How to Use the Wheel of Life: A Complete Guide for Creative Entrepreneurs

Have you ever found yourself juggling multiple roles—managing your business, maintaining relationships, caring for your health, and striving for personal growth—yet feeling like something is missing? Or perhaps you feel overwhelmed, unsure of how to focus your energy on what matters most. If so, you are not alone. As a creative entrepreneur, balancing these aspects of life is not just challenging but essential to achieving long-term success. What is the answer? A simple yet powerful tool called the “Wheel of Life”.

Want to learn more about storytelling? Start by downloading the first chapter of The Storytelling Mastery.

Whether you are just starting your entrepreneurial journey or you are looking to refine your approach, the Wheel of Life can help you achieve balance, focus, and a renewed sense of purpose.

In this article, we will explore how the Wheel of Life can help you, as a creative entrepreneur, especially if you are from the African diaspora and you want to align your business practices with your deeper purpose.

We will also look at how this tool has been used successfully by Obehi Ewanfoh, a storyteller and entrepreneur, to help people tap into their potential and create lasting success.

What is the Wheel of Life?

The Wheel of Life is a visual coaching tool used to help individuals assess the balance between different areas of their lives. It’s typically divided into 8 segments, each representing a crucial area such as health, career, relationships, finances, and personal growth.

By rating your satisfaction in each area, you can quickly identify which areas of your life are thriving and which might need more attention. The tool provides a snapshot of your current life balance, allowing you to visualize where improvements are necessary.

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What makes the Wheel of Life so powerful is its simplicity and versatility. Whether you are a coach helping clients with life balance, a creative entrepreneur fine-tuning your business goals, or someone looking to make positive changes in your personal life, this tool can be customized to fit any need.

In his article, The Wheel of Life, Simon Bell highlights the power of the tool by explaining how it offers a vivid, visual representation of your current life versus your ideal life. The Wheel of Life earns its name because it maps different areas of your life onto a circular diagram, much like the spokes of a wheel, allowing you to see where your life is balanced and where there might be gaps.

This circular format makes it easy to compare and reflect on the harmony (or lack thereof) between various life domains.

For entrepreneurs of the African diaspora, the Wheel of Life can also serve as a bridge between cultural identity and business success, providing insights that align with your values, purpose, and unique experiences.

The History and Evolution of the Wheel of Life

The Wheel of Life was first developed by Paul J. Meyer in the 1960s. Meyer, the founder of the Success Motivation® Institute, sought to create a simple, effective tool for people to assess their lives and set goals.

Today, the Wheel of Life has evolved beyond its original goal-setting purpose. It is now widely used by life coaches, entrepreneurs, and individuals looking to gain clarity about their priorities.

Meyer’s work has had a lasting impact, and the Wheel of Life is now one of the most popular and widely adopted tools in personal development. As a creative entrepreneur, especially one from the African diaspora, you may relate to the tool’s global reach. The tool speaks to universal themes of:

• Self-awareness,
• Purpose,
• And success, which transcends cultural boundaries.

Why the Wheel of Life Works for Creative Entrepreneurs

As a creative entrepreneur, balancing your life and business can feel like an intricate dance. You may be constantly balancing your work with family, health, personal growth, and community engagement, all while striving to create innovative products and services. This balancing act can be overwhelming if you’re unsure where to focus your energy.

For entrepreneurs from the African diaspora, the challenges can be even more complex. Cultural expectations, societal pressures, and navigating identity issues often add layers of complexity to running a business.

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In this context, the Wheel of Life offers a much-needed framework for assessing life satisfaction and finding alignment between personal values and business goals.

For example, Obehi Ewanfoh, a storyteller and entrepreneur from Nigeria, has used the Wheel of Life with his clients to help them align their professional goals with their deeper purpose.

Obehi’s work focuses on empowering individuals to tell their stories and understand the intersections of culture, identity, and entrepreneurship. His approach to using the Wheel of Life and his NBA storytelling framework is not just about finding balance but also about ensuring that business goals are aligned with one’s cultural and personal values—a critical aspect for entrepreneurs of the African diaspora who often face challenges navigating between cultures.

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How to Use the Wheel of Life

Whether you’re coaching clients or using the Wheel of Life to guide your own business decisions, it’s essential to understand how to apply the tool effectively.

