What is the Wheel of Life?
The Wheel of Life is a simple coaching tool that allows you to evaluate (and then balance) different areas of your life. This visual tool can help you identify where you are thriving and where you might need to focus more attention.
How does it work?
The wheel is divided into eight sections, each of which represents a key area of your life. Maybe think of a Trivial Pursuit ‘pie’, but with 8 sections instead of 6.
- Work/Career — Consider your job satisfaction and how your career aligns with your life goals.
- Personal Growth — Determine your commitment to your personal development and growth.
- Financial Well–being — Evaluate your financial security and your relationship with money.
- Physical and Mental Health — Assess your overall well–being, both physically and mentally.
- Family and Relationships — Explore how content you are with your relationships and personal connections.
- Physical Environment — Think about your working environment, your living space and general surroundings.
- Fun and Recreation — Reflect on your downtime, your leisure activities (and their frequency) and how they contribute to your happiness.
- Friends and Community — Consider your friends, your social life and your involvement in the community.
Of course, these segments are not set in stone — you can customise the number of sections and the category headings to make it work best for you.
What next?
Reflect on each segment and rate your satisfaction from 1 to 10. Be honest with yourself. With 0 being the centre of the wheel and 10 the outer edge, mark a point in each section to note your score.
Next. draw lines to connect those scores for each segment — creating a visual ‘wheel’. Now look for imbalances. An ‘ideal’ wheel would be round, indicating balance in all areas. this visual representation allows you to determine areas that may need attention and improvement.
Is your wheel rather wonky? Fine around some edges of the curve, but then a sharp indent somewhere? An area of your life that you are neglecting?
Set goals. Identify the areas that need improvement and set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time–bound) goals to work on these areas.
Next Steps
- Regular Review: Revisit and update your Wheel of Life on a regular basis (at least 2–4 times a year) to track progress and make necessary adjustments.
- Seek Feedback: Sometimes discussing your scores with a coach or trusted advisor can provide additional insights.
- Celebrate Success: Acknowledge improvements, no matter how small. Celebrate those wins.