The Wheel of Life – Self-Reflection Method

Updated on 10 May 2023 • 4 min read

Work and career, friends, finances, social media, kids, pets, aging parents, and a long list of other aspects of life are constantly vying for our attention.

It's simple to lose the balance we need in our fast-paced culture. As a result, it's simple to overlook crucial areas of our life that provide us satisfaction and significance. We can benefit from the Wheel of Life in this situation.

What Is the Wheel of Life

The Wheel of Life (also referred to as the Life Balance Wheel) is a great aid for self-reflection, allowing you to gain insight into how satisfied you are with your life. Indeed, this powerful self-assessment tool allows you to evaluate and understand how balanced your life is in different aspects, adjust and lead a successful and happy life. How does it work, you ask?

The methodology is designed around key areas that are important to you as a person, and that will help you assess your current life as well as the life and well-being you’d like to create in the future.

The idea is for you to draw a wheel divided into eight categories. Then, you’ll need to look at these eight different areas of your life and assess how you’re doing for each of them, ranking them between 1 (being "not satisfied at all") and 10 (being "very satisfied").

Wheel of Life Categories

The wheel consists of eight categories into ten slots (from one to ten) and ranks each area by adding a dot on the relevant number for each category. One will be close to the center of the circle, and ten will be at the edge of the circle.

Segment names vary, but the themes are usually similar. Here is an example of eight different areas, in no particular order:

Business and Career

Looking at the wheel and the Business and Career category that you will have split into ten different parts, you’ll need to assess on a scale of one to ten how satisfied you are with your career right now. As a result, you’ll first need to ask yourself some questions such as:

• Is your career where you want it to be right now?
• Are you passionate about what you do?
• Are you going in the right direction?

Finances

To assess how satisfied you are with your finances, some of the questions you can ask yourself include:

• Are you earning enough money to satisfy your current needs?
• Are you financially set for growth and wealth in the future?

Family and Friends

In this section, you’ll need to ask yourself questions such as:

• How are your relationships?
• Are your friends and family supportive?
• Are you regularly engaging and socializing with your friends?

Health

• When it comes to your health, ask yourself:
• How physically healthy are you right now?
• Are you satisfied with your level of fitness?
• Are you satisfied with your diet?

Romance

The romance category is all about how satisfied you are with your love life:

• Do you feel loved?
• How often are you expressing your love?
• Are you happy with the way things are between you? Or are you satisfied with not being in a relationship?
• Are you regularly socializing with others together or doing couples’ activities?

Fun and Recreation

Working and being productive is all well and good, but ensuring you’re having fun and spending some time doing recreational activities is equally important to live a happy, successful, and balanced life.

• Are you enjoying your life?
• Are you having fun in your life?
• Are you satisfied with the level of activities that you do?
• Are you happy with how you spend your time off?

Personal Growth

If personal growth is essential to you, some of the self-reflection questions to ask yourself include:

• Are you satisfied with your personal growth?
• Are you satisfied with your progress?
• Are you continuously trying to grow?
• Considering your daily routine, how far will you get in five years?
• What should you spend more or less time on going forward?

Physical Environment

The physical environment refers to your surroundings. This might be the house you’re living in or the community you’re evolving in:

• Are you happy living where you are?
• Do you enjoy being in your house or apartment?
• Do you like your neighborhood?
• How satisfied are you with your neighbors?

Note that the categories and questions mentioned above are just an example. Therefore, the name and number of the areas or categories can change and vary based on your priorities and what areas are most important in your life.

Once you’ve reviewed the wheel as a whole, join the dots. This will give you a snapshot of your life, allow you to identify your weaknesses, draft a plan of action to create a more balanced wheel, and track your progress.

To come up with a relevant plan of action that will contribute to your success and happiness, ask yourself some of the self-reflection questions below:

• When you look at the shape of the wheel, how do you feel?
• How would you like to change the shape of the inner wheel?
• What surprises you the most?
• Which category would you most like to improve?
• What category would you like to start with?
• At the moment, how do you spend time in each area?
• What do you need to do to improve the score in each area?
• What small steps would have the most significant impact on your satisfaction?
• Could a single action improve more than one area?
• Once you start answering these questions, you’ll be able to take action, move toward your goals, and live a more balanced and fulfilling life.

Get Started

Take the opportunity to reflect your life generally so that you can comprehend how the various facets of your life interact and affect the overall quality of your existence. You may use this to establish balance and focus on developing successful goals.

You may take steps to make the life you've always desired a reality if you have a grasp of the larger picture.