Defining the Goals - Workshop 1

An often used exercise to address your satisfaction with important life domains is “The Wheel of Life” (Whitworth, Kimsey-House, & Sandahl, 1998; Dean, 2004). This exercise can be used to clarify priorities for goal-setting, allowing you to plan so your current life becomes closer to your desired life: increasing balance between the different life domains. Note that it is important to first understand what “balance” looks like for you before trying to make this determination based on the results of this exercise. Not everyone is going to want the different domains to be in perfect balance. It all depends on your values.

Note that “balance” is not necessarily reflected by the wheel. In fact, most often, the wheel is a firm reminder of how “unbalanced” your life is. Therefore, this exercise may serve to inform you of any gap between perceived “balance” and reality.

The Wheel of Life is not a picture of the past. It is a snapshot taken in the moment and because of this, it is subject to change. The wheel provides you with data in the “now.”

When used on a regular basis, this tool is excellent to help you to see how far you have progressed. Repeated measures allow you to monitor your progress in perceived life balance. Periodic balance checks can highlight useful patterns and facilitate your behavioural change.

This tool can also be used in a group-setting. Group members may be asked to complete the exercise before attending the first session and to repeat the exercise during the course of the program. Repeating the exercise will allow group members to acknowledge both the changes that they are making and the growth that they are experiencing. Alternatively, the “life domains” may be replaced with “group values” (e.g. collaboration, honesty, etc.). In this version of the tool, the wheel can serve as a tool to monitor the extent to which the group is behaving in line with group values.