For SeeAbility influencer Emily, living a good life comes from having freedom of choice and as much independence as possible.

Like everyone, Emily’s past year has been dominated by the disruption and life changes caused by coronavirus. That means that the freedom and independence she feels she needs in order to live well are perhaps further away than they’ve ever been.

Now as we all look forward to our post pandemic lives, Emily wants to understand how happy she is with the life she’s living and what areas she could improve on. To do this she’s using the free SeeAbility balance chart.

Over the coming months, Emily will be using the balance chart to assess how happy she feels in eight areas of her life: communication, confidence, creativity, health, home, relationships, rest & relaxation and work & volunteering. After considering each area, she’ll then work to improve her score, ultimately aiming to be as happy as she can be.

Emily dips into the balance chart

Starting her balance chart journey, Emily says that she already knows the most important part of her life that helps her to live well:

The one thing that helps me to live well is my job. During Covid, it felt like some of my life had been taken away. Having the ability to work made all the difference. There isn’t any aspect I don’t like, even if there are challenges along the way. It would be boring if it was too easy.

However, she also knows the first area she wants to improve:

My colleagues at work have helped me massively with my confidence but sometimes I still struggle in a big group.

Something to work on

The balance chart asks you to rate yourself from one to ten in each area, where one is very unhappy and ten is very happy. Emily believes that three years ago her confidence was as low as one. However, thanks to the positive influence of having a job, that rating is increasing and is now around a three. She’s started to consider how to make it higher:

Five years ago I would have sat there and worried about whether something was right or wrong. Sometimes I would question the exact wording. I guess, whilst my confidence has grown, there’s still more I could do to not worry about what’s right or wrong, to have the confidence to say what I want to say. I also need to ask for help if I need it.

Emily’s now on the way to understanding how to have a happier and more fulfilled life. As you work through your balance chart too, she’ll offer insight into her life and advice on how we can all improve.

Join the conversation on social media and share your tips too - tweet using our hashtags #TheBigConversation and #LivingWell and tell us what a good life means to you.

Get your free balance chart