Expand your Awareness: The Wheel of Life Tool

You know that feeling when all the trains seem to be running in your life, yet something feels…off?

Or have you had the sudden realization you’ve been neglecting an important priority in your life?

Same. Recently, over lunch with my friend Bryan, I noticed I was feeling "meh" but didn't have a real sense of why. Bryan prompted me to look 1 by 1 in each area of my life to see how things were going. That quick self-check helped expand my awareness and made me realize that while work was strong, I had completely dropped the ball on dating, and hence, something felt really “off”.  It was a quick and effective moment of reset - allowing for reflection of what I am going to do differently to change the trajectory (I’ll spare you the details…).

Expanding Awareness

Expanding awareness is one of the most important things we can do to improve our lives. We have to put ourselves and our lives in perspective, see all of reality for what it is, and expand our view of what is relevant and possible.

Expanding awareness starts with being present. The more we're present, the more we can recognize the need to expand awareness. It's incredibly important we get in the habit of bringing ourselves to the present moment; otherwise, we're at the whims of our monkey/lizard/animal brains and whatever life throws at us. I'd recommend regular meditation/mindfulness, journaling, working out, walking in nature, and basically anything that limits sensory stimulation.

You're present now, and in a reflective mood. What are ways to expand awareness? A ton!

Here's an incomplete list:

• Spatial - physical surroundings and senses

  • Example: "Look around you, isn't it beautiful?"

• Body/Emotional - sensations, whether weak or strong

  • Example: "Where in your body are you feeling your frustration? What sensation is it?"

• Time - longer timelines or similar situations

  • Example: "Think about this roadblock as just a bump - how long

• Scale/Severity - larger scale or stronger severity

  • Example: "On the whole of your life, this is not a big deal", "a lot worse could have happened"

• Domain - other domains or situations

  • Example: "You said you're not doing well, but that seems to be work specifically...how are things with family and friends?"

• Other People - others' experiences or perceptions

  • Example: "That sucks...what is your spouse's experience with this?"

• Metacognition - your thinking about your thinking

  • Example: "I notice you're seeing the situation as negative. Is there a different way to see it?"

Expanding awareness always helps improve the situation by adding more context and perspective. We're grateful for what we do have, we see how small our problems are (or at least right-size them), and we realize we haven't even paid attention to some things that matter.

One tool that has been incredibly helpful to expand awareness is the Wheel of Life, which is a "domain"-based way to expand awareness.

What exactly is the Wheel of Life?

It’s a simple visual: a circle divided into slices (think spokes on a bicycle). Each slice represents a domain that matters to you—health, relationships, finances, career, fun, growth, environment, spirituality, etc. – see picture below. 

You rate your current satisfaction in each slice from 0 (not satisfied) to 10 (thriving) and shade to that level. The result is your “life-shape” today.

If you want to make it more fancy, you can layer in an “importance factor” for each life category (we care more about scores for very important parts of our lives).

Quick Caveat: the Wheel of Life itself isn’t a diagnostic test or a validated psychometric. It’s a practical reflection tool—great for awareness, prioritization, and conversation starters.

Where did it come from?

The modern coaching version is widely credited to Paul J. Meyer in the 1960s (Success Motivation

Institute). You’ll see the phrase “Wheel of Life” in lots of places—from life coaching to wellness programs—but the basic idea is the same: a fast, visual way to take stock.

What are the benefits?

Zooms out of the day-to-day:  It’s easy to get caught up in the drama of our lives and focus on the details.  The Wheel of Life has us quickly define the “map” of our life, and chart where we are generally.  This creates a visual shorthand in our brains, and can be beneficial to keep our most important goals top of mind.

Self-monitoring and feedback. When you measure something and see it, you’re more likely to act on it. Behavior-change research consistently finds that tracking plus feedback improves outcomes.

Prioritization. You will quickly be able to identify which area is the most important to prioritize, and what actions you could take to boost your satisfaction in that area.

How to do it (in three quick steps)

1. Choose your domains. Pick 6–10 categories that matter right now in life. 

   1. Optional:  Assign an importance factor to each (High-Medium-Low, etc.)

   2. Examples can include Family, Friends, Work, Hobbies, Finances, etc.

2. Score honestly (0–10). Shade each slice according to your score.

3. Identify Actions.  Choose 1-2 focus areas and identify 1-2 actions for each that you could prioritize in the next couple of weeks.  The smaller the time increment, the better you’ll manage the actions.

   
   

How to read your wheel

• Jagged edge → imbalance. You don’t need symmetry, but sharp spikes often reveal trade-offs worth renegotiating.

• Tiny wheel → global depletion. Pick one high-leverage habit (sleep, movement, connection) and protect it.

The Potencia Flavor:  Use the Wheel on your values

Every once in a while, I find myself using my values as the slices, instead of areas of my life.  A little more nebulous of an exercise, but can be clarifying in different ways. 

My top values are Love, Beauty, Wonder, Legacy, Vivacity, Excellence, and Freedom. Here is what my wheel looks like:

My Values Wheel of Life

It’s pretty clear to me that at the moment, my life is missing some love and beauty.  Simple! Add more love and beauty!  JK.  This prompted me to reflect, what does it mean that I'm missing some love and beauty in my life?

For love, well, my friend networks in NYC have changed a lot in the past few months, and I have not been going on a lot of dates. For beauty, I felt like I wasn't expressing myself creatively, so I want to find more outlets.

From this reflection, here is what I decided:

1. First, to go on more dates!

2. Go out more with friends (and meet more people!)

3. Play my French Horn more

4. Go to 1 artistic performance weekly

Try it now

Sketch a wheel, or use a template HERE. Do the five-minute scan, pick one or two levers, and set your first if-then. Want a Potencia-branded worksheet (printable + Notion-friendly) and a guided run-through? I’ve got you—this exercise gets powerful fast when we anchor it to your values and make the actions tiny and specific.

Want to review your Wheel of Life together and identify a few action steps?  Click here to schedule a free discovery call.

For Learning and With Love,

Chris