A wheel of life template lays the areas of your life side by side, so you can see where you stand in each. You rate how satisfied you are with every area. Ours is a table to copy that also asks how much each area matters to you and what being completely satisfied would look like.
Key takeaways
The template is a table: life area, how satisfied you are today, how much it matters to you, what “completely satisfied” would mean for you, and one next step.
Our template asks its satisfaction question the way Germany’s Socio-Economic Panel does, and “completely satisfied” is the panel’s top label. The panel scores 0 to 10, our template and wheel 1 to 10.
A plain average across areas doesn’t weigh them by how much they matter to you, which is why our template has an importance column. We suggest starting with an area that matters to you and scores low.
The wheel of life is a coaching exercise, and we know of no study that has validated it as a test. A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies from 98 samples found satisfaction with single areas and with life overall substantially associated. Whether one influences the other is still open.
Copy the template below onto paper or into a notebook and fill it in by hand, with a blank wheel to draw beside it. If you'd rather rate on screen, our interactive wheel of life does the math, and your ratings stay in your browser.
Wheel of life template to copy
Use one row per area, and keep the last row for a part of your life the list leaves out.
Wheel of life template to copy
Life area
Satisfied today (1–10)
Importance (high/medium/low)
Completely satisfied would mean …
Next step
Health
Career
Finances
Partnership
Family & friends
Growth
Leisure
Purpose
Your own area
A blank wheel of life to copy: eight areas, each rated 1 to 10
Drawn by the rules of our wheel of life: one spoke per area, 1 on the innermost ring, 10 at the rim. Copy the wheel, mark one point per area and connect the points.
The satisfaction column asks the question the way Germany's Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) asks it: “How satisfied are you with … your health?”1 The SOEP's scale runs from 0 (“completely dissatisfied”) to 10 (“completely satisfied”)1. Our template keeps the question and uses our wheel's scale of 1 to 10. The importance column is there because a plain average across areas doesn't weigh them by how much they matter to you1. The column “Completely satisfied would mean …” borrows the SOEP's top label, “completely satisfied.”1 The next-step column is ours, and the online wheel also suggests a first step for your lowest area. Your own area works on paper only.
To draw your own, draw a circle with one spoke per area, including your own, and number each spoke from 1 on the inside to 10 at the rim. Mark your rating on each spoke and connect the points.
How to fill out a wheel of life
Rate how satisfied you are with each area today, then how much it matters to you, then pick one area and one step. You'll need the sheet, a pen, and a quiet stretch of time.
Check the areas. Keep the eight areas of our wheel, or rename them on your sheet if your life has different anchors, and add the area that's missing for you. Online, the areas stay fixed.
Rate each area from 1 to 10 for how satisfied you are today. Rate how satisfied you are, not how the area looks from outside.
Mark how much each area matters to you: high, medium, or low.
Write one line per area on what being completely satisfied would look like for you.
Read the sheet. On paper, add up your ratings and divide by the number of areas: that's your balance score. The gap is your highest rating minus your lowest. Our wheel of life online does both for you, rounds the balance score to one decimal and shows your lowest area. We'd let the importance column decide whether your lowest area is where you start.
Choose one area and write one step in the last column, small enough to do this week. If leisure is the area, the passion finder helps you find something small to try.
Fill the sheet in again when something has changed or after a few weeks, and compare it with your last sheet.
How do surveys measure satisfaction with life areas?
Germany's Socio-Economic Panel asks one question per area, and people answer each on a scale from 0 to 101. It asks about life overall in a question of its own, every year since 19841.
The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) asks four well-being questions on a scale of 0 to 10. One is “Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays,” where 0 is “not at all satisfied” and 10 is “completely satisfied.”2 For three of the four questions (life satisfaction, a sense that what you do is worthwhile, and happiness), the ONS reports the share of answers in four bands, from low (0 to 4) to very high (9 to 10)2. The ONS uses these bands to show how answers spread across a population2. They were not built for a wheel of life, so we don't apply them to your ratings.
