The Life Wheel: A simple tool with surprising insights

One of the exercises I often use early on with my coaching clients is called the Life Wheel. You might have come across something similar in a workplace workshop or personal development book – it’s a simple-looking diagram. But in practice, it can be surprisingly powerful.

What is the Life Wheel?

The Life Wheel is a tool that allows you to assess and visualise how all the most important aspects of your life are going right now. It’s a straightforward way to get a full overview of your priorities, so you can see what your current strengths are, and where you need to focus your energy on making improvements.  

In terms of what this looks like, imagine a circle divided into slices, a bit like a pie chart. Each slice represents an area of your life. The beauty of the Life Wheel is that you decide what those areas are.

For one person, the slices might be things like “career,” “family,” “health,” “finances,” and “personal growth.” For another, it could include “leadership,” “parenting,” “creativity,” or “being a carer.” The headings are whatever feels most important to you right now.

Once the Life Wheel categories are set, you rate your level of satisfaction in each area on a scale of 1 to 10. By doing this, you create a visual snapshot of your life – including which areas feel full and balanced, and which might feel neglected or out of alignment.

How to use the Life Wheel

Here’s where it gets interesting. The Life Wheel gives an overview of how your life looks right now, but in terms of how you take this forward, it isn’t about chasing high scores across the board. Sometimes a “low” score is perfectly fine.

For example, if hobbies come out as a 4/10, you might look at that and think: actually, I’m OK with that – I don’t need more hobbies right now. On the other hand, you might score something high, like 8/10 for personal development, but still decide it’s an area you want to focus on because it matters deeply to you.

In other words, it’s not just about the numbers. It’s about the conversation the numbers spark, and the actions you take next as a result.

How the results could surprise you

Despite being such a simple tool, the Life Wheel provides valuable insights which can often result in some surprising outcomes. For example, when I was working with one leadership client, we found that the Life Wheel shifted the entire focus of their coaching. We’d spent time on their leadership style and workplace relationships. But when we revisited the wheel, they realised the next big change they wanted wasn’t at work at all – it was around health and exercise. They had put so much of themselves into work that the piece of the picture that needed attention now was to do with their own health and leisure time.

That’s the beauty of this exercise. It holds up a mirror and sometimes shows us what’s really calling for attention, even if it’s not what we expected.

Why the Life Wheel is useful for coaching

The Life Wheel can be hugely valuable for guiding your coaching journey. First of all, it gives us both a wide-angle view and a starting point. It can highlight patterns, spark surprising insights, and create a map of where coaching might take us. And because it’s so flexible, we can come back to it later in the coaching process to see what’s shifted.

More than just a diagram

On the surface, the Life Wheel may just look like a neat little tool. In reality, it’s a doorway into meaningful conversations:

• What matters most to you right now?

• Where are you thriving?

• What feels out of balance?

• And where do you actually want to make changes?

It’s not about fixing every “low score.” It’s about prioritising what feels most important and

meaningful to work on right now.

✨ Curious to see what your Life Wheel might reveal? Book a free discovery call and let’s explore together.

I'm also currently offering some small group coaching workshops in November and January, with the Life Wheel being a tool we check out together as an exercise. Full details and booking here>