As we approach a year under the wrath of a pandemic and in an effort to avoid mentioning the obvious, the impact globally has been enormous. With that in mind, now more than ever it’s imperative to find a moment to take stock of where we are and how we are doing. 

At 100 & First, we want to be part of managing that impact on individuals, teams, and organisations and for that reason the following blog is aimed at sharing a popular coaching tool to help you identify your level of satisfaction within 8 aspects of your life.

Take 10 minutes, grab a hot drink, a piece of paper and a pen. Start by drawing a pie chart, with 8 segments, and for each create a scoring system that starts with 1 at the centre of the chart and ends with 10 at the outer edge (The scoring system represents 1-being low & 10-being high) and score each segment:

1. Physical Environment: An aspect with a huge amount of variance and limited control thanks to a year filled with different levels of lockdowns. However, when thinking about your physical environment take a moment to consider more than just your immediate home situation 

2. Career: How have you managed working from home transition or being a key worker- has been the impact? 

3. Financial Health: How do you feel financially? What impact does it have on the other key aspects of your life?

4. Mental Health: By definition, the state of well-being in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”  Closely linked to physical health, and impacted by sleep, nutrition and exercise - how are you feeling?

5. Physical Health: The health of your body, directly impacted by the quality of sleep, nutrition, regular exercise.

6. Friends & Family: The state of the relationships we keep - how are your family, friends and loved ones? This activity is a really powerful one to cultivate clear communication channels within these relationships.

7. Personal Life: The state of your personal relationship and focus on yourself. What impact does this have on your daily life.

8. Personal Development: The activities that develop a person's capabilities and potential, build human capital, facilitate employability, and enhance quality of life and the realisation of dreams and aspirations

Now take a step back from your page, give yourself the chance to look at the full page and create an overall summary with how you are doing. Here are a couple of questions that can help you and your support network to work through the check in:

• What strikes you about your scores?

• What surprises might there be?

• What connections do you see between the key aspects?

• What does this imply for you going forward?

We want you to take this activity to your friends, family and loved ones and use it as an opportunity to reboot your support system by discussing your ‘check in' and further encouraging the sharing of feelings, experiences as well as tips and tricks that have helped you over the past few months.

“Checking in with yourself and assessing your needs helps you to pour into yourself so that you can pour into others. Oftentimes, we check on those around us but neglect ourselves. It's beneficial because it can improve your mood, your energy, your relationships with others, and your productivity.” Jordan A. Madison, LCMFT

Tom Bednall

Commercial Director