The Balance Wheel: A Family Life in Balance
Click below to print out a clean copy of the Balance Wheel:
Balance Wheel PDF
Family Life in Balance
Achieving family balance is a worthy endeavor. When a family feels balanced, children tend to feel more secure and less stressed. Less stress means less “misbehavior.” To assess your Family Balance, do the following activity.
The 8 categories for Well-Balanced Family:
- Self Care- everyone has time to take care of themselves.
- Being Empathetic- members of the family display empathy toward one another.
- Quality Time – the family makes time to be together in meaningful ways.
- Family Meetings – the family plans, problem solves and makes some decisions together.
- Win/Win Communications- there are no losers, everyone wins whenever possible.
- Setting Clear Limits- limits are clear and followed through with.
- Respond vs. React- the family responds civilly rather than simply reacting negatively toward one another.
- Parenting on the Same Page- parents provide a unified form of discipline.
Directions for Activity:
1. Click below to print out a clean copy of the Balance Wheel:
Balance Wheel PDF
2. Draw a line in the Balance Wheel above from the center that represents a scale of 0 – 5. Zero meaning non-existent to 5 meaning you feel very satisfied with this category. Here is an example:
3. Now draw lines connecting the tips of your categories:
4. Now concentrate on the shape you’ve just created. If this were truly a wheel on your car, everyone would be in for a bumpy ride!
How does this imbalance affect you? How does it affect others? How will you feel when your wheel becomes more balanced? How will family members react differently when it is more balanced?This week, take time to consider the categories on the wheel that need improvement. Think about the changes you can make to really round out that wheel. You don’t have to think about all the categories all at once. It might be helpful to focus on one category per week.Do the assessment periodically over the next 12 weeks to track how your Balance Wheel is shaping up!