Picture your life as a whole pie with six or more different slices – spirituality, physical health, play/adventure, work, romance, family/friends. Each slice or segment helps us see which areas are doing well and which areas may need some attention. To be truly in balance or healthy, we have to factor in all parts of our life.
To create your own Life Pie:
Think about all of the areas of your life today. List the most important ones.
Draw a fairly large circle in the middle of a piece of paper. Divide it into slices based on the areas you identified as being important and with consideration to the amount of space each area is taking up in your life.
Based on how you feel about each slice, make notes to the side about what changes you would like to see as well as highlighting any areas you feel positively about. Notice the areas of your life where you feel satisfied and those you feel lacking. Notice how you feel about the overall pattern – is it familiar? Are there some surprises?
Draw another pie chart with the considerations of the observations above. Have this pie chart represent the life you want. Notice if any ideas jump out at you for ways to move closer to this version. In your notebook or journal, note 3 concrete things you will do to bring more balance to your life pie. For example, to increase fun/adventure can you make more time for someone you have fun with or join a class that would be fun for you?
This is an exercise you can repeat regularly and reflect on any differences to your life pie.
See if you can start where we are without self-criticism. We are where we are. If we start where we are we have a much better chance of getting where we want to be. So, as you reflect on the pie that is your life today, remember to look at this as information so that you can work towards a pie that better reflects the life you want. Try to refrain from critical thinking about what your start looks like.
AND it is important take the time to reflect on what is going well in your life can also have a very positive impact.