Taking A Life Inventory
To find your bearings, you’ll use the 8 facets of daily living to assess where you are right now:
Social: Social includes spending time with at least one friend, new social relationships you would like to build, time with best friends, cultivating relationships with like-minded people, organizations to expand your relationships, relationships you would like to expand, limit, or eliminate.
Community & Causes/Spirituality are activities you participate in or support that have an impact on societies, groups, or causes; as well as living your religious beliefs, reading books on spirituality, meditation, finding and pursuing your unique gifts and purpose.
Mind includes activities and educational opportunities that increase understanding, knowledge, skills, and mental acuity and enhance your career. It also includes activities that involve meaningful work, your money attitudes and beliefs, and the exhibition of positive money behavior.
Lifestyle includes activities for personal enjoyment and for refreshing the body, mind, and spirit; the type and location of housing; and whether you want a mobile lifestyle or want to settle in one place; general travel and adventure; luxuries; and what you do with your time.
Body includes your health and nutrition, personal care, and general vitality.
Family relates to your inner circle of immediate family, close relationships, and extended family, if you wish.
Productive Pursuits is about your human capital, whether it results in the exchange of money or not. For instance: your career(s), your business(es), part-time consulting, lecturing and teaching whether paid or not.
Financial includes any overall financial goals or wishes that don’t fit anywhere else. It can include how well your career or business supports your life, the amount of debt you carry, protection against catastrophic events such as death, disability, job loss, or environmental disasters, and your relationships with various financial advisors. It also covers cash flow and how well that is working.
Your Assessment
With each of the facets of daily living, you’ll want to assess the following:
- On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you right now? Why?
- What needs to happen to improve the rating?
- Is this a key area of focus for the next 12 months?
If you don’t consciously choose what you want to focus on, your brain will do it for you and choose what it usually focuses on.
Up next: Now that you know what you want to change, it’s time to create your vision.