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Traits · Life Design · HourLife Premium

Name how you are wired, then check it again every quarter.

List your strengths, weaknesses, and the traits you are developing, rate each from 1 to 5, and reassess them every quarter.

  • Strength, weakness or developingEach trait carries one of three types, a category such as Skill or Character, a life area, and how sure you are of it, from “Certain” to “Exploring”.
  • A rating from 1 to 5Every level is spelled out, from “Just starting — little experience” to “Exceptional — a defining strength”, so a 3 means the same thing next quarter.
  • Four steps a quarter“Quarterly Assessment” asks you to re-rate, reclassify, add and archive, then shows what changed. Each rating you replace there joins the trait’s “RATING HISTORY”.
HourLife Traits: Strengths, weaknesses, and developing traits such as “Deep focus” and “Sleep consistency”, each with rating dots and a life area.
Strengths, weaknesses, and developing traits such as “Deep focus” and “Sleep consistency”, each with rating dots and a life area.

Your first trait

  1. Tap “+”

    Name it under “TRAIT”, such as “Deep focus” or “Delegating earlier”, and choose its “TYPE” and “CATEGORY”.

  2. Pick a self-rating

    Tap 1 to 5 under “SELF-RATING”. The line under the circles says what that level means, such as “Competent — solid working level”.

  3. Add what backs it, and tap “Save”

    A description, the “EVIDENCE” you are going on, how sure you are, and a life area, goal, habit or identity under “LINK TO (OPTIONAL)”. All of them are optional.

Every step, in detail
  1. 1 Tap "+" and name the trait under "TRAIT", such as "Deep focus" or "Delegating earlier".
  2. 2 Choose its "TYPE" ("Strength", "Weakness", or "Developing") and its "CATEGORY" ("Skill", "Character", "Knowledge", or "Physical").
  3. 3 Pick a "SELF-RATING" from 1 to 5. Each level is described, from "Just starting" to "Exceptional".
  4. 4 Add a description and evidence if you have them, link a life area, goal, habit, or identity, and tap "Save".
HourLife Traits: “New Trait” with its type, category, and the 1 to 5 self-rating, with “Competent — solid working level” under the circles.
“New Trait” with its type, category, and the 1 to 5 self-rating, with “Competent — solid working level” under the circles.

Every trait, and where it sits

The list filters by type and opens each trait’s page. Below it, every trait is set on the same 1 to 5 scale, so you can see where your strengths stop and your edges start.

Sample · eight traits, last assessed July 3, 2026

Traits

Know your strengths. Grow your edges.

DevelopingSkillCraft

Strategic speaking

Practice concise updates and sharper framing in meetings.

Exploring · Assessed 3 months, 2 weeks ago

SELF-RATING

3/5

Competent — solid working level

LINKED IDENTITY

I am someone who says the hard thing clearly.

RATING HISTORY

  • April 4, 20262/5
  • January 5, 20263/5
  • April 2, 20251/5

The portrait

  • Deep focus
  • Clear writing
  • Listening under pressure
  • Strategic speaking
  • Recovery discipline
  • Sleep consistency
  • Delegating earlier
  • Financial forecasting
  • Certain · Well-established self-knowledge
  • Probable · Fairly sure about this
  • Exploring · Still figuring this out

The app has no such chart: it is the list read sideways. Every strength sits at 3 or above and every weakness at 2, while both developing traits are at Competent, which is where a trait usually waits before you call it a strength.

Quarterly Assessment, step by step

Four steps, then a summary. Change a rating, move a type, add a trait and archive one, then tap Complete and see exactly what the app writes, and what it does not.

Sample · the eight traits on October 20, 2026

Quarterly Assessment

Update Your RatingsRevisit each trait and update your self-assessment from 1 to 5.

  • Deep focus

    4/5

  • Clear writing

    4/5

  • Listening under pressure

    3/5

  • Sleep consistency

    2/5

  • Delegating earlier

    2/5

  • Financial forecasting

    2/5

  • Strategic speaking

    3/5

  • Recovery discipline

    3/5

What the app has written

SO FAR

Nothing. Ratings, types and archives wait for Complete. Only a trait you add in step 3 is saved straight away.

