Starting your own business can be one of the most exciting yet challenging ventures. For aspiring entrepreneurs, the transition from a structured 9-5 job to the freedom of running your own business is filled with possibilities and potential pitfalls. This newfound freedom is exhilarating, but it often comes with strings attached. Without the right tools and mindset, you might struggle with poor time management, unclear priorities, and a lifestyle that doesn’t align with your goals.

Imagine being able to design your life in a way that perfectly balances your professional ambitions and personal well-being. This is not just a dream—it’s an achievable reality. 

Consciously designing your lifestyle is crucial, especially when transitioning to entrepreneurship. It ensures you stay focused, productive, and satisfied in all areas of your life.

In this article, we’ll explore the concept of lifestyle design and how you can take control of your life using the Balance Wheel exercise. I’ll share my personal journey of discovering the importance of lifestyle design while building my first company, Le VPN, and how it transformed my approach to work and life. 

You’ll learn about the Balance Wheel exercise, a powerful tool that helps you visualize and prioritize different aspects of your life, and how to apply its insights to create a fulfilling and balanced lifestyle.

We’ll delve into three key points:

1. The Importance of Lifestyle Design: Understanding why it’s essential to consciously design your lifestyle, especially as an entrepreneur.
2. Introducing the Balance Wheel Exercise: A step-by-step guide to completing the Balance Wheel exercise and assessing your life balance.
3. Applying the Balance Wheel Exercise: How to use the insights from the Balance Wheel to create actionable steps towards living life on your own terms, illustrated with a real-life example.

By the end of this article, I hope you’ll be intrigued to try the Balance Wheel exercise and download the digital tool. Ready to take control and design the life you want? Let’s dive in.

1: The Importance of Lifestyle Design

Starting your own business is an exhilarating journey filled with freedom and possibilities. But for many entrepreneurs, this newfound freedom comes with its own set of challenges. Transitioning from a structured 9-5 job to managing your own time can be both liberating and overwhelming. It’s crucial to consciously design a lifestyle that aligns with your aspirations, priorities, and overall well-being.

The Entrepreneur Lifestyle: Freedom with Strings Attached

When I started my first company, Le VPN, over a decade ago, I decided to embrace the lifestyle entrepreneur dream fully. I chose to travel through Southeast Asia and South America, changing countries every few weeks. Bali, Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, Argentina—you name it, I was there. I lived the dream of developing my own business while enjoying a tropical climate and learning yoga, meditation, surfing, and even samba and tango. The idea of working from anywhere was thrilling. But soon, I found myself struggling to balance the excitement of new experiences with the demands of building a business.

The Challenges of a Nomadic Entrepreneur Lifestyle

Freedom sounds great, but without structure, it can quickly lead to issues like:

• Poor Time Management: Without a set schedule, it’s easy to let work consume your days.
• Priority Confusion: When everything seems important, it’s tough to decide what to tackle first.
• Lifestyle Compromises: The dream of working from a beach often turns into working all day in a hotel room, missing out on the very experiences you wanted.

I often found myself in a beautiful new place, yet confined to my hotel room, working long hours. I started questioning if it was worth traveling just to work from different hotel rooms. This wasn’t the balanced lifestyle I envisioned. On the opposite end, in Buenos Aires, I got so consumed by learning to dance tango that I often danced for 12 hours straight until early morning, which messed up my work schedule and delayed my business objectives. This was not sustainable either.

The Realization: Designing Your Ideal Life

That’s when I realized the power of consciously designing my life. I needed to understand what was truly important to me and create a plan to make it happen. I had to figure out what my must-haves and good-to-haves were, and stop saying “Yes” to everything. Almost a decade later, during my coaching certification, I discovered tools that could help structure this thought process and set life priorities effectively.

One such tool is the Balance Wheel exercise, which I will share with you in this article. This exercise helps you visualize and assess different areas of your life, making it easier to see where you lack balance and what changes you need to make. By doing this, you can design a lifestyle that not only supports your business goals but also enhances your personal well-being.

Embracing the Balance Wheel exercise was a game-changer for me. It allowed me to create a structured plan to enjoy both my work and travels. I still do it every year. This tool can help you too, as you embark on your entrepreneurial journey, ensuring that you don’t just build a business, but also live a life you love.

Get access to the digital version of the Balance Wheel here.

2: Introducing the Balance Wheel Exercise

The Balance Wheel exercise is a powerful tool in coaching that helps you visualize and prioritize different areas of your life. This exercise brings clarity and insight into how balanced your life currently is and where you might want to focus your efforts to improve overall satisfaction. Let’s dive into how to perform this exercise step-by-step.

