Understanding the Seven Life Areas

To make the most use of the Personal Growth Map, it’s important that you have a proper understanding of each life area and what subjects go under it. But given the fact that each life area has a huge scope, this post won’t get into the details of what’s exactly included in that area. It simply gives a brief definition and explanation you can use to help you categorize your interests and activities under these life areas.

Before we look at the life areas individually, bear in mind that there is some overlap between the life areas. In most cases, which life area a subject belongs to depends on the focus you approach the subject with. For example, thinking is an Intellectual matter. Looking at how to change your thinking to change your emotions is a Psychological matter.

Spiritual

As human beings, we don’t want to simply know the What, but seek to answer the Why. We’re not content with living. We want to know what the meaning of life is. We don’t want to acquire fragments of the puzzle. We want to know what the picture is.

Attempts to understand the world and our place in it, and to form a comprehensive view of existence are spiritual endeavors. Both philosophy and theology try to explain the fundamental nature of reality and they can help us form a spiritual (i.e. big picture) understanding of the world.

The focus of spirituality is beliefs.

Examples of things that fall under this life area: religious observances, reading scripture, beliefs (about the existence of God, the meaning of life, life after death, the law of attraction, etc), ethical values, world peace, humanism, volunteer work, life philosophy.

Intellectual

Your ability to learn, your memory, the way you reason and all cognitive processes (e.g. analyzing) belong to your Intellectual life area.

In this life area we seek to refine our ability to acquire information, develop our understanding and to enrich our minds with knowledge that can serve us in life.

The focus of the intellect is knowledge.

Examples of things that fall under this life area: accelerated learning, study skills, mind-mapping, speed-reading, memory, reasoning and any reading done to acquire information that’s not directly related to making money (which is Professional) and is not done for pleasure (which is Recreational).

Psychological

Our emotions are influenced by many factors. This life area looks at these factors and how we can develop the emotions that support us in life. If fear is holding us back, we need to know how to rid ourselves of this fear (or to use it in order to move forward, rather than backward).

The focus of psychology is emotions.

Examples of things that fall under this life area are: therapy, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), journaling, coping with guilt, fear, aging, past experiences, as well as fostering positive emotions, such as happiness, excitement, etc.

Social

The way we relate to other human beings – be they parents, siblings, spouse, children, friends, colleagues, strangers – defines our Social life. In order to foster healthy relationships, it’s important to understand what such relationships involve, and how to avoid conflicts with others.

The focus of our social life is relationships.

Examples of things that fall under this life area are: parenthood, making friends, starting conversations, public speaking, etc.

Professional

Your ability to make money is covered by your Professional life area. You might think that your job is about contributing value to others, but you can do that through volunteer work. Your professional success is determined by the reward you get for the value you provide. It’s very important that you recognize the end result you expect out of your professional endeavors. Otherwise, you won’t have food on the table or a way to pay your bills.

Handling your finances is also tied to this life area, because it determines how much money you end up having.

The focus of your professional life is money.

Examples of things that fall under this life area are: business skills, marketing, customer service, professional skills, business projects, productivity, organization, professional competence.

Recreational

Any activity you do that is intended for relaxation, refreshment and pleasure falls under this life area.

The focus of recreation is fun.

Examples of things that fall under this life area are: reading novels, watching movies, playing video games, going on holiday, stamp collecting, painting, getting a massage, sports.

Physical

Anything related to your body and its well-being falls under this life area.

The focus of your physical life is health.

Examples of things that fall under this life area are: dieting, nutrition, exercise, hygiene, body-building, stamina, strength training.

The importance of each life area, and how it relates to other life areas will be covered in future posts. Use the explanations above when trying to categorize your activities, reading list, projects, etc. to ensure that you are paying attention to every life area, without neglecting any area of your life.

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