The Wellness Wheel & Check List

In this post, we will cover the sections of the wellness wheel, what each one is, and how you can decide on steps to move toward wellness.

The wheel consists of 7 segments:

Intellectual Wellness
Emotional Wellness
Environmental Wellness
Financial/Occupational Wellness
Physical Wellness
Social Wellness
Spiritual Wellness

Imagine the wheel as a car tyre. The more pumped up each segment, the smoother the tyre runs.

By breaking down the wheel into the different segments, you can identify where weaknesses may be, and decide on steps to pump it up.

Intellectual wellness

This is the pursuit of mentally engaging, creative activities. Good that you’re here because this post is an intellectual engagement, that’s going to take some creativity by the end.

Do you actively engage with ideas, or do you just accept them at face value (aka. critical thinking)?
Do you actively seek out and engage in continuous learning about subjects that interest you?
Do you actively seek out new interests and experiences?

Emotional wellness

This is how aware you are of your own emotional state, how aware you are of the emotional state of others, and how well you can manage that dynamic, including things like managing stress and resolving conflict.

Do you have emotional management techniques you can rely on?
Are you aware of your own self-talk and how it affects you? Can you reframe it effectively?
Can you effectively & constructively express your emotions?

Environmental Wellness

How you care for the natural & social environment around you.

Are you creating and engaging in environments that support well-being?
Do you challenge behaviour that brings negativity to your environment?
Are you actively caring for the natural environment and your immediate surroundings?

Financial/Occupational wellness

How you make your money, what you do with it, and how you feel about earning and spending it.

Do you use your skills and talents to provide value?
Do you actively engage in developing your work-related skills?
Does your occupation bring you fulfilment?
Do you engage in fulfilling activities outside of occupational demands?
Do you have control of your finances? Budgeting, investing, retirement planning etc.

Physical Wellness

How you take care of your health, (sleeping, eating, exercise) and the proactive stuff (eg. medical checkups) to make sure you perform at your peak.

How often do you exercise (3 x per week or more)?
Is getting enough sleep a priority?
Do you make good food choices?
Are you actively taking care of your hydration?
Do you do all the checks and screenings that you should?

Social Wellness

The strength of your relationships, your engagement and contribution in those relationships, and the diversity of your circles.

On average, do you have between 3 – 5 close, trusting relationships?
Do you communicate effectively?
Do you consider the needs & wants of others and yourself?
Would you say you’ve experienced a sense of belonging in a group, team or community?
Do you interact with people of diverse backgrounds?

Spiritual Wellness

Your beliefs and values, how you integrate them into your life, and your feeling of moving toward a higher purpose.

Have you reflected on your personal experiences?
Are you aware of your own personal values and code?
Do you stick to it?
Are you conscious of the welfare of others?
Do you have faith in a higher power or some sort of purpose to your life?

Now, let’s start to pump up the tyre. I’d suggest skimming through that list again briefly, identifying the one thing that strikes you as the biggest weakness, and deciding on immediate actions you can take to improve that one weakness you identified. Most of the stuff on this list requires daily practice, so now choose a keyword that’ll remind you of either the problem or the solution that you can remember easily. Pump up that area for a week and feel for changes in your life.

You can come back to this list at any time to identify the next area to pump up.