HourLife Traits: The first assessment step, “Update Your Ratings”, with each trait’s current 1 to 5 rating.
The first assessment step, “Update Your Ratings”, with each trait’s current 1 to 5 rating.
HourLife Traits: The second step, “Reclassify Traits”, with Strength, Weakness, and Developing for each trait.
The second step, “Reclassify Traits”, with Strength, Weakness, and Developing for each trait.
HourLife Traits: The third step, “Discover New Traits”, with the name, type, category, and rating of a trait to add.
The third step, “Discover New Traits”, with the name, type, category, and rating of a trait to add.
HourLife Traits: The last step, “Archive Irrelevant Traits”, with each trait and its category, ready to tap.
The last step, “Archive Irrelevant Traits”, with each trait and its category, ready to tap.

What RATING HISTORY keeps

Each time an assessment changes a rating, the app keeps the rating it replaced, dated that day. A change made with Edit keeps nothing, and the rating you hold now is not in the list.

Sample · Strategic speaking, January 2025 to today

Strategic speaking’s rating from January 2025: added at 1, raised to 2 in the April 2025 assessment, to 3 with Edit in August 2025, lowered to 2 in January 2026 and raised to 3 in April 2026, where it stays. The list beside the chart says the same. 1 2 3 4 5 row: 1/5 Edit · no row row: 3/5 row: 2/5 today · 3/5, in no row Jan 2025 Jul Jan 2026 Jul dashed lines: the six assessments
  • Rating
  • Changed with Edit
  • A RATING HISTORY row

On the trait’s page

RATING HISTORY

  • April 4, 20262/5
  • January 5, 20263/5
  • April 2, 20251/5

HOW TO READ IT

  • “April 4, 2026 · 2/5” means the April assessment replaced a 2. The 3 it set is the rating on the page, not a row.
  • “January 5, 2026 · 3/5” replaced the 3 that Edit set in August, which left no row of its own.
  • The July 2025, October 2025 and July 2026 assessments left the rating alone, so they wrote nothing here. They only reset “Assessed”.
HourLife Traits: “Sleep consistency”, a Physical weakness in Health marked “Certain”, at 2 out of 5.
“Sleep consistency”, a Physical weakness in Health marked “Certain”, at 2 out of 5.

Insights, tab by tab

“Insights” in the ⋯ menu counts what the list holds, checks it against your goals and habits, and says when you last assessed.

Sample · the eight traits, seven active goals and thirteen habits

BY TYPE

8traits2.9avg rating

  • 3 Strengths
  • 2 Developing
  • 3 Weaknesses

BY CATEGORY

  • Skill2
  • Character3
  • Knowledge1
  • Physical2

LIFE AREA COVERAGE

  • Craft 4 traits
  • Health 2 traits
  • Wealth 1 trait
  • Relationships 1 trait
  • Family no traits
  • Mind no traits
  • Learning no traits

Here the areas are sorted by count, with Family, Mind and Learning under GAPS. The app lists covered areas in no fixed order, so yours may move between visits.

HourLife Traits: Insights’ “Overview” tab, with traits by type, by category, and by life area, and the areas with none under “GAPS”.
Insights’ “Overview” tab, with traits by type, by category, and by life area, and the areas with none under “GAPS”.
HourLife Traits: The “Alignment” tab, with the share of active goals linked to a trait and the goals that have none.
The “Alignment” tab, with the share of active goals linked to a trait and the goals that have none.

Traits Settings, and the Today card

Switch parts of the card off and watch the preview change, or pick what a new trait starts as. Settings are kept per device.

