A new year can naturally be a time to reflect on intention, mindset, or focus for the months ahead, even if resolutions aren’t really your thing. Of course, this process can feel overwhelming, or even a bit scary, but creating a little space for exploration can help us to better connect with who we are and what we want for ourselves.
As a mental health coach, I love helping my clients to create their personal wellness wheel. This is a powerful, holistic tool that you can use to reflect on how things are going in different areas of your life, helping you to strengthen your sense of purpose, identity, and wellbeing.
Are you interested in creating your own wellness wheel? Great! I’m here to walk you through the steps, but remember that this is your process, so do whatever feels best for you. Have fun with it and please be gentle on yourself, offering up plenty of self-compassion along the way.
Create your own wellness wheel
Take a moment to study the image above and notice the different areas of focus. We want to begin to identify what parts of life are going well, and which areas may need a little more attention. Notice how the different areas are interconnected and how they affect one another. Here’s a bit more on what each piece of the wheel might mean for you:
- Physical wellness – mindfully eating foods and beverages to support good health, providing nourishment, exercise/movement, managing illness and/or chronic conditions
- Emotional wellness – awareness of thoughts and feelings; expressing and managing feelings fully and effectively
- Academic/Career wellness – schoolwork or work that is personally rewarding and meaningful; a place where you’re contributing personal talents and strengths
- Creative wellness – connecting to activities or things that involve using your imagination or original ideas; creating new things; the spirit of being playful
- Spiritual wellness – searching for meaning and purpose in our existence; what is real or true
- Intellectual wellness – challenging our minds and tapping into potential for creative and stimulating activities
- Social wellness – interconnection and interaction with others; communication and boundaries
- Financial wellness – creation and management of money; spending and investing
- Environmental wellness – taking care of our personal and communal spaces to protect our environment
Whenever you’re ready, grab a piece of paper, or use the in-app journal tool, and start to dive in. It can be overwhelming to work on all seven areas of focus in one sitting, so consider breaking them up and doing one each day over the course of a week. There is power in taking small steps, allowing yourself the necessary time and space to reflect so that you get the most out of this process.
Looking at each area of wellness on the wheel, go through the following actions/questions:
- Start by ranking each area of the wheel on a scale from 1 to 10… 1 meaning this is an area where you’re looking to make the most improvements, 10 being the areas where little to no improvements are needed.
- What areas of the wheel are sparking the most interest? What do you feel drawn to?
- What’s going well in this area of your life?
- What might still be missing?
- What obstacles or challenges have you faced in this area?
- Why is this important to you?
Once you spend time with each area of focus, you can begin to set small goals (there’s an in-app tool to help) to get to where you want to be. As you focus on moving forward, take a moment to recognize all that you’ve accomplished, the things you’ve overcome, and the resiliency that you’ve shown.
Try writing out the steps you want to take and hang them somewhere that you’ll notice daily. Then, refer back to your wellness wheel each week to keep yourself on track.
If you need a little help sticking with it, you can also ask a coach, therapist, or loved one to support you in setting and taking steps towards your goals. Enjoy creating your wellness wheel and know we’ll be here to encourage you along the way!
By Carrie Gregory, NBC-HWC, Coach at Sanvello
Carrie Gregory believes in a holistic approach to health and wellbeing. She is passionate about inspiring others to unlock their own potential and live happier, healthier lives. As a Sanvello Coach, she works with clients to discover and leverage strengths, values, and past successes to help them with today’s challenges.
When she’s not seeing clients, Carrie is a military wife, a mother to one fabulous kiddo, and enjoys living a life filled with creativity and adventure.