Circle of Holistic Life
BY EMILY FARAONE

This blog post is the second of our March Series on Holistic Living. Head to An Intro To Holistic Living to read Part 1. The areas of life referenced in this blog post are explained in Part 1.

Now that you are familiar with the different areas of life, we will take some time to reflect on each area through this exercise.

Circle of Holistic Life

This is an exercise in holistic thinking and balanced life. Rate each area of life on a scale of 1-10. 10 is excellent, and you couldn’t ask for better. It’s not necessarily about how “successful” you are in that area of life, but rather how you feel about that area.

Do you feel hopeful about it? Content? Or does thinking about that subject make you uneasy?

Don’t think about how someone else may rate you in that area. It is about how you feel about it.

Now, use the Circle of Life PDF below to plot where you ranked yourself in each area, or simply draw it yourself! Connect each of the dots. The last page of the PDF shows an example. 

How balanced is your circle? Do you see any similarities between the categories that got higher scores vs. those that got lower ones? As you can imagine, the “goal” here is to have a perfectly round circle. I think it is safe to say that is kind of a silly goal. I think the value is greater in seeing your circle evolve over time.

This is an exercise I recommend coming back to periodically. It is interesting to see how it ebbs and flows! It also serves as a nice reminder to check in with yourself. Have you inadvertently neglected an area of your life? Does one area bring you ease? While another brings constant stress? Do you see the connection between different areas? Is a lower score in one area affecting another area? It is also important to think about the areas that scored higher. Sit in it a little bit. Is that an area you have been taking the initiative to improve? Good for you! Sometimes we may just feel off, but not sure how or why. This exercise helps you pinpoint.

The exercise can end there. To take it a step further, we use this to reflect and identify areas to work on with my health coaching clients. We may focus on the two lowest scores, set goals in each area, and then talk through daily habits that bring us closer to those goals. We track those habits and adjust as we need.

I want to leave you with some more journal prompts regarding this activity.