Wheel of Life
What Is the Wheel of Life? A Simple Map of What Needs Your Attention
The Wheel of Life (or Life Balance Wheel) is a simple tool for seeing which areas of your life need more attention. Here's what it is, where it came from and how to put it to work.
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Ever get the nagging feeling that something in your life is out of balance, but you can't quite put your finger on what? The Wheel of Life is the tool that turns that vague feeling into a clear picture — a single snapshot of where you stand across every part of your life.
A Tool for Seeing Your Whole Life at Once
The Wheel of Life, also known as the "Life Balance Wheel", is an effective and versatile tool that helps you figure out what you want to change in your life. It can help you identify problem areas, stabilise them, and in doing so stimulate your personal development. To get the most out of the method, it helps to bring along some goal-setting and task-planning skills.
At its heart, the Wheel of Life is a concept designed to create a sense of balance between the various areas of human activity. The idea is that the even development of every area of life is the one thing that's genuinely universal — true for each of us, whoever we are.
Where the Wheel of Life Came From
The original concept of the Wheel of Life is attributed to Paul J. Meyer, the famous motivator and author of books on self-development, who founded the Success Motivation Institute in 1960. He was a thought leader and pioneer of the coaching industry, and he authored many books on setting and achieving goals — works that have been translated into more than 20 languages, with millions of copies sold around the world.
How the Wheel Is Built
The Wheel of Life is a circle divided into a certain number of sectors, where each sector represents one area of your life. The classic version has eight of them:
- Health
- Money
- Career
- Family
- Friends
- Personal growth
- Leisure
- Spirituality
If you want to analyse your life in more detail, you can add a few more sectors — there's nothing sacred about the number eight. That's exactly why so many variations of the wheel are used today by coaches and anyone serious about personal development. If you're curious how those slices are chosen, our guide to the areas of the Wheel of Life walks through each one.
How to Actually Use It
The technique is really a practical exercise: you fill in the circle, divide it into areas of life, and give each area a score — the degree of satisfaction with its current state. Rate each one on a ten-point scale, where 1 is the worst and 10 is complete satisfaction. When you look at the finished image, you can instantly see which areas need improvement and which ones you're already putting enough effort into.
Ready to draw your own? Our step-by-step guide on how to create the Wheel of Life takes you from a blank circle to a fully scored wheel, and if you'd rather not start from scratch, the printable Wheel of Life template gives you a ready-made outline to fill in. You'll find more gentle structures like it among our printable templates. Once your wheel is complete, the next step is assessing your life balance and working to improve the situation.
Don't Wait for the "Right" Moment
The Wheel of Life is usually made every six months or once a year. Often people wait until the end of the current year to have a fresh start in the new one. But it's better not to put off important things until tomorrow, Monday, or some someday that never quite comes. Make your Wheel of Life right now — and start changing your life for the better today.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Wheel of Life?
The Wheel of Life, also known as the Life Balance Wheel, is an effective and versatile tool that helps you figure out what you want to change in your life. It lets you identify problem areas, stabilise them and stimulate your personal development — and it works best when you pair it with goal-setting and task-planning skills.
Who created the Wheel of Life?
The original concept is attributed to Paul J. Meyer, a well-known motivator and author of self-development books, who founded the Success Motivation Institute in 1960. A pioneer of the coaching industry, he wrote many books on setting and achieving goals that were translated into more than 20 languages and sold in the millions worldwide.
How do you score the Wheel of Life?
You draw a circle divided into sectors — one for each area of life — and give each sector a score on a ten-point scale, where 1 is the worst and 10 is complete satisfaction. The finished picture shows you at a glance which areas need improvement and which ones you're already investing enough energy in. Most people redo the exercise every six months or once a year.
