Purpose
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe the structure and purpose of the Wheel of Life assessment tool.
Lesson Explanation
The Wheel of Life is a visual self-assessment tool, typically dividing life into 8-10 key areas (such as career, health, relationships, finances, personal growth, and recreation), with each area rated on a scale — commonly 1 to 10 — for the client’s current satisfaction.
The specific purpose of this tool is genuinely diagnostic, not motivational: it helps a client see, at a glance, which areas are genuinely lagging behind others, sometimes revealing an imbalance the client hadn’t consciously registered — for example, someone deeply satisfied with career (rated 9) might discover their relationships area is rated a 3, a gap that wasn’t obvious before seeing it laid out visually.
A genuinely important, specific follow-up step: completing the wheel is not the endpoint — the coach then asks questions about the gaps, connecting directly to the GROW model’s Reality stage (Part 3, Lesson 1). A common, specific coaching question after completing the wheel: “Which one area, if it improved even slightly, would have the biggest positive effect on the others?”
A genuinely common mistake: treating every low-rated area as equally urgent to address immediately, rather than using the wheel to identify which specific gap is actually worth prioritizing first.
Practice Questions
1. A client rates career a 9 and relationships a 3 on the Wheel of Life. What does this reveal, according to this lesson?
View Answer
A significant imbalance or gap between life areas that the client may not have consciously registered before seeing it visually represented.
2. After completing the wheel, a coach asks, “What would it take to move relationships from a 3 to a 5?” What earlier framework and stage does this follow-up question connect to?
View Answer
The GROW model’s Options (O) stage.
3. A client completes the Wheel of Life but the coach ends the session there without further discussion. What genuinely common mistake does this reflect, according to this lesson?
View Answer
Treating completing the wheel as the endpoint, rather than as a starting point for deeper coaching conversation.
4. Is the primary purpose of the Wheel of Life diagnostic, motivational, or both, according to this lesson?
View Answer
Both – it helps reveal gaps (diagnostic) and can motivate the client to act on what they see (motivational).
5. A client is surprised to visually see how low she rated her health area compared to other areas. What does this illustrate about the tool’s value?
View Answer
It can reveal patterns or imbalances the client hadn’t consciously registered before seeing them laid out visually.
6. A client rates six of eight life areas as a 7 or higher, but finance and health both at a 2. Rather than addressing all low areas equally, what does this lesson suggest is more useful?
View Answer
Identifying which specific gap to prioritize, rather than trying to address every low-rated area simultaneously.
7. What scale is commonly used to rate each life area in the Wheel of Life?
View Answer
A 1-10 scale.
8. A coach asks a client, “Which of these areas, if improved even slightly, would have the biggest positive ripple effect on the others?” What is this question designed to help the client do?
View Answer
Prioritize which gap to focus on first, rather than trying to fix everything at once.
9. Roughly how many life areas does the Wheel of Life typically include, according to this lesson?
View Answer
Around 8.
10. Name two life areas commonly included in the Wheel of Life, according to this lesson.
View Answer
Examples include career, relationships, health, finances, personal growth, and fun/recreation (any two).
11. A client rates every single area a 5, with no clear standout gaps or strengths. What might a coach reasonably do next, based on the purpose of this tool?
View Answer
Explore with the client what a “5” genuinely means to them in each area, since an even but middling score may itself reveal something the client hasn’t fully examined.
12. Why is identifying which gap to prioritize considered more useful than addressing every low-rated area at once, according to this lesson?
View Answer
Focusing on one meaningful gap makes progress more achievable and often has positive effects that ripple into other areas, rather than diluting effort across everything at once.