My Wheel of Life

Twelve pillars of a harmonious life.

It’s been a while since I’ve been researching about the pillars of life. Or you can call it categories of life, or also areas of life, or even dimensions of life. Whatever aspect we need to consider if we want to create harmony and balance in our lives.

During my exploration I found all kinds of “pillars of life” and “wheels of life”. They varied in number and which aspects to be considered. None of them seemed complete. There were always aspects that I felt were important but they couldn’t fit in any of those pillars or wheels.

So I continued researching this subject and using different “pillars” in my career and personal development conversations. Until I finally “reinvented the wheel” and created my own “wheel of life”. I don’t think it’s perfect and I’m not 100% satisfied with it either, but at least it has been useful for me. And I’d like to share it with you now.

The main areas of life and their respective pillars are:

• Occupational: Profession, Projects and Leisure;
• Material: Money, Assets and Charity;
• Personal: Body, Mind and Spirit;
• Social: Family, Friends and Communities.

1. Occupational

Occupational life refers to what you do out of your life. It includes what you do for a living, what you do as hobby for leisure and what you do as side projects or services.

1.1 Profession

This is your main professional occupation. Your work or job. Your career. It’s the main activity that you do for a living. Usually it’s the activity that takes up most of your waking hours.

1.2 Projects

These are your side projects, hustles and the voluntary services you do besides to your profession. It can also be your academic education or a personal project linked to any of the other pillars of your life.

1.3 Leisure

These are your hobbies and well-being activities you do in your free time, either to recharge your energies, socialize or have fun.

2. Material

Material life refer to your relationship with the material world. It includes money (or finance), assets (or your life standards) and charity (or your giving back).

2.1 Money

This is your finance. It can be your salary, paycheck, revenue, profit or dividends. It refers to the amount of money you get.

2.2 Assets

These are your properties. Your house, car, investments, savings and other assets. Your wealth. What defines your life standards.

2.3 Charity

These are your donations and voluntary contributions. It can be your tithe, church offering or giving (money or other materials).

3. Personal

Personal life refers to yourself as an individual, as a human being. It includes your body, your mind and your spirit.

3.1 Body

This is your physical body. Your physical health, strength and conditioning. Your nutrition, diet, sleep and measures.

3.2 Mind

This is your mental and emotional health. Your different intelligences (e.g.: IQ and EQ). Your thoughts and awareness.

3.3 Spirit

This is your transcendental side. Your faith and beliefs. Your purpose. Where your peace of mind resides.

4. Social

Social life refers to all the relationship with you with other people. It includes your family, friends and any other community or social circle.

4.1 Family

This is your home. Your most intimate relationships. It includes your spouse, kids and whoever live with you under the same roof.

4.2 Friends

This pillar refers to the relationship with your friends. Who they are, how you keep connected to them and how important they are to you.

4.3 Communities

These are all the different social circles you take part. It can be a sports club, recreation place, business groups or any other community other than your friends and family networks.

These pillars can be connected among themselves.

For example, if you have a hobby of watching TV series with your spouse, this is connecting Leisure (Occupational) to Family (Social); or if you’re a professional athlete, this is connecting Profession (Occupational) to Body and Mind (Personal). Most of the occupations are also linked to a certain community.

You may lack some of the pillars or focus too much on some others.

Depending on your circumstances, you may not have a family or a profession. Or you don’t have a project you’re currently working on. You may use this wheel of life to reflect about which aspect is more or less important to you.

Use it to improve your life.

Reflecting about the connection between pillars may give you creative ideas on how to optimize many pillars at the same time. You can also use it to set targets for each pillar. Use it as a simple tool to assess your life and bring more harmony and balance to it.

What do you think about this? Does it make sense for you? This is still a work in progress. Your thoughts and insights are more than welcome. Feel free to leave a comment with your feedback.

Thanks in advance!