How to Use the Wheel of Life for Coaching (+free download)
Introduction
The wheel of life is a classic, and probably the most well knows coaching tool that’s really flexible in its use cases. Because it’s really adaptable, it can be used by life coaches, business coaches, wellness coaches simply by editing the content within the wheel (you can download the editable wheel of life for free below!).
The wheel of life worksheet is designed to give you (or your coaching client) an overview of how fulfilling your life currently is. It’s usually done as one of the first coaching exercises and is a great starting point for further self-reflection and improvement. Many coaches love the wheel of life worksheet simply because it’s super easy to use and it also gives the client more self-awareness right away which gets them motivated to take real steps for self-improvement.
This is how the wheel of life usually looks like.
What are the categories of the wheel of life?
Finance - This category can be changed to “Financial Security”
Personal Growth - This category can also be “Self Development”
Health - This category can also be “Physical/Emotional Well Being”
Love - This category could also be “Romance”
Recreation - This category could also be “Fun & Leisure”
Spirituality - This category can be replaced with “Faith” or “Home Environment”
Friends - This can also be “Friends and Family”
Career - This category can also be “Work Satisfaction”
How to Use the Wheel of Life?
The tool works by simply scoring each category on the wheel on the scale of one to ten (or 1-5) which gives us, or our coaching clients a macro overview of what segment is doing good and what needs some work. Here’s how the filled out version might look like..
Instructions on how to use the wheel of life in coaching situations:
Ask your client to rank each segment of the wheel of life worksheet as honestly as they can. (the score of 1 means very dissatisfied, while a score of 10 means fully satisfied)
Have the coaching client either write down the reasoning for each score (we have a free template for this you can download below).
Now that the client sees what areas of the wheel they are lacking in you can ask them “If this is the ideal life they would like to live?” The answer is probably “No”
Now your real job as a coach begins - help your client identify the most critical aspects of the life wheel they would like to improve first and guide them to some initial steps they can take to start improving their life.
Here are 5 Additional Ideas on How to Use the Wheel of Life in Your Coaching Practice
Use the wheel of life as lead magnet to attract new clients. You can offer this as a free discovery session that will help determine what the prospective client needs in the first place. This can also serves as an example of how your coaching techniques can benefit the potential client, laying a foundation for future collaboration.
Use the wheel of life as a tool to identify dissatisfaction in clients who have trouble expressing exactly what’s bothering them. This creates an excellent starting point for further coaching sessions.
Use the life wheel for goal setting. Since the tool gives a good overview of the aspects of dissatisfaction you can first have the client fill out the wheel of life worksheet followed by S.M.A.R.T Goal Map Worksheet (download a free editable copy here) to work on the desired aspects of the life wheel.
Include the Wheel of Life in your own group coaching program to simply and effectively get an overview of every participant’s current situation.
Add the life balance wheel in your client welcome packet. If you did not use the life wheel as a lead magnet, then surely use it as a part of your welcome kit for new clients! It helps you save time and get clarity on what you need to focus on as a coach.
How can I use the Wheel of Life for Online Coaching?
It may be that you do much of your coaching work over the phone or video chat. For those of you out there there’s an easy solution that still allows you to have the client take the Wheel of Life Exercise (or any other in fact).
You can either just send the client a PDF file of the life wheel. Have them print it out and fill it by pen. Then just have them take a picture of it and send it back to you!
The other (and better) option is to send them fillable PDF worksheets (you can download it for free here)! You can even make your own edits (add your branding/change content) in Canva (a free and easy to use online design app). You can send the fillable life wheel worksheet over email, have them fill it out in any browser and then sent it back! As easy as that!
An equally good option is to send them the PDF file over email or messenger and have them fill it out in any PDF annotation tool, such as Goodnotes for iPad. They can use their stylus to write on the PDF as they would write on any regular paper, and later just send back the filled worksheet!
Finally, if you have not already, you can download our free and fully editable wheel of life worksheet template below! It’s super easy to edit in Canva (and Illustrator) and it includes instructions on how to quickly make them fillable for your clients! Also, there are ready made fillable PDF’s of the life wheel included!