A UK panel asks about life areas on a scale from 1 to 7. Malvaso and Kang analyzed one wave of the British Household Panel Study, collected from September 2005 to May 2006: 5,928 of 15,617 participants, aged 16 to 99, with complete answers3. Participants rated their life overall and areas such as health, household income, job, and leisure time3. After demographics were factored out, satisfaction with the areas explained 51.4% of the differences between people in overall satisfaction3. The authors tested whether the areas or personality traits predict overall satisfaction3. Their data supported both3. The data came from one point in time, so the study can't show cause and effect, and self-reports carry a risk of bias3.
A 2026 meta-analysis pooled longitudinal data from 98 samples, covering satisfaction with seven areas of life, such as romantic relationships and health. Its abstract reports that people's standing relative to others stayed highly stable, in life satisfaction and in satisfaction with single areas, and that the two were substantially associated4. Whether one influences the other is open: the pattern depended on the statistical model4.
What an average across areas leaves out
A plain average of your area ratings treats every area as equally important, and it misses whatever the listed areas leave out1. The SOEP documentation also names one advantage of such an average: it doesn't rest only on your ability to sum up your whole life in one answer1. Our wheel's balance score is that kind of unweighted average. We think the importance column is the most useful addition to the classic wheel. It shows which low score belongs to an area you care about, so you know where to look first.
Frequently asked questions
What are the categories on the wheel of life?
Our wheel of life uses eight areas: health, career, finances, partnership, family and friends, growth, leisure, and purpose. On a paper sheet, rename them if your life has different anchors. Surveys use their own lists. Germany's Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) asks how satisfied people are with areas such as their health, household income, home, free time, and job1.
Does a wheel of life need to be even?
No. We know of no study showing that rating every area about the same goes with greater life satisfaction. The largest study we cite, a 2026 meta-analysis of longitudinal studies, found satisfaction with single areas, such as health and romantic relationships, substantially associated with life satisfaction. Whether one influences the other is still open4. We'd start where an area that matters to you scores low, whatever shape your wheel takes.
Is the wheel of life scientifically validated?
No. The wheel of life is a coaching exercise for self-reflection, and we know of no study that has validated it as a test. Our template asks its satisfaction question the way Germany's Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) does: “How satisfied are you with … your health?”1 Borrowing a survey's question doesn't make the wheel itself a validated instrument.
Is there a wheel of life template PDF?
No, we don't offer a file to download. To rate on screen, use our interactive wheel of life. For paper, copy the template above, one row per life area, and draw the blank wheel beside it.
Can I fill in a wheel of life online for free?
Yes. Our interactive wheel of life is free and needs no sign-up or email address. You rate eight areas from 1 to 10 and see your balance score, the gap between your highest and lowest rating, and a first step for your lowest area. Your ratings stay in your browser. Nothing is stored or sent anywhere.
Your next step
Our advice: copy the table now, or fill in the wheel online. Then pick an area that matters to you and scores low, and write one step for this week in the last column.
Malvaso A, Kang W. The relationship between areas of life satisfaction, personality, and overall life satisfaction: An integrated account. Front Psychol 2022;13:894610. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9532945 (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Bühler JL, Scheling L, Aebi JA, Lüdtke O, Orth U. Life satisfaction and domain satisfaction: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Eur J Pers 2026;40:996-1022. doi:10.1177/08902070261423578 (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Published November 13, 2026
This article is general information, not medical or psychological advice. If you’re struggling, reach out to a doctor or a crisis line.
Keep exploring
The wheel of life rates your areas on screen and shows your balance score. If your thoughts keep circling one area, read our guide on how to stop overthinking. The life map looks back at the road that brought you here. When your next step is a new routine, the habit formation calculator helps you plan it, and the passion finder helps when leisure scores low. More free tools are under Tools.
Wild Garden Editorial Team
Content and tools on Wild Garden are published by the Wild Garden Editorial Team. How we research, check and correct errors is set out in our editorial standards.