What is the Balance Wheel Exercise?

The Balance Wheel exercise, also known as the Wheel of Life, helps you prioritize various aspects of your life to ensure greater balance and increased satisfaction. It’s a simple yet effective way to get a snapshot of your current life balance and identify areas that need more attention.

Steps to Complete the Balance Wheel Exercise

1. Identify Key Life Categories 

Start by thinking of the key areas in your life. Common categories include:

• Career / Own Business 
• Finances
• Family and Friends
• Personal Growth
• Relationships / Significant Other
• Health and Well-Being
• Physical Environment
• Leisure and Hobbies

Aim for eight categories that encompass all significant aspects of your life.

2. Draw the Balance Wheel 

Draw a large circle and divide it into eight equal sections, like a pie chart. Label each section with one of the categories you identified. This visual representation will help you see all areas of your life at a glance. Or use a digital tool for it that you can access here.

3. Rate Your Satisfaction 

Next, rate your current satisfaction in each category on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very dissatisfied and 10 is fully satisfied. Shade in the corresponding section of each category based on your rating. This shading will create a visual representation of your satisfaction levels across all areas of your life. If you’re using a digital tool, simply fill in the numbers, and it will do the rest automatically.

4. Set Goals for Where You Want to Be 

Set a desired number for each category for where you want to get within the next few months or a year. Try to be realistic. If you’re currently at a 2 or 3 in a certain category, it might be more achievable to aim for a 5 than a 10 right away. Incremental progress is key.

5. Analyze the Balance Wheel 

Take a step back and look at your wheel. Notice any imbalances or areas where your satisfaction is low. This visual can often be very revealing and help you see where to focus your energy.

6. Choose a Focus Area 

Consider which category, if improved, would have the most positive impact on your overall life balance. Highlight or mark this section of the wheel. It’s often helpful to start with just one category to maintain focus.

7. Develop Action Steps 

For the chosen category, brainstorm three or more action steps that could significantly raise your satisfaction level. These should be specific and achievable. You can also add simpler tasks to other categories but ensure they align with your main goal.

8. Commit to Your Plan 

Wrap up the exercise by committing to these action steps. Print it out and put it on the wall if needed. Find an accountability partner or a coach who can help you follow through or schedule your actions in your calendar. It’s your turn to execute, my friend!

Example: If you rated your health a 4 out of 10, your action steps might include:

• Scheduling regular exercise sessions
• Planning healthier meals
• Ensuring adequate sleep

Download Your Balance Wheel 

To help you get started, I’ve created a digital version of the Balance Wheel exercise that you can download here. Use this tool to map out your life and begin your journey towards a more balanced and fulfilling lifestyle.

The Balance Wheel exercise is a simple yet profound tool that can help you gain clarity and direction in your life. By visually assessing different areas of your life, you can better understand where to focus your efforts and make meaningful changes, especially if entrepreneurship and starting your own business are among your goals this year.

As you work through this exercise, consider how a coach might support you in this process. If you’re curious about coaching, I have a few slots left for one-on-one clients this year. Book a free 30-minute coaching exploration call with me to discuss how coaching can help you achieve your goals and design the life you want.

This tool, combined with the guidance of a coach, can transform how you approach both your business and personal life. Let’s work together to ensure you don’t just build a successful business, but also create a life you love.

3: Applying the Balance Wheel Exercise

The Balance Wheel exercise not only helps you visualize your current life balance but also provides a foundation to make informed decisions about how to live life on your own terms. By identifying areas that need improvement, you can create a concrete action plan to achieve your goals. Let’s look at how to apply what you’ve learned from the Balance Wheel exercise to your life.

From Visualization to Action: Creating Your Plan

Once you’ve completed your Balance Wheel, it’s time to take the insights you’ve gained and turn them into actionable steps. Let’s consider an example to see how this process works.

Example: Victoria’s Journey to Starting Her Own Business

Victoria is a corporate employee who dreams of starting her own business as a side hustle. She works in marketing but feels underappreciated and longs to build something of her own. Victoria rated her satisfaction in the “Career / Own Business” category at a 2. Here’s how she can use the Balance Wheel exercise to create a plan and take actionable steps toward her goal.

Step 1: Analyze the Balance Wheel

Victoria’s low satisfaction rating in the “Career / Own Business” category indicates that this area needs significant attention. Improving this area will likely have a positive impact on her overall life balance.

