Sporadically throughout my adulthood, I’ve come across variations of the Wheel of Life.
My therapist brought it back to my attention a few years ago and I was reminded of how simple but effective the tool could be.
If you’re not already acclimated to it, you can see a version of it below. (Found from The Start Of Happiness)
As you can see, there are several areas which you can rate based on where you rate your satisfaction in each segment.
One area might be high satisfaction, another low, and perhaps others that sit somewhere around the middle.
In considering where you rate each segment, it helps to consider how that ranking is currently affecting you.
For instance, you might have a high ranking for health and career, but lower in emotional wellness and relationships. You can think about how prioritizing certain areas may detract from others.
A helpful way to look at it is in seeing how certain segments complement each other but others can be in conflict. It’s not likely that all segments will be at a 9 or 10 but if you have areas that are lower in satisfaction, consider how you can raise them in ways that don’t significantly detract from someplace else.
In addition, improving certain segments (like relationships, family & friends, and emotional wellness) aren’t possible without actively working with other people in your life such as relatives, significant others or a therapist.
It also bears mention that as demands on your life change, as children grow up, as our parents age and need extra care, all of this can influence how your segments may ebb and flow depending on what challenges you’re currently facing.
When my therapist reminded me of it, my health and career would have ranked high at that time but my emotional wellness and relationships were lower. I could step back then and think about ways to improve the latter in ways that could benefit my health as well.
Fast forward to today and my emotional wellness and relationships are higher but, as noted in a recent blog post, my health has been challenging.
If you find that you’re struggling to hit your goals or if life has felt unsatisfying or unfulfilling, it may be time for you to take inventory and see where you rank the segments for yourself.
