Mid-Year Review

Today is the exact middle of 2022.

 July 2 is day 183 meaning 182 days past and 182 remaining in 2022.  That makes this a perfect time to lay the foundation for an amazing second half of the year. 

Finish Your 2022 Strong

Are you where you want to be on your goals and intentions for the year?

What will you do to achieve your plans and dreams for 2022?

1)  Celebrate the first six months.

Start your reflection on an up note. Looking backwards can be a cause for frustration and self-recrimination, especially if you are driven by getting things checked off the list. Be conscious not to slip into focus on things that you haven’t completed or ones that didn’t exactly go as planned, in spite of  best efforts. Instead, focus on the positive. Make a list of all that you have accomplished, large and small. Take 10-15 minutes to write every achievement you can think of from the past six months – from the significant to the tiny.  Identify a few achievements you are most proud to have accomplished. 

All these things add up to progress. A focus on your successes helps you set a winning mindset. 

Challenge

Add to your list as things come to you later in the day or the week. You can also repeat this exercise whenever you feel like you are spinning your wheels and not making progress. Creating a new list – or visiting an old one – can sometimes be just what you need to gain some perspective.

2) Identify your goals

Set your intentions for what you want to achieve for the remainder of the year.  This can be in any area of life – home, work/business, creative pursuits, relationships, exercise goals, learning, or anything else that is important to you. 

If you did an exercise like this at the beginning of the year, you might need to revisit and decide if you want to adjust targets.  Are there items that have already been accomplished or ones that are no longer as pressing or motivating?  Strike them from the list and let them go.  Has something new become a priority? Include goals that have become more relevant to you. 

Tip  

Use SMART goals and break large items into manageable chunks.

  3)  Focus on the destination

Know the target you are aiming to hit but be open to different paths that might take you there.

We are stubborn on the vision, but flexible on the details.

Jeff Bezos, speaking about Amazon

In other words, determine where you want to go but don’t get bogged down worrying about the how.  That will just result in and getting mired in details. Focus on the end goal and what it will mean to you to reach that goal. This applies to small things as well as the big picture. For example, “Finishing this 1000 word writing exercise will get me that much closer to my goal of publishing a book.”

Challenge

Determine what you would be most excited to accomplish by the end of the year and make that your prime focus. Add prompts or specific activities to your calendar.  Draw or write out this priority and post it where you can see it as a reminder and motivation.  Put reminders in your phone.

4) Make a Plan

In keeping with the last point, this is not a to-do list but rather a big picture plan of how you will continue to move forward, especially if you hit an obstacle. Here are a few action steps you can take:

• Make two lists
  
  
  • List 1: Things you want to do MORE (exercise, meditate, spend time with family, create, stop and smell the roses, be bold, speak up, learn something new….)
  • List 2: Things you want to do LESS (social media scrolling, procrastinating, making excuses, being afraid, being reactive instead of proactive, being too busy to play with the kids….)
• Identify things that tend to take you off track and decide in advance what you will do to avoid those temptations.  For example if you tend to get stuck and give up because you don’t know how to finish, decide to just take the next smallest action you can do to move forward – maybe something as small as write one more sentence, or make one phone call.
• Delay giving up immediately, instead tell yourself that you will try for 10 more minutes to work on the problem and THEN take a short break (with the commitment to return directly to work after a set time limit).
• Clear your head. Step outside and take 10 deep breaths or a 10 minute walk / stretch then get right back to work. Get a new perspective and some fresh air and get right back to it.
• Let go. If you make a mistake, identify what you will do differently if the same thing happens again. Make a plan. Move on.

Challenge

Commit to ONE THING

• Do more of one thing that you are doing that is working
• Do one new thing
• Stop doing one thing that doesn’t serve
• Learn one new thing
• Change one thing  in how you manage your time

What is your ONE THING?  (you can always add another one thing later)

5) Create Accountability

Develop a system that will help to keep you on track and make you accountable. Maybe checklists or planner apps work well for you.  Evidence shows that most of us can accomplish more when we don’t keep our goals and plans to ourselves. Telling someone else can