Many people are familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Typically depicted as a pyramid, our basic requirements such as water, food, shelter, safety are at the base followed by needs for intimacy, love, and accomplishment in the middle. At the top of the pyramid are creativity, self-expression, and achieving our potential. The problem of viewing human necessities this way is that it can make people feel like a failure when they go down the pyramid to work again on psychological or basic needs. The reality is that we go up and down the pyramid in response to the changes taking place in our life. And, as everyone knows, change is a constant. So, what is a better way to look at this?
Some 20 years after Abraham Maslow first published his conception of human needs, Paul J. Meyer created the Wheel of Life. This assessment tool depicts a range of human requirements around a circle and focuses on balancing necessities rather than reaching an unsustainable pinnacle. This is a great tool for identifying areas of life that need attention. It also provides a great baseline when starting work with a coach so that, later when you take the assessment again, you can see the progress you have made. Are you excited to look at your life?
Using the Wheel of Life
Click here to download a fillable PDF to take the assessment. Rate yourself in each of the twelve areas on a scale from 0 – needs immediate attention to 10 – completely happy. Remember to save a copy with your scores!
Physical
This quarter of life’s compass centers on health and well-being, money, and housing.
- Physical Health –includes typical aspects of health such as weight, exercise, sleep, nutrition, disease, discomfort, pain, as well as alcohol and drug use.
- Financial Health – focuses on money matters such as savings, retirement, debt, income, expenses, and discretionary spending.
- Environmental Health – encompasses aspects such as safety, a healthy workspace, a stable and comfortable dwelling with necessities like clean air, heating, cooling, sanitation, and drinkable water.
Mental/Emotional
This area of the compass highlights personal and professional development, mental focus and agility, and emotional regulation.
- Creativity & Self-expression – draws attention to our deep desire to express our individuality, as well as to be seen, heard, understood, and appreciated. Communicating also provides an emotional release.
- Personal Development – consists of lifelong learning, confidence, adaptability, establishing new habits, relating in new ways, gaining new understandings of life and other people, forgiveness, releasing guilt, and shame.
- Career Development –involves a wide variety of factors like esteem, contribution, advancement, compensation, benefits, growth, problem solving, decision making, leadership, and communication.
Spiritual
This section of the compass examines parts of our spiritual self especially our connection with the divine, society, the natural world, and our soul.
- Beliefs & Practices – embodies contemplation and reflection, communing with nature, prayer, meditation, belief in something – a higher self, higher power, or ultimate reality, and self-transcendence.
- Life Purpose & Values – comprises goals, purpose, fulfillment, integrity, meaning, values, and commitments.
- Service/Community – embraces contributing to the greater good and fostering a compassionate connection to other humans.
Social
The third quadrant emphasizes our connection to others and engaging in social activities.
- Significant Other – underscores our needs for intimacy, commitment, sex, and interdependence.
- Friends & Family – illuminates our requirements for connection, communication, love, support, and encouragement.
- Recreation – covers the essentials of rest, relaxation, hobbies, interests, vacations, and having fun.
You can use the assessment for your own guidance or schedule a free 30-minute discovery session with Coach Angela to talk about next steps and experience the power of coaching for yourself!
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