Step 2: Set Achievable Goals

Victoria sets a realistic goal to increase her satisfaction in this category from a 2 to a 5 over the next six months. She understands that incremental progress is more sustainable and achievable than aiming for a perfect 10 immediately.

Step 3: Develop Action Steps

To achieve her goal, Victoria identifies several action steps:

1. Work with a Business Coach
   • Schedule regular sessions with a business coach to explore her interests and identify potential business ideas.
   • Use the coach’s guidance to set clear milestones and stay accountable.
2. Online Training
   • Enroll in free masterclasses offered by her role models, whose success she wants to model. These are often available on social media platforms she follows.
   • These masterclasses can provide insights and inspiration directly from successful entrepreneurs she admires.
3. Read Key Books
   • Read “Business Model Generation” by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur to learn how to design and validate her business model.
   • Explore digital marketing strategies with “The New Rules of Marketing & PR” by David Meerman Scott to plan how she will market her business.

Step 4: Commit to the Plan

Victoria commits to these action steps by:

• Scheduling coaching sessions and sticking to them.
• Setting aside specific times each week for her online training.
• Creating a reading schedule to ensure she completes the books.

She also decides to print out her Balance Wheel and action plan and place them where she can see them daily. This constant reminder helps her stay focused and motivated.

Step 5: Find Support and Accountability

Victoria finds an accountability partner in her business coach and a colleague who also has entrepreneurial aspirations. They check in with each other regularly to discuss progress and challenges.

Step 6: Monitor and Adjust

Victoria periodically revisits her Balance Wheel to monitor her progress. She adjusts her goals and action steps as needed to stay on track and continue making progress.

What We Learned From This Example

Applying the insights from your Balance Wheel exercise is crucial to designing a life on your own terms. By setting realistic goals, developing actionable steps, and committing to your plan, you can make significant strides in improving your life balance and achieving your dreams.

If you find yourself needing support in this process, consider working with a coach. A coach can provide guidance, accountability, and valuable insights to help you achieve your goals. Book a free 30-minute coaching exploration call with me to see how coaching can help you achieve your goals and design the life you want.

The Balance Wheel exercise, combined with the guidance of a coach, can transform how you approach both your business and personal life. Let’s work together to ensure you don’t just build a successful business, but also create a life you love.

Conclusion: Designing the Life on Your Own Terms and What it Means

We’ve explored the transformative power of consciously designing your lifestyle, especially crucial for aspiring entrepreneurs. The journey from a structured 9-5 job to the freedom of running your own business is filled with excitement and challenges. By intentionally designing your life, you can ensure that your entrepreneurial dreams align with your personal well-being and aspirations.

Recap of Key Points:

1. The Importance of Lifestyle Design: Transitioning to entrepreneurship brings immense freedom but also potential pitfalls. Consciously designing your lifestyle helps you manage your time better, set clear priorities, and maintain a balanced and fulfilling life.
2. Introducing the Balance Wheel Exercise: This powerful tool allows you to visualize and assess different areas of your life, helping you identify where you need more balance and what changes you need to make. By rating your satisfaction in key life categories, you can create a clear picture of your current life balance.
3. Applying the Balance Wheel Exercise: Using the insights from your Balance Wheel, you can develop actionable steps to improve your satisfaction in various areas of your life. We saw this illustrated through Victoria’s journey from being an underappreciated corporate employee to starting her own business as a side hustle.

Next Steps: 

The Balance Wheel exercise is a simple yet profound tool that can help you gain clarity and direction in your life. By visually assessing different areas of your life, you can better understand where to focus your efforts and make meaningful changes. This is especially important if entrepreneurship and starting your own business are among your goals this year.

As you work through this exercise, consider how a coach might support you in this process. Coaching provides guidance, accountability, and valuable insights to help you achieve your goals. If you’re curious about coaching, I have a few slots left for one-on-one clients this year. Book a free 30-minute coaching exploration call with me to discuss how coaching can help you achieve your goals and design the life you want.

This tool, combined with the guidance of a coach, can transform how you approach both your business and personal life. Let’s work together to ensure you don’t just build a successful business, but also create a life you love.

The Links You Need:

• Download the Balance Wheel Exercise: Start mapping out your life and begin your journey towards a more balanced and fulfilling lifestyle. Download here.
• Book a Free Coaching Call: Ready to explore if coaching is right for you? Let’s discuss your goals and see how I can help you. Book your free 30-minute call here.

Remember, the right guidance can make all the difference. Choose the support that not only helps you achieve your business dreams but also empowers you to live a balanced and satisfying life. Choose coaching.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. Let’s design the life you want together.