Compass · Reflection · HourLife Premium
Step back on four horizons, from this week to this year.
Your review hub: weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly reviews, a horizon of what is coming up, and a landscape of your life.
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Four reviews that keep their own timeWeekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly reviews each come due 7, 30, 90 or 365 days after you last finished one. Four dials fill as the day comes, and say “Begin” when it has.
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The period comes to youEvery review opens on “PERIOD SIGNALS”, the tasks, priorities, journal entries and decisions of that week, month, quarter or year, so you answer from the record, not from memory.
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Stated against livedLandscape sets each life area’s share of your goals beside what you actually did there this quarter, and marks it “aligned”, “building” or “gap”. Horizon lists what is coming and what has gone stale.
Your first review
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Open the weekly one
Open Compass. It starts on "Reviews". Under "REVIEWS", tap "Weekly", about 5 minutes over three steps, "Wins", "Friction" and "Next Week".
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Answer from the signals
Read the "PERIOD SIGNALS" at the top of each step, write your answer to the prompt, and tap "Next".
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Keep one commitment
On the last step, write one commitment per line under "COMMITMENTS" and tap "Done". They wait under "FROM YOUR LAST REVIEW" until the next one, and the weekly dial starts again.
Every step, in detail
- 1 Open Compass. It opens on "Reviews", with four dials under "REVIEW RHYTHM" and "Weekly", "Monthly", "Quarterly", and "Yearly" listed under "REVIEWS".
- 2 Tap "Weekly" for your first review. It takes about 5 minutes across three steps.
- 3 Read "PERIOD SIGNALS", answer each prompt, write one commitment per line under "COMMITMENTS", and tap "Done".
- 4 Switch to "Horizon" to see what is approaching and what needs attention.
- 5 Switch to "Landscape" and pick "Life", "Year", "Quarter", "Month", or "Week" to change how far out you look.
Four reviews, four clocks
Each review runs on its own clock, and the clock starts when you finish, not when the calendar turns. A weekly review is due seven days after the last one, a monthly thirty, a quarterly ninety and a yearly 365. Drag the day forward and watch the dials fill; finish a review and its clock starts again from that day.
Sample · every review since last New Year’s Eve, on Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026 · drag the day, then tap a review to finish it
- Weekly 2 days left
- Monthly 13 days left
- Quarterly 45 days left
- Yearly 72 days left
The four clocks
Each span runs from one review to the day the next is due.
A dot is a finished review, a ring the next due date. Coral is time past due.
- Weeklydue Oct 22 · 2 days left
- Monthlydue Nov 2 · 13 days left
- Quarterlydue Dec 4 · 45 days left
- Yearlydue Dec 31 · 72 days left
Lateness never piles up. The weekly finished on Sep 20 came 7 days late, and the next one fell due on Sep 27, seven days after it. Period labels still follow the calendar: a weekly review reads “Week of Oct 18” whenever you do it. A weekly review you finish from Today’s Sunday banner counts here too.
Inside a review
A review is a few written steps, each with its own question. Before you write, PERIOD SIGNALS counts what the period already holds, so you are not reviewing from memory. Monthly, quarterly and yearly reviews add 1–5 ratings, and the mean of each review’s ratings becomes a point on the RATINGS line.
Sample · on Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026 · pick a review, rate its steps, then tap Done
Monthly Review
Find patterns and tune your systems.
15-20 min · systems review
- Done tasks
- 25
- Priorities
- 6
- Journal
- 11
- Decisions
- 3
October · 23 active goals · 2 habits need attention
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SYNTHESIZE
Patterns
What patterns showed up across the month?
Month quality -
AUDIT
Systems
Which habits, routines, or commitments need adjustment?
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ALIGN
Goal Progress
Which goals advanced, stalled, or stopped mattering?
Goal alignment -
DECIDE
Reset
What one system change would make next month easier?
Ratings
- Monthly
- Quarterly
The line keeps the last twelve rated reviews, oldest first, on a scale of 1 to 5. A review you leave unrated adds no point, and it takes two rated reviews before the line appears.
Weekly reviews carry no ratings. A quarterly review begun on Oct 20 shows the same signals as the monthly one, because the fourth quarter began on Oct 1: a review early in its period sees only the days so far. Commitments come back on the Reviews tab under FROM YOUR LAST REVIEW, so the next review can check them.
