Decision making is a fact of life, we have a constant barrage of information we need to analyse and choices we have to make. Here are some simple tools to help you.

The SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis is a simple yet effective way of doing a situational analysis and exploring the internal and external influences that are affecting an individual or organisation. SWOT stands for:

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats

Strengths and weaknesses are the internal factors; opportunities and threats the external ones. The idea of the SWOT analysis is to keep things simple and concise. All that needs to be done is to record the key considerations under each heading to highlight the critical information that needs to be acted upon. The SWOT analysis is based upon a study done at Stanford University.

The Eisenhower Matrix

The Eisenhower Matrix (named after US President Dwight D. Eisenhower) is another simple yet powerful tool but in this case it is used for time management. The process is based upon identifying whether something is either important or not important, urgent or not urgent. The matrix is then made up of four boxes:

• Important, but not urgent – things that you decide when you will do them
• Urgent and important – things that should be done immediately
• Not important, not urgent – things that can be done at a later date
• Urgent but not important – things that can be delegated to someone else

Items on a to-do list are categorised into the four boxes in order to help prioritise them.

The Conflict Resolution Model

Psychologists have identified that our responses to conflict situations can be categorised in six different ways. Understanding these reactions and being able to identify them in can help to resolve or de-escalate a situation. By looking for the best way to respond good communication and relationships can be restored. The six responses are:

• Fight. The aggressive response is to try and defeat the cause of the conflict but this has a downside in business and relationships as someone has to become the loser (lose-lose)
• Flight. Running away is just avoidance; it does not solve the issue so it will still be there at a later date (win-lose)
• Give up. This is the opposite of the fight response but the result is the same; there is a loser, and therefore this should be avoided (lose-win)
• Evade responsibility. If someone cannot handle the situation they might give the responsibility to someone else. Bringing in another party generally reduces the chances of a favourable solution. (lose-lose)
• Compromise. This is when negotiation leads to a solution but one where both parties lose some ground, therefore the conflict is resolved but at a cost to both sides (win-lose/win-lose).
• Reach a consensus. This is where the conflict is turned into an opportunity where both parties can benefit; therefore it is more productive than a compromise and the best overall result (win-win).

The Making-of Model

This model was developed by The Grove consulting agency and looks at how someone’s past has an influence on their future. It is done by looking back at a specific period of time; be that a project, business venture or important period of life and then analysing it. For each time period the considerations are:

• The people involved
• The goals that were set
• The challenges that were overcome
• The successes
• What lessons were learned

This tool can be particularly helpful when crafting a CV.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Developed by the psychologist Abraham Maslow, the hierarchy categorises human needs as:

• Physiological needs (such as eating, sleeping, sex)
• Security (shelter, work, health, physical security)
• Social relationships (friends, community, love, a partner)
• Recognition (money, status, power)
• Self-actualisation (faith, self-belief, fulfilling potential, spirituality)

The first three are the basic needs and form the bottom three tiers of the triangle. If these needs are supplied a person no longer considers them. The last two (that form the top two levels of the pyramid) can never really be satisfied and are therefore areas of continual growth.

The Pareto Principle (The 80/20 Rule)

Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, identified that 80% of success and good results come from just 20% of the input. In other words 20% of a company’s customers will be responsible for 80% of its revenue. 80% of a person’s results is down to 20% of their time. The key is identifying the productive 20% in any given situation and focussing on that.

The Belbin Team Model

Meredith Belbin conducted a series of studies and identified nine profiles that were needed in any successful team. They all have particular strengths and weaknesses, which is why all the roles are needed to provide balance. In summary the roles are:

• Plant – an ideas generator, good at thinking but can find it hard to focus on one thing
• Co-ordinator – a decision-maker and delegator who takes responsibility but can appear manipulative
• Shaper – a ‘can-do’ person who overcomes challenges but can be impatient
• Resource Investigator – someone who looks at possibilities and contacts external to the team; can be over-optimistic
• Implementer – action-orientated, this person is reliable but can be inflexible
• Monitor Evaluator – analytical and level headed but can be overly critical
• Team worker – fosters communication and good relationships internally but can be indecisive
• Completer Finisher – has very high standards, conscientious but can be too much of a perfectionist
• Specialist – provide specialist insight and skills but can be too narrow in their thinking

What is the Wheel of Life in coaching and what does it do?

The Wheel of Life is a useful coaching tool that is used to examine how balanced we are across different spheres or roles in life. It is a great way to get an overall feel for how content we are and identify key areas for growth. It is particularly helpful for people concerned about achieving a work-life balance.

The philosophy behind the process is that life is connected and we should aspire to have balance across all the areas of our existence. Therefore it is not so much ‘work-life balance’ but recognising work as being an integral part of life, and therefore having a more holistic approach to how we attain contentment.

If we feel we are failing in one section of our lives, then it will have an adverse effect on our overall wellbeing and happiness. In other words, if we let our friendships or health deteriorate it is likely to have a negative impact on our work performance or our relationship with our significant other.

It is worth noting that the coaching application of the Wheel of Life can include a spiritual application but is different from the Buddhist Wheel of Life. The latter represents the cycle of reincarnation; birth, death and rebirth.

“Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

Dolly Parton

How do you fill out the Wheel of Life?

The ‘wheel’ is a circle, usually broken down into eight segments (but can be up to 12), where each segment or spoke represents an aspect of life. In each segment, you score yourself 0-10, with 0 being at the centre of the wheel and 10 being at the outside of the circle. Reaching the outer edge of the circle or wheel represents being completely content in that zone.

