Adler’s Five Life Tasks  

William Howatt Ph.D., Ed.D.

2002 © Howatt HR

Each of us in our journey through life will, as Alfred Adler taught, be challenged to fulfill five life tasks that in his view are the foundation for self-fulfillment and health.

 

The five life tasks are:

  • Friendship – Each person needs to have friends so interested in their well-being that they care about them. the relationships need to be supportive and non-judgmental. adler believed that a person’s happiness could never be at the expense of another human being.
  • Work – Each person needs to find a meaningful career and work to feel they are a contributing part of society.
  • Established Intimacy – Each person needs to know that they are loved by another or others, and that they can receive the love and return the loving.
  • Self-acceptance – Each person needs to feel they are accepted as a valuable and important person.
  • Spiritual Dimension – Each person will benefit from finding peace with their understanding of the role of spirituality in their life. 

This is not an assessment; it is a discovery process of where you are today regarding your perception of your life fulfillment. The outcome of this self-exploration activity is to discover areas of your life that are working the way you want now and areas you believe you still have not fulfilled.

 

When a person struggles in any one area and does not get relief, they may experience unnecessary strain that can result in conditions such as depression, hopelessness, and anxiety.

 

Instructions: Read each item and choose the response that most accurately rates how you perceive yourself today.

This is not a clinical measure or a diagnostic tool; it is an educational tool.

Start Discovery