Feeling uncertain about your next steps? You’ve come to the right place to begin your journey towards a richer, fuller life. If you’re here, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed, wondering how to embark on this path of self-discovery. Don’t worry; feeling a little lost at the start is perfectly normal and, in fact, an excellent place to begin. Alternatively, you might not feel lost at all but simply need a good old check-in with the most important person in your life—hint hint, that’s you.
So, take a deep breath, grab your favourite drink, and let's dive into your first step: holding the mirror up to yourself and doing an honest self-check-in.
The Wheel of Life
If you're a self-development junkie (like me) you've already heard of The Wheel of Life, and I'm betting you've had a go at this exercise once or twice before.
One of the most effective tools I’ve found in my own journey, and recommend wholeheartedly to all my readers and coaching clients, is the Wheel of Life (well, my own version based on this). This simple yet powerful self-assessment tool can help you visualise all the crucial areas of your life at once. It serves as a compass that shows you exactly where you are and where you might want to go.
In case you're not familiar, here’s how the regular wheel of life works: (see diagram below)
The idea is to rate your level of satisfaction in each area on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being completely dissatisfied and 10 being thoroughly fulfilled.
Reflect deeply and mark your satisfaction level in each segment (see the green crosses). Then, draw a line connecting each mark (the blue). This will form a new, smaller "circle" within your wheel.
Analyze your wheel: A wonky, uneven wheel isn’t going to roll smoothly, right? This visual will help you see where your life might be bumpier than you’d like.
This exercise isn’t about judging yourself—it’s about clarity and setting the stage for meaningful changes.
The main problem I have with this exercise is it's just not detailed enough. There aren't enough areas. When asking yourself about relationships, is it the relationship with your spouse, or the relationship with your mother? I can tell you, I am coming up with two very different answers for these...
So, here's the exercise I do instead (scroll down to download your copy). There are 24 questions to rate yourself 0 - 10. Feel free to add more if you think it will help.
Go through them one by one scoring yourself out of 10.
I want you to be brutally honest—this is just for your eyes. Don't overthink it. Write down the first number that comes to mind. 0 = its pretty awful and 10 = it's flipping fantastic.
Why Start Here?
Starting with this honest self-check-in accomplishes a few things:
It Sets a Baseline: Knowing where you start from gives you a clear baseline for tracking your progress.
It Highlights Priorities: It immediately highlights which areas of your life need more attention and which are thriving.
It Promotes Self-Understanding: This tool fosters deep personal insight, which is essential for any meaningful self-development work.
Example:
You can see from the example that general happiness is rated at 6. This score is usually influenced by what's going on with the rest. One of the quickest ways to bring up your happiness level is to bring up the lowest-scoring areas. In this case that's Finances, Sleep Quality, Energy, Stress and Self-Love.
If we can bring up the 2's and 3's to say 5's it's going to bring up that general happiness level.
So if youre feeling lost and unsure where to start this is a fantastic tool to get a snapshot of where you are and see what to focus on.
Embrace the Journey
Embarking on this journey of self-improvement is a brave step toward living your best life. You've got to get a bit uncomfortable to create the life you want. And holding up a mirror to yourself can be quite an uncomfortable task. Remember, it’s not about perfection—it’s about progress. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed at first, but each step you take brings more understanding and more growth.
You can draw this exercise in your journal or you can fill in this editable pdf. It has two columns so you can come back to it and see if there is any change in a few months time. Keep your results handy as we explore each area in more depth in upcoming posts. We’ll tackle how to improve each segment, sharing tips, experiences, and insights to help you grow and flourish.
Your Next Step
Now that you’ve got your scores, consider which area you want to explore first. What areas did you score the lowest? Is the next step boosting your career, working on your relationships, or maybe focusing on your health? Let’s take this journey one step at a time, together.
I’m here to support you every step of the way. Drop me a comment below or send an email — let’s make this interactive. Share your experiences and your thoughts, and let’s grow this community of like-minded people.
Here’s to starting a journey that promises new horizons and a fuller life. Let’s move forward, together.
Stay Happy and Healthy x
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