

Let’s explore these.

1. Health (physical & mental)
2. Wealth/finances.
3. Friendships
4. Relationship/partner
5. Family
6. Religion/spirituality
7. Career
8. Hobbies
9. Personal Development
10. Sport/exercise
11. Community
12. Physical Environment (ie/ your house, town, city, country)

As you read through this list you may not feel that all of these apply to you, but in general, they all have importance in life Some may be more significant than others for you today, and in the future that may change as you change.

But if you look at all of these areas of life and then start to think if all of these areas were on a scale of 8 out of 10 or even higher then can you imagine the happiness and fulfillment you will have? Then equilibrium of work-life balance starts to appear.

Looking at the list may seem daunting but this one exercise I want to share with you is beneficial so you can get a bird’s eye view of how your life is.

Some areas of life complement other areas, meaning once you have happiness and fulfillment in one it will carry thru to another which can help increase those other areas - such a wonderful thing.

And if you are thinking of a career change then it is time to see what else is going on in your life.  See what areas can be off-balance due to an unsatisfying career.   A great way to see where to focus extra energy and attention and a wonderful way to see what impact your current career is having on your life and what changes or improvements are needed.

As you spend typically one-third of your life each day in your career this Wheel of life exercise is vital to see the impact of an unsatisfying career in relation to your whole life. You may be aware of this to some level, but seeing this on a deeper level will give you great insight and help you connect to yourself.

All you need to do this exercise is a pen, paper, and 10 minutes of free uninterrupted time.

Look at the different areas of life above and select 8 or more.
Draw a large circle on a piece of paper and then divide the circle into segments according to how many areas of life you have selected.
Then for each area ask yourself “how happy/satisfied I am in this area of my life today?”
Rate this out of 10. 10 being completely satisfied and 0 not at all.
Important:  Use the first number (score) that pops into your head, not the number you think it should be!

Congrats! You have completed the exercise.

Please click here for a file that visually shows this.

What to do with your results?

It is time for you to now take a look at what this all means for you, what you can do with this information, and more importantly how it can help you to move forward with your self-discovery.

Looking at the wheel of life and the scores, is it a bumpy ride?  Are there any surprises here for you?  How do you feel overall about the scores you gave each area?  How do you feel about your life as you look at your wheel?

Now it’s time to get a deeper awareness of each category.  You can ask the below five questions for each area in life you rated, and take your time, this is the self-exploration phase - well worth the time. If you need to come back to it, that is fine, but do come back. :)

When you are in a career which no longer gives you fulfillment or happiness then it is natural for other areas in your life to start lacking and not continue thriving.  This is not for you to put blame on the situation you are in which could have caused negatives in other areas in life, it is so you can be aware of what are areas in your life need more focus and attention either during your transition currently or afterward.

Questions to ask:
How do you currently spend time in this area?
How would you like to spend time in this area?
What does a score of 10 look like?
What is one actionable step you can take to move closer to a score of 10?
What help and support might you need to make changes and be more satisfied with your life?

Changing to a new career, creating your new lifestyle so you can achieve work-life balance does take time, but with small consistent steps, you will be on your way and FEELING INCREDIBLE.

Love + Sunshine
Alex