Ron Shaich uses an annual framework to set multi-year life priorities.
Ron Shaich · Panera Founder Ron Shaich · Nov 11, 2025 · at 3:09
Panera Bread founder Ron Shaich describes his long-running personal audit process designed to avoid end-of-life regrets by proactively tracking commitments across work, family, and health.
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“And ever since, I began on an annual basis sitting down and saying, what is it in five years, in 10 years, I'm going to respect in the context of my relationships with my work, My relationships with my family and friends, my relationships with my body, and my own relationships with my own spirituality, and so that process of defining what I'll respect is where I began, and I would then basically codify those initiatives, those things I was trying to accomplish. I'd codify them Into projects and then literally sit down with myself once a quarter and say, how am I doing? Am I actually full of baloney or not? Am I actually getting done what I signed up to do?”
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