FOCUS & THE WHEEL OF LIFE

 20220707 Module 16

Key Idea: What you pay attention to is what you focus on. What you focus on is what expands.

The Tale of the “Two Wolves Within” is a popular legend of unknown origin. It tells the story of a grandfather using a metaphor of two wolves constantly fighting, to explain his inner conflicts to his grandson. One wolf represents Good, Light & Hope, while the other represents Evil, Darkness & Despair. When the boy asks which one will win, the grandfather sagely replies, it is the one you feed the most. If our minds are constantly preoccupied with the things that are negative & self-sabotaging, then we may find ourselves incapacitated at achieving anything in life nor any satisfaction. But if we are able to discipline our minds to think in the positive, then we create a hopeful headspace that is able to see opportunities in any given situation. 

Similarly, Pastor Craig Groeschel, Lead Pastor of the fastest growing church in America today, says that “Our life is always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts.” The things we dwell on the most, are preoccupied with, and that consume our calendars the most are what we focus on, and eventually become. Therefore, if we are able to spend more time contemplating on the things that matter the most to us, we can make better decisions for our future and be our own architects of the life we desire. 

In class, we were introduced to the Wheel of Life, which is a great tool to help our Coachees take an open and intentional look at each key area of their life, and rate its relative quality level, to uncover which areas need more focus than others. As the Coach, we should always be mindful that it is the Coachee who gets to choose the Areas of Focus they wish to work on, and not us trying to get them to focus on another area. 

The following information on the were shared in the pdf Handout Notes. 

Here are some ways that could assist in helping the Coachee “Discover the Focus”:

• Conducting a needs analysis 

• Reviewing development or action plans 

• Reviewing team (others) feedback 

• Simply asking the person 

• Using tool such as the “Wheel of Life”

Wheel of Life (The following information is referenced from the Class Handout Notes)

When I was first introduced to The Wheel of Life, it gave me wonderful focus at that time on what I needed to get some order into my life. The Wheel has been used throughout time for measuring the quality of our lives, whether Personally or Professionally. 

The Headings for each slice of the pie are only suggestions of Areas of Focus, and the Coachee should be allowed to change & choose whichever 8 Areas of Focus that best represent them. 

Next, scale each of their 8 Areas of Focus from 1-10 (1 being lowest and 10 being highest) in their “current” satisfaction level. Thereafter, repeat the process, but now to project where they would want to be in the “future” for their 8 Areas of Focus, over the next 1-3 years. Finally, ask them to choose 3 Key Focus Areas to commit on and take massive action over the months ahead. 

Here are a few questions to help the Coachee reflect & make discoveries for themselves.

• If this represented a real car wheel, how well would the car run? 

• Would it be different if you were going at 25 km/hour or 110 km/hour? 

• What would you need to change if you wanted to stretch your achievement? 

• What would the potential gaps be, and in which areas in your life? 

- What are the 3 Areas of Focus? What is the Timeline of Focus?

- What are the Gaps and which is the Biggest one? Are there any areas of Self-Awareness as a result? Any Blind Spots?

- What are 3 Action Steps to close the Gap? What are you going to start, stop or continue?

Like most people, our current wheel (of life) fitted on… will give us a less than comfortable quality of ride (and life). This exercise will help the Coachee FOCUS ON what’s really important, what matters, and ultimately reprioritize to experience a more balanced and engaged life. It’s always a great place to begin when we can get our Coachee more aware of their CORE, in readiness for a powerful Coaching Session.