Wheel of Life. A self-assessment tool to find out what is not working in your life
[Written for Quora]
I often see the questions on Quora like:
In this essay, I want to share with you one single instrument that improved my life big time.
It is a self-assessment tool called “the Wheel of Life”.
You will not be effective in changing your life if you don’t identify the problem. The first step is always to understand what things are not working inside you and in your life. At times it could be too overwhelming so nothing works better than good ol’ pencil and paper.
Basically, what you do is you draw a circle and divide it into 8 sectors like so:
So, here is what you do — you self-assess each sector of your life by giving it a value on the scale from 1 to 0, with 1 being a “complete disaster” and 10 is “wow this is awesome”.
Be honest with yourself and give an accurate value which will adequately represent your satisfaction with each aspect.
8 aspects of your life include:
1. Health.
In this section you evaluate:
- The way you feel yourself
- Appearance (how you look)
- Mobility (how much you move throughout the day)
- Mood
- Walks (how much time you spend on fresh air)
- Energy
- Nutrition
- Regime
- Sport
- Sleep
2. Relationships
How satisfied and fulfilled are you with the quality of relationships in your life?
- Communication with others
- Friendship
- Love (your partner)
- Family
3. Environment
Your physical environment includes your
- Surroundings
- Relatives
- Colleagues
- Acquaintances
- Neighbors
- Opponents
4. Career
How satisfied are you with the work you do for a living?
- Job
- Career strategy
- Business
- Profession
- Time investment
- Social status
5. Money
- Expenses
- Income
- Life conditions
6. Personal growth
Do you have enough time for self-development? How satisfied are you with your personal growth?
- Education
- Coaching
- Special training
- Personal growth
- Reading
7. Brightness of life
What is the quality of emotions you get from your life? What are the activities to make your life brighter?
- Entertainment
- Relaxation
- Hobby
- Travelling
- Impressions
8. Spiritual life
Do you have a religion? Do you work on your spirituality? Do you express your spirit in Art? What are your beliefs?
- Religion
- Spiritual practices
- Beliefs
- Meditations
- Art
There you go! If you did everything correctly you should have drawn a wheel of life. As you can see they are in a certain order for a reason. Health is the basement for everything else. If you lack health, your relationships will suffer, your career will suffer, consequently decreasing your income. With no money you can’t travel, you can’t afford to have time for personal growth, and you definitely will not think about spiritual life when, for example, you have nothing to eat. As you see, everything is interconnected.
Now you should think of it as the wheels of the car that you drive throughout your life.
Your #1 priority is to make it as round as possible
If your wheel is all crooked you will logically feel “lots of bumps” on the road. If you want to have a smooth and pleasant ride you need to harmonize the wheel by working hard on your “weak” sectors. Think about the actions you need to take in order to improve the quality of your life.
Example:
Health
Start morning jogging//Cold showers//Going to gym regularly//Eat clean
Relationships
Find a partner//Make a romantic dinner//buy a gift for your significant other//take parents for a dinner//help them with something//have a picnic with friends
Environment
Meet someone new//Have a lunch with colleagues//Help neighbors//Go to new places in the city
Career
Get a promotion//Hit a new goal in business//Increase qualification//Pass training
Money
Double the income//Save _____ $//Collect/return debts
Personal growth
Read (insert number) books//Study language//Study the major//Watch lectures//Enroll in classes/coaching/training
Brightness of life
Jump with parachute//Ride a motorcycle//Go to a theme park//Visit a new city/new country
Spiritual life
Pray//Meditate//Consume spiritual content (books, lectures)//Go to opera/theater//Paint a picture//Compose a song/play musical instrument
Your #2 priority is the scale of the wheel.
The scale of your life and the intensity of your experiences is directly proportional to the values you have just written in your Wheel of Life. Your next objective is to improve on the degree of satisfaction in above-listed aspects. Make sure you do things that add up value to your life.
Final words
This is it.
Whatever is the storm you are going through
Keep going
Remember that everything is temporary. The way reveals itself under the feet of a walking man. Idleness is deadly. The determination is conquering.
Start with this simple stage. Identify your problems and the solutions will become clear. Improve your life step by step, sector by sector. Believe in yourself. It is doable.
Good luck!
❓ Do you have a question? Ask me! I answer daily on Quora.
