Quadrants of
Likes and
Dislikes

ASSESSMENT & DISCOVERY TOOLS

Map where your energy goes by sorting activities
into four honest categories.

Where This Tool Helps

The value here is not in the four quadrants - you already know the labels. The value is in what surfaces when you have to commit an activity to a specific cell. Most people have a mental category of things they "don't love but do anyway" that, when mapped, turns out to contain most of their week. This worksheet makes that visible.

The four-level scale matters more than it appears. The gap between "I love it" and "I like it" is significant - it's the difference between work that energizes and work that's merely tolerable. The gap between "I dislike it" and "I hate it" can point to where resentment is building, or where there's an unexamined values conflict worth exploring.

How to Use This Assessment

Pick a scope before you start. Are you mapping professional activities, personal activities, or both? Mixing them without a clear scope produces a less useful picture. Decide first.
Write quickly. Don't deliberate over where something belongs. Your first instinct is more honest than your considered answer. The quadrant that feels hardest to fill is usually the one carrying the most information.
Fill all four quadrants. The temptation is to load "I love it" and "I like it" and leave the bottom two sparse. The dislike and hate quadrants are where the useful data lives. Push yourself to be specific there.
Notice what's missing. After you've filled the quadrants, look for categories of activity that don't appear at all. Absence is also data - it may indicate things you've stopped doing, things you've never tried, or things you're avoiding naming.
Cross-reference with how you actually spend your time. The most revealing use of this worksheet is holding it next to your calendar. Where are you spending time in the bottom quadrants? That gap between what energizes and what occupies you is worth examining with your coach.