What you said against what you did
Landscape sets each life area’s share of your goals, the life you stated, beside how much of it you lived this quarter: your daily habits kept there, and the tasks finished on its goals. An area doing less than its goals ask is a gap. Pick an area and change its numbers to see where the line falls.
Sample · 23 goals in seven areas, Q4 2026 to Oct 20 · pick an area, then move its habits, tasks and goals
YOUR NORTH STAR“Build a life of creative independence and meaningful work”
- stated
- lived
Craft
Stated: 6 of 23 goals = 26.1%. Lived: 0.6 × 12% + 0.4 × 5% = 9.2%. Lived ÷ stated = 0.35, so Craft reads a gap. Aligned takes 0.70, building 0.40; the ticks on its row mark both.
What the gap means
- Wealth has 4 active goals but almost no daily activity. Your actions don’t reflect what you said matters here. GOALS × HABITS · Q4 2026
- Learning has 3 active goals but almost no daily activity. Your actions don’t reflect what you said matters here. GOALS × HABITS · Q4 2026
- Craft has 6 active goals but almost no daily activity. Your actions don’t reflect what you said matters here. GOALS × HABITS · Q4 2026
- Your behavior in Health matches what you said matters. ALIGNMENT · Q4 2026
Year altitude
Life area heatmap · 2026, and the annual arc
Each cell is a month’s daily habits kept in that area: pale under 30%, mid under 60%, full above. The arc reads the year’s rate against the area’s goals, and October moves with the slider above.
- Health 41% Building momentum, 41% active
- Wealth 3% 4 goals set but low daily presence
- Craft 26% 6 goals set but low daily presence
- Family 26% No goals set, 26% active
- Mind 41% Building momentum, 41% active
- Relationships 15% 3 goals set but low daily presence
- Learning 9% 3 goals set but low daily presence
Landscape stores nothing; it reads your goals, habits and tasks each time you open it. The Life view also carries Little by little, the small actions behind each goal over the last four weeks, with a strip of the last 14 days beside each count.
What’s coming, and what’s slipping
Horizon gathers dated things from other modules, and each kind has its own window. A follow-up shows when it is five days out or already late; a countdown, a goal’s target date and a birthday when they are thirty days out. Everything outside its window stays off the list until it comes closer.
Sample · on Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026 · shaded is each source’s window; hollow dots are outside it
Swipe the chart to see 45 days out.
- today or overdue
- 3 days or less
- a week or less
- later
- outside its window
- Signed lease addendumWaiting for · Priyaoverdue
- Finish the course draftGoal · Oct 18overdue
- Feedback on onboarding V2Waiting for · Sarah1 day
- Submit passport renewalCountdown · Oct 244 days
- Design critique on home screenWaiting for · Maya5 days
- Mom’s birthdayRelationships · Oct 299 days
- Quarter planning dayCountdown · Nov 112 days
- Product launchCountdown · Nov 718 days
- Run a 10KGoal · Nov 1526 days
- Read 24 booksGoal · no activity in 15 daysstalled
- Insurance claim decisionWaiting for · Harbor Mutual · 21 days agostale
- Refinance the mortgage now?Decision · Aug 27 · not revisitedrevisit
- 5 unprocessed capturesBrain · oldest 12 days agounprocessed
- Ship the portfolio siteGoal · completed Oct 11
A goal is stalled after 14 days with nothing logged, a follow-up stale after seven days of silence. Decisions come back once their review date passes, and inbox captures older than a week are counted together. NEEDS ATTENTION shows six at most, RECENTLY DONE the goals finished in the last two weeks.
The Read 24 books target on Dec 31 is 72 days out, past the goal window, so it shows only as stalled. Horizon stores nothing: it reads Waiting For, Countdowns, Goals, People, Decisions and Brain each time you open it.
The Life Audit, and where Compass finds you
The four reviews look back over a period. The Life Audit, in the ⋯ menu on the Reviews tab, looks at the whole: six written phases, about an hour and ten minutes, best done once or twice a year.
Life Audit
A conversation with yourself.
6 phases · 60–90 min · You write, not tap
- 1Ground yourselfName the season you’re actually in~10 min
- 2Life areas scanRate what matters against how it feels~20 min
- 3Time & patternsWhere your days really go~5 min
- 4Take stockWhat’s working, what plainly isn’t~10 min
- 5Confronting truthThe questions you’ve been avoiding~10 min
- 6DecisionsStop, start, double down~15 min
Nothing is saved until you finish, so you can stop and start over any time. The finished audit’s area ratings are what Life Areas reads.
