Being mindful of the different areas of life is important for planning the future, organizing and tracking progress towards goals, and reflecting on life progress. We plan on implementing a category system that corresponds with major areas of life.
Popular Life Area Breakdowns
Alex Vermeer’s personal life areas (link)
- Worldview & Purpose
- Contribution & Impact
- Location & Possessions
- Money & Finances
- Career & Work
- Health & Fitness
- Knowledge & Education
- Communication
- Intimate Relationship
- Social Life
- Emotions
- Character & Integrity
- Productivity & Organization
- Fun & Adventure
- Thinking & Deciding
8,760 Hours by Alex Vermeer (link)
- Values & Purpose
- Contribution & Impact
- Location & Tangibles
- Money & Finances
- Career & Work
- Health & Fitness
- Education & Skill Development
- Social Life & Relationships
- Emotions & Well Being
- Character & Identity
- Productivity & Organization
- Adventure & Creativity
Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina (book link)
- Habits & Daily Routine
- Career & Work
- Money & Finances
- Health & Fitness
- Mental Development & Education
- Social Life & Relationships
- Home & Family
- Emotions
- Character & Integrity
- Life Purpose & Contributions
- Spiritual Development
Chris Guillebeau’s personal annual review categories (link)
- Writing
- Business
- Friends & Family
- Service
- Travel
- Spiritual
- Health
- Learning
- Financial (earning)
- Financial (giving)
- Financial (saving)
- Spiritual
- Personal Development
- Career
- Education
- Health
- Relationships
- Life Management
- Leisure
Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Wikipedia, infographic)
- Existential
- Intrapersonal
- Interpersonal
- Logical-Mathematical
- Visual-Spatial
- Verbal-Linguistic
- Musical
- Bodily-Kinesthetic
- Naturalistic
Successtivity Life Areas
Worldview & Purpose: This category appears on many other life area breakdowns, and we think the meta activity of constructing a philosophy of life, deciding on overall life direction, and figuring out things like ethical philosophies and religion is worthy of a life category. Particular focuses, like evaluating world religions, are good subcategories to have.
Personal Understanding & Development: This is not always listed as a category, but understanding and improving the self seems to be something that a lot of people do. Activities that do not have their own life category, like improving personal character, can be directly listed under this category.
Contribution & Impact: Many people feel a desire to contribute to the world in some way, whether in the form of having kids, writing a book, inventing technology, or reducing extreme poverty. This category is closely related to life actualization in Maslow’s hierarchy.
Career & Work: Career and work is interrelated with other areas of life such as being happy and fulfilled when working, generating income, and impacting the world. Since one’s career activities and progression is related to but independent of these areas, we feel like this area requires its own category, although some people may choose to adjust this category to their liking. Activities like going to college or working at a job could fall under this category or another category depending on how someone views them.
Education & Skill Development: Acquiring knowledge and skills has specific institutions and activities associated with it and is related to multiple areas of life. As such, we have given it its own category.
Physical Health & Experience: Physical health is a core area of life. We emphasize the experience part of this category because physical health affects every moment of life with factors like pain, physical mobility, and how others perceive us.
Mental Health & Experience: Mental health is a core area of life. We include experience in this category to emphasize the affect this category can have on every moment of one’s life.
Networking & Relationships: Relating to others is a key area of life, encompassing networking, friends, family, and romantic partners.
Money & Finances: This category is related to managing money, including budgeting, investing, and borrowing. This category is primarily intended for managing money as opposed to the activities related to generating it or spending it which have their own categories.
Ownership & Experiences: Spending money and acquiring products and services is closely related to life experiences and leisure activities as diverse as world travel, mountain biking, and watching Netflix. Therefore, we have combined these areas together.