Human beings are complex. We want rich and fulfilling lives, which means we usually have lots of competing priorities and ways we’d like to improve ourselves.

 

This Daily Practice Exercise offers you a snapshot of your priorities and your current level of satisfaction with the attention you give each of those priorities. Creating Daily Practices provides a simple way to balance the energy you spend on each priority.

 

Follow the instructions to complete your Daily Practice Wheel. Once you have completed that portion of the exercise, share it with your coach. Together create daily practices to support each of the things you care most about.

 

By giving some of your resources to each of the areas you’ve chosen, you will work steadily towards a more balanced and fulfilling life.

 

From time to time, do this exercise again to reflect the way your priorities have changed.

 

 

Creating Your Daily Practice Wheel

 

1. Define the things that you care most about in life – relationships or activities where you most want to spend your time and energy. Pick only 3 to 7 categories from the list below, or use your own words, the more specific the better. For example, instead of “Partner” put the name of that person. Instead of “Sports” you might have “mountain climbing” or “walking/yoga”.

 

Family             Work                           Community                 Physical wellbeing

Partner             Vocation                     Spiritual growth          Sports

Children          My own business        Religious beliefs          Fun

Friends            Volunteering               Church                        Creativity

Colleagues       Creating a Legacy       Philanthropy                Hobbies

 

2. Draw the spokes of your wheel. Go to the last page that has an example of a Daily Practice Wheel and an empty wheel for you to fill in. Between the small and large circles on draw as many spokes as you have categories. Draw each spoke with two lines. (See example.)

 

3. Write one of your priorities into each of the spokes you have drawn. The order does not matter.

 

4. Take some time to consider how satisfied you currently are with your attention to each spoke of your Daily Practice Wheel. For example if mountain climbing is one of your priorities – are you satisfied with how much time and energy you devote to that? Give yourself a rating of 1 to 4 for each spoke. If you give the thing or person represented by the spoke too much or too little of your time, let that reflect in your rating.

 

1 = unsatisfied

2 = moderately satisfied

3 = very satisfied

4 = completely satisfied

 

 

5. Shade in each spoke according to your rating. For example if you rated yourself a three (3) then shade the spoke three quarters of the way from the inside to the outside.

 

1 = 25%

2 = 50%

3 = 75%

4 = 100%

 

 

6. Now do the same with the hub of the wheel – SELF—rate your level of satisfaction with the attention you give to your relationship with yourself and shade that circle the corresponding percentage from bottom to top.

 

 

Setting up Daily Practices

 

1. Take a look at your completed Daily Practice Wheel. Share your results with your coach and discuss where, when and how to dedicate your time and energy. Set up Daily Practices for each of your priorities. Your completed wheel is a snapshot of your level of satisfaction with where your time and energy are going. For a wheel to be balanced each spoke needs to connect fully with the center, the hub. The hub needs to be whole and solid.

 

To be balanced the goal is to be 100% satisfied with the attention you are giving each category and your self. You can make improvements on one category while maintaining or improving the other areas as well. Simply notice where your energy is going now and make conscious choices about where your energy will go from now on. Having Daily Practices will make it that easy.

 

2. Based on each spoke of your Daily Practice Wheel, make a list of simple ways you can contribute time and energy to that priority.  Here are some examples of Daily Practices:

 

Physical Health:

 

Drink 5 glasses of water

Walk in the park with dogs for one hour

Yoga class

Work out at the gym

Go on a hike

Ride my bike

Life weights

 

Friends/family:

 

Call friend or family member

Set up a fun event with a friend(s) or family on my calendar

Write a letter to a relative

Recognize birthdays

 

3. Every day choose one thing to accomplish for each spoke of your Daily Practice Wheel, or do something spontaneous that will build or maintain your level of satisfaction for each spoke. Some days you’ll spend more time on one than another. It’s about your satisfaction, not the amount of time you spend.

 

Enjoy your progress!

 

Adapted from Coach Alliance Training