Taking Stock

At various points in our lives, we should take inventory of all things important and how satisfied we are with each aspect.  Why is this important?  In general, it is always good to know what you stand for and are willing to put in the work for.  For me, it helps to gain clarity, focus, and balance. 

I recently learned how to use the life wheel.  I literally spent time deciphering the eight most important things to me.  Now, if you are like me, this can be a very difficult task because you have to weed out the things that you feel should be important or things that others think should be important to you.  Let me take you through my experience:  

Looking at the page, I had several terms that looked like they should matter to me.  Why? Because I was 39. married, a leader within my company.  So, things like, savings, investments, networks, faith, these SHOULD all definitely be on my list; shouldn't they?  

I make a decent living and have some money saved.  I work very hard but is saving money for what might happen truly the only thing I work for?  

I understand the purpose of networks and how they can be useful.  However, I am a fixer, a helper.  Is spending my time looking for use in others something desirable for me?

If you look at my wheel, you don't see faith or religion.  Not because I don't have faith or because I don't believe in God.  Is that wrong?  Am I a bad person?

These are some of the things that I had to really consider as I wrote out my list.  What I discovered were that those things did not truly reflect me or my desires.  I wanted the process to wholly focus on me and my betterment.  So I landed on these eight, marriage, security, personal growth, travel,relationships, family, career, and health.  I then had to rank my level of satisfaction in each label from 0 to 10.  

When I looked at my wheel (see picture), I saw the imbalance.  Yes, I knew that my balance (sense of peace) was off, I didn't need the exercise for that.  What the exercise helped me to see was why it was off.  I wonder if you can tell by reading this post and looking at my picture.
If you think you know why it was off, let me know.  

I encourage everyone to take stock.  I know taking inventory is a long drawn out process.  In the end, it is good to know how much supply you have, where it is, and what its worth.