Apply the Stoic audit in annual reviews

When This Fires

• During annual review, after completing the calendar scan (Annual review phase 1) and before setting next year's direction
• When annual reviews feel productive but empty — lots of metrics, no meaning
• When you want to evaluate the year on human terms rather than productivity terms
• Complements Annual review phase 1 (calendar scan) with the evaluative dimension that data alone can't provide

Common Failure Mode

Productivity-only annual review: listing accomplishments, counting publications, tallying milestones. This produces a resume update, not self-knowledge. The Stoic audit asks the question the resume can't answer: "Was this a good year to have lived?"

The Protocol

(1) After completing the calendar scan (Annual review phase 1) and before setting goals, ask: "Did I live well this year?" (2) Evaluate along your personal values dimensions, not universal metrics. If you value: Integrity → "Did my actions match my stated principles?" Connection → "Did I invest in the relationships that matter most?" Growth → "Did I push my understanding and skills into uncomfortable territory?" Contribution → "Did my work help people beyond myself?" Presence → "Did I experience my life rather than just managing it?" (3) For each value where the answer is "no" or "partly," identify the specific gap: what behavior would have been different if you'd lived in full alignment? (4) These gaps — not productivity metrics — should inform next year's strategic direction (Write a one-paragraph quarterly thesis). (5) A year can be low-output and well-lived, or high-output and poorly-lived. The Stoic audit distinguishes the two.