Step 1: Create Your Wheel of Life Template

Start by creating a simple Wheel of Life diagram. Draw a large circle and divide it into 8 equal segments. Each segment represents a different area of your life that you want to assess. Some common categories include:

• Health: Physical and emotional well-being.
• Career/Business: Professional development and financial goals.
• Family & Relationships: Time and connection with loved ones.
• Finances: Income, savings, and financial security.
• Personal Growth: Learning, spirituality, and self-improvement.
• Social Life: Friendships, community, and social connections.
• Recreation/Fun: Leisure, hobbies, and downtime.
• Home Environment: Physical surroundings and home life.

As a creative entrepreneur, you can adjust these categories to better reflect your needs. For example, you might add categories like Inspiration, Creative Projects, or Cultural Engagement, depending on what’s most relevant to your business and personal life.

Step 2: Rate Your Satisfaction

Once you have created your Wheel of Life, rate your satisfaction in each area on a scale from 1 to 10. A rating of 1 indicates extreme dissatisfaction, while 10 signifies complete satisfaction.

You can do this by drawing a line across each segment to indicate your current level of satisfaction. Afterward, you will have a visual representation of your life balance.

Step 3: Reflect and Identify Areas for Improvement

Now that you have your Wheel of Life completed, take some time to reflect on the results. Which areas are thriving, and which ones need more attention?

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For example, if your business or career rating is low, you might want to focus more on professional development. Or, if your health rating is low, it could be a sign that you need to prioritize self-care.

Step 4: Set Intentions and Goals

Using the insights from your Wheel of Life, identify areas where you want to make changes or improvements. Focus on one or two key areas that will have the most significant impact on your overall life satisfaction. Set clear intentions and goals to improve those areas and create a plan of action.

Step 5: Regular Check-ins

The Wheel of Life is not a one-time exercise. It’s a tool for regular self-assessment and reflection. Schedule regular check-ins (e.g., every quarter or six months) to assess your progress and adjust as necessary. Over time, this practice will help you stay aligned with your goals and continuously refine your balance.

At AClasses Media, we offer a series of self-assessments designed to help our audience gain clarity on what truly matters to them. These assessments are often centered around the Wheel of Life, guiding individuals to reflect on their current circumstances and align them with their true desires.

The African Diaspora and Entrepreneurial Success

For creative entrepreneurs of the African diaspora, success isn’t just about making money or building a business. It’s about finding ways to preserve cultural heritage, contribute to the community, and align business practices with a sense of identity and purpose.

According to a report by the African Development Bank, African entrepreneurs are among the most resilient in the world, facing unique challenges such as limited access to financing, but also bringing innovative solutions to the global market.

In a World Bank article titled “Building Resilience and Youth Entrepreneurship in Africa”, it was noted that while other continents have spent generations cultivating entrepreneurial ecosystems and instilling resilience in their entrepreneurs, Africa still has a long way to go.

For example, in 2021, Africa had only three unicorns, compared to over 1,000 across North America, Asia, and Europe—regions where entrepreneurship education and robust ecosystems have been prioritized for decades.

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To address this gap, the Wheel of Life can be an effective tool for fostering resilience and entrepreneurial growth in Africa. By helping entrepreneurs assess their current life balance—ranging from personal development and finances to career and relationships—the Wheel of Life can encourage a holistic approach to entrepreneurship.

When entrepreneurs gain clarity on their life satisfaction in various areas, they can make informed decisions about where to focus their energy. This self-awareness will empower them to identify gaps, set goals, and build a stronger foundation for success.

In the context of the African diaspora, using the Wheel of Life can help entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of identity, community expectations, and business challenges. This is particularly true for diaspora entrepreneurs who often bridge multiple worlds: the one they grew up in and the one they’ve built in a new country.

The Wheel of Life allows these entrepreneurs to step back and reflect on how they can balance both sides without losing sight of their cultural identity.

Conclusion: Using the Wheel of Life to Achieve Purpose-Driven Success

The Wheel of Life is more than just a coaching tool; it’s a blueprint for creating a balanced, purposeful life. As a creative entrepreneur, especially one from the African diaspora, you can use this tool to assess where you are, where you want to go, and how you can align your personal values with your business goals.

By continuously using the Wheel of Life to assess your life satisfaction, set goals, and make adjustments, you’ll ensure that your business growth is not only successful but also aligned with your deeper purpose.

Remember, success isn’t just about the end goal, it’s about the journey. The Wheel of Life can help you create a path that is fulfilling, purposeful, and true to who you are. So, take the time today to create your own Wheel of Life and start your journey toward a more balanced, purposeful entrepreneurial experience.

Want to learn more about storytelling? Start by downloading the first chapter of The Storytelling Mastery.