Once you have scored each section you can quickly see where you believe you are falling short of your own ideal situation. This gives focus and helps to prioritise where a change is going to have the greatest positive impact. The biggest gaps in scores indicate the greatest discontent and prompt the question: how can I increase my score in that area of life? By answering that question one can set goals to improve that aspect of life.

Free Wheel of Life Template

Here is an example template that you can copy and use:

Examining Life Roles

One way of using the Wheel of Life is to examine the most important roles that you play in life and measure your performance or contentment in each one. Roles might include:

• Spouse/Partner
• Parent/Child/Home-maker
• Leader/Manager
• Team Member
• Community Member
• Employee/Employer
• Creative/Artist/Musician
• Student/Learner
• Sports Person/Games Player
• Steward of Finance/Environment/Resources

This list is not exhaustive and it is important to pick the roles that are most relevant and important to you.

Steps for using roles in the Wheel of Life:

1. Start with a blank wheel and then add in your most important roles.
2. Score each one and reflect on which areas you need to work on most.
3. Set time-bound goals to improve in that area
4. At the end of the set time period revisit the wheel and re-score yourself to measure progress.

Segments of Life

Another way to use the Wheel of Life is to think about aspects rather than roles in life. These generally include:

1. Family/Relationship/Romance
2. Community/Social/Friends
3. Health/Wellbeing/Fitness
4. Life Planning/Management/Financial Security/Money
5. Career/Work/Vocation
6. Spirituality/Morality
7. Fun/Recreation/Leisure
8. Personal Growth/Development/Learning

You can follow the same steps, as used for roles in the previous section but replacing the roles with the 8 key areas using the words that resonate most with you.

Questions to help with the Wheel of Life

To help delve deeper into how you are doing at each spoke of the wheel or in each segment you can consider the following questions.  You could rate each one on a 0 to 10 scale and then take an average to get your overall score for each section:

1. Family/Relationship/Romance/Significant other

• How would you rate your romance, intimacy and quality time with your spouse/partner/significant other?
• What score would you give the quality and quantity of your time and communication with your closest family members?
• What score would you rate your relationship with your children and/or parents?
• How content are you with your relationships with your extended family?
• How would you rate the quality of your home environment?

2. Community/Social/Friends

• How would you score the breadth and depth of friendships that you enjoy?
• Do you feel like you have sufficient quality time with your most important friends?
• How would rate the time you have to socialise and make new friends and connections?
• What value would you give to the support you get from friends and your community?
• How would you score your contribution to your community and the environment?

3. Health/Wellbeing

• What would you score for the quality of your eating habits and diet?
• How content are you with your health and fitness?
• What score would you give to the quality and quantity of your sleep?
• How would you score your emotional health and mental wellbeing?
• How would you rate your impact on the environment?

4. Life Planning/Management/Financial Security/Money

• How financially secure do you feel on a scale of 0-10?
• What score would you give to your ability to set and keep to a budget?
• How free of debt are you? (10 being completely free of debt)
• How would you rate the quality of your savings, investments and pension to support you in the future?
• What rating would you score yourself in terms of financial independence or freedom?

5. Career/Work/Vocation

• How happy and fulfilled do you feel in your career or vocation?
• How content are you with the hours you work?
• What score would you give to your ability to prioritise and manage your time?
• How effective and skilled would you say that you are in your job?
• How content are you with your work prospects, progression or promotion?

6. Spiritual/Moral

• How aligned do you feel to an overall vision, purpose and direction for your life?
• How aligned would you say you are – in thought, word and deed – to your moral values and principles?
• What score would you give to the time you have off-line for personal reflection, prayer or meditation?
• How happy are you with the legacy you are building and will leave behind?
• How accountable do you feel for your spiritual or moral direction?

7. Fun/Recreation

• How would you rate the quality of time you have each week for leisure and recreation?
• Are you content with your ability to pursue your passions or hobbies?
• How would you rate the time you have for fun and laughter?
• Do you feel you are getting enough holiday or vacation time?
• How energised do you feel?

8. Personal Growth/Learning/Development

• How would you rate your continued education and personal development?
• Are you content with the time you have for reading, listening and learning?
• How self-aware would you say that you are?
• Are you content with your opportunity to develop existing strengths and learn new skills?
• How effective would you say you are in setting and achieving personal goals?

When you have filled it out it will look something like the example in the picture below.

Have a look at your scores. If you have an area or even just one particular question with a low score then that is a great place to focus on. Ask yourself: how could I increase this score by one? What would it look and feel like to be at that higher score and how could I get there? Then you can set yourself your specific goal to close the gap.

Wheel of Life Free Downloadable Tool

To make it even easier you can download this Excel spreadsheet template that has all the questions on the first worksheet. When you put in the scores it will automatically calculate your average score and populate a Wheel of Life (or Web of Life) on the second worksheet tab.

Well done and good luck!

Life balance, like forming new habits, does not happen overnight. But, taking the time to examine your life with a tool such as the Wheel of Life provides an excellent start.

You may want also want some help in identifying your goals and developing your plan. I have the pleasure of working alongside many amazing individuals and organisations doing exactly that. If you would also like some assistance, in person or online, then please do drop me a line. You can email me via the contact page.

If you would like to find out more about coaching and have an initial free coaching consultation then please email us using the contact page. Just click on this link: Contact Form