Sample · the eight traits, recommended defaults

SNAPSHOT

8Total
3Strengths
2Developing
3Weaknesses

PREVIEW

How trait cards will look

Analytical thinkingWork Strengthexploring

DISPLAY

  • Tab preselected when opening Traits
  • Show Strength / Weakness / Developing tag on each card
  • Show the 1-to-5 level indicators in trait cards
  • Show linked life area pill when present
  • Show confidence marker for traits still being explored

DEFAULTS

  • Preselected in the New Trait sheet
  • Skill, Character, Knowledge, or Physical
  • Initial certainty level for new traits

What changes

OPENING TRAITS

The list opens on All, showing all eight traits.

TAPPING +

New Trait starts as a Strength, in Skill, marked Probable, at 3 out of 5.

The rating always starts at 3. Save on a type the open filter hides and the list switches to All so the new trait shows.

On Today

Traits8 active · 3 strengths

The Traits card is off until you turn it on in Today’s card settings. It counts active traits and strengths, and opens Traits.

HourLife Traits: “Traits Settings”, with the SNAPSHOT counts, a preview card, and the Display switches.
“Traits Settings”, with the SNAPSHOT counts, a preview card, and the Display switches.

Tips

  • Keep weaknesses specific, like "Delegating earlier", so you can tell when one has moved to "Developing".
  • Change ratings in the quarterly assessment rather than with "Edit". Only the assessment keeps the rating you replace, so the history tells the story of each trait.
  • Traits does not remind you to reassess. When you finish an assessment, add a task for the first week of next quarter.
  • Write "EVIDENCE" as something you could point to, like "Shipped the sync rewrite in three protected mornings", so next quarter's rating has something to stand on.
  • In "Traits Settings", set a "Default home filter" if you mostly work on one type.

Questions

About Traits day to day.

  • Does Traits remind me to run the quarterly assessment?

    No. Open it from the ⋯ menu whenever you like. Insights shows when you last ran it under “ASSESSMENT STATUS”, or “Never assessed”.

  • What does “RATING HISTORY” show?

    The ratings you replaced in an assessment, newest first, each dated the day you changed it. The rating you hold now is the one under “SELF-RATING”, not in the list.

  • Does changing a rating with Edit go into the history?

    No. Only ratings changed in “Quarterly Assessment” are kept. Changing a trait’s type, in the assessment or with Edit, is not recorded either.

  • If I add a trait during the assessment and then cancel, is it kept?

    Yes. “Add Trait” in the “Discover New Traits” step saves it straight away, so it stays in your list even if you cancel the rest. Archive or delete it from its page if you change your mind.

  • What is the difference between archiving and deleting?

    An archived trait leaves your list and the assessment, and “Archived” in the ⋯ menu brings it back. Delete removes it for good, and its page offers “Archive instead”.

  • Does it sync between my devices?

    Your traits sync through iCloud with the rest of HourLife. What Traits Settings shows on cards, its defaults, and the date of your last assessment are kept per device.

Works with

Where Traits hands off to the rest of HourLife.

  • Goals

    A trait can be linked to goals, and Insights shows what share of your active goals have a linked trait.

  • Habits

    A trait can be linked to habits, shown under "LINKED HABITS", and Insights lists habits with no trait.

  • Values

    A trait can be linked to one of your identities, shown under "LINKED IDENTITY".

  • Areas

    Each trait can carry a life area, and Insights shows which areas have no traits.

  • Today

    The Traits card on Today, off until you turn it on, shows how many active traits you have and how many are strengths, and opens Traits.

Read and try

Books from the library that Traits puts into practice, and something to try on paper or in the browser.

Already have HourLife?

Traits is under Life Design in the module list, and it is part of HourLife Premium. The “+” opens “New Trait”; the ⋯ menu holds “Insights”, “Quarterly Assessment”, “Archived” and “Settings”.

Traits is in the Library, under Life Design. If it isn’t there, turn it on in Settings → Look & Feel → Modules. It needs HourLife Premium.

What would you like to know?

Ask a question about this feature or tell us what’s missing.

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Try Traits in HourLife.

HourLife is free to download. Traits comes with HourLife Premium.

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