Where Compass reaches you
- Today, on Sundays“Weekly review — ready when you are →” opens Today’s own weekly review, and finishing it counts as Compass’s weekly.
- A Sunday nudge“Sunday reflection time”, with Start review, when the weekly review is due.
- Specialized reviewsSomeday / Maybe and Brain Dump Review, on the Reviews tab, each with the number waiting.
- From your last reviewUp to five commitments from the review you finished last, for the next one to check.
Tips
- If you finish the weekly review from Today's Sunday banner, Compass counts it as your weekly review.
- Keep commitments small. The next review shows them back to you, so write ones you can honestly check.
- PERIOD SIGNALS count the calendar month, quarter or year you are in. A monthly review done on the 3rd sees three days, so do it near the end of the month.
- In "Settings", set "Default altitude" to the Landscape view you look at most, and turn off "Review dials" if you would rather not see the dials and ratings.
Questions
About Compass day to day.
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When is a review due?
Once 7, 30, 90 or 365 days have passed since you last finished that review, or straight away if you have never done one. The count starts from the day you finish, not from the start of a month or quarter, so a review done late moves the next one later too.
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How long does each review take?
Weekly is about 5 minutes over three steps, monthly 15-20 minutes over four, quarterly 30-45 minutes over four, and yearly 60-90 minutes over five. Each row under "REVIEWS" says its length and depth: "quick reset", "systems review", "strategic alignment" or "life direction".
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Do I have to write down what happened by hand?
No. Every review opens on "PERIOD SIGNALS", counted from your other modules for the calendar week, month, quarter or year you are in, plus your active goals and the habits that need attention. Your answers are the part you write.
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What do "aligned", "building" and "gap" mean?
Stated is a life area's share of your active goals. Lived is 60% of this quarter's daily-habit rate in that area plus 40% of its goal tasks finished this quarter. Lived over stated of 0.7 or more reads "aligned", 0.4 or more "building", and anything lower "gap". An area with no goals reads "No goals yet".
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Where do the ratings come from?
Monthly, quarterly and yearly reviews each have one or two steps you rate from 1 to 5, such as "Month quality" and "Goal alignment". "RATINGS" on the Reviews tab shows the mean of each review's ratings over the last 12, once two reviews carry one. The weekly review has no ratings.
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Does the weekly review on Today count?
Yes. Finishing Today's Sunday review saves a completed weekly review, which resets the weekly dial in Compass.
Works with
Where Compass hands off to the rest of HourLife.
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Today
On Sundays, Today shows "Weekly review — ready when you are →", a shorter weekly review that Compass counts as done. Today can also show a "Compass" card.
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Goals
Your North Star goal leads the Landscape, goal deadlines show on Horizon, and stalled goals are flagged under "NEEDS ATTENTION".
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Areas
Landscape compares your goals and habits in each life area and marks the area aligned, building, or a gap.
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Waiting
Things you are waiting for appear on Horizon as they come due, and as stale once they have waited too long.
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Someday
The "Someday / Maybe" specialized review walks through your active someday items.
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Brain
The "Brain Dump Review" processes your Brain inbox, and old unprocessed captures appear on Horizon.
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Decisions
Decisions whose review date has passed appear under "NEEDS ATTENTION" on Horizon.
Read and try
Books from the library that Compass puts into practice, and something to try on paper or in the browser.
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First Things First Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca R. Merrill Covey on the compass over the clock, and on planning each week around what matters. Compass is named for it.
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The 12 Week Year Brian P. Moran, Michael Lennington Moran on treating twelve weeks as a year, with a weekly score. Compass has quarterly reviews for the same rhythm.
Already have HourLife?
Compass is under Reflection in the module list, and it is part of HourLife Premium. "Reviews", "Horizon" and "Landscape" sit under its title, and the ⋯ menu holds "Life Audit" and "Settings". On Sundays Today offers its own weekly review, which Compass counts, and Today can carry a "Compass" card.
Compass is in the Library, under Reflection. If it isn’t there, turn it on in Settings → Look & Feel → Modules. It needs HourLife Premium.
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