Viewing your life in a big-picture context can help you develop a better picture of where you came from and where you’d like to go. The Life Spiral shows your whole story, from birth to death.
- At the bottom of the spiral, write your date of birth. At the top, write the age you think you will live to be. Mark the place on the spiral which represents your current age. How far along are you in this life? What feelings does this evoke?
- Record three trigger experiences that shaped your life story. These could be any major life events, breakthroughs or breakdowns, such as weddings, divorces, moves, losses, career changes, etc. Write down the age each trigger took place. What was the life lesson learned in each case?
- Focus on each of these life lessons—what did they teach you, and how did they change you? Can you gauge from this exercise where you are in your life today and where you’d like to be by the end of it? What would a life well lived look like? Seeing your life in this broader perspective can help identify what is meaningful and valuable to you.
Trigger #1 ________________________________________________ Age __________
Life lesson learned? ______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Trigger #2 ________________________________________________ Age __________
Life lesson learned? ______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Trigger #3 _________________________________________________Age __________
Life lesson learned? _______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Adapted with permission of Inventure-The Purpose Company (www.inventuregroup.com), 2013.
You can also download this exercise as a PDF.