Have you been feeling off at work lately?

Do you find yourself daydreaming at your desk, unmotivated, unproductive, on edge, exhausted all the time and can’t quite pinpoint why?  By all means, you’re just coming out of a pandemic, readjusting to new class schedules and procedures for the kids, and your work life has been, or will be, upended again as ‘back-to-the-office’ may be imminent, so you may be saying to yourself, “Of course, I’m feeling out of balance!”  or could something bigger be going on?

Feeling in a rut? Do you want to do something different and more meaningful in 2022?  Join Coach, Dionne Nicholls, as we begin month three of the RESET challenge.

The RESET is a year-long journey that will provide you with the tools to take action and provide clarity when it comes to pursuing your goals and dreams. By immersing yourself in this challenge, you’ll be able to overcome roadblocks and lead a more fulfilling life.

If that off-feeling has been lingering for a while, there may be something deeper that needs to be addressed that a week’s vacation is not going to fix. 

So, where do I start?

A great place to start is to revisit Challenge #1 and set aside some time for stillness, silence and solitude because this assessment of your life will require some deep introspection. It will require shedding some light on the areas of your career that are causing the bumps in the road.  And for busy working mothers, there is a tool that quickly and visually helps you discern what is working and what is not, it’s called the Wheel of Life Exercise.

The Wheel of Life.  How do I use it?

The Wheel of life is an extremely popular visual tool that quickly gives you an understanding of how fulfilled you are in this moment. It takes no more than 5 minutes! The wheel usually consists of 8-10 categories (health, significant other, family, finances, spirituality, home environment, work, recreation…) or areas considered important for a whole or balanced life. You will rate your level of satisfaction with each area, then map this onto an image of a wheel; this gives you an immediate snapshot or 360 degree view of your current “work-life balance“.

1. For each segment ask yourself, “On a scale from 1-10, how satisfied am I with this area of my life?” Don’t overthink it, just ‘go with your gut’. (imagine the center of the wheel being 0, very unsatisfied, and 10, being the outer edge of the wheel indicating very satisfied)
2. Rate each segment until you have a second ‘inner’ wheel. Now, like a tire the rounder it is, the more easily it rolls, if your wheel has some square edges, it means you will encounter some resistance. Ask, “If I had to journey far with these wheels, what would that ride be like?”
3. Choose the segment you feel to be most out of balance.
4. Consider all the small successes that make up this score i.e., “What is working well?”
5. If anything were possible, what would your ideal satisfaction score be? This represents your life vision for an area of your life.

Now, if we’re specifically looking at career the Wheel of Life categories could be labeled as follows:

• Money
• Team Quality
• Impact
• Travel
• Creativity
• Growth & Development
• Work/Life Well-being
• Vision

Based on your score you may question if your unhappiness is because you are no longer feeling fulfilled in your current role or industry, you barely see your kids, or the mission of the company no longer aligns with your core values and beliefs. Michaela, Mom, Health Coach & Founder of  Health by Michaela swears by this tool for her clients and offers some great follow-up questions.

Now what?

1. Compare ‘Where I am’’ & ‘Where I Want to be’. What do you notice?
2. Take a moment, using all 5 senses, to ‘live’ your ideal score for this segment by visualizing your ideal day, week, month, year at work. The more vivid and detailed, the better!
3. What could you do to move up one point closer to your ideal from where you are today?
4. To avoid the sense of overwhelm, decide what achievable action step would bring you one step closer to your dream career.

Final Words

You might determine that the lull you’ve been feeling is because the role you’re in now does not offer the same level of creativity it used to, or, although you’re making that 6-figure salary you were striving for, the 80-hour work week is draining you.  You now realize a career with flexible work hours that provides more quality time with your family is of greater priority.  This nifty little wheel can give you the birds eye view you need to zero in on what your top priorities are, what is missing and then make the changes or the full-on pivot to what will bring you into alignment with your dream career and life.  I strongly suggest retaking the Wheel of Life every 6 months to check-in to see where you are and how you are progressing.  If you notice things aren’t moving as quickly as you like, you might consider hiring a coach as your accountability partner, cheerleader and mirror when you may need some clarity on what might be getting in the way.

Look out for your next RESET tip in May! We’d like you to share your journey with us and we look forward to receiving your feedback. You can email us on Jobs.mom contact page or share your feedback on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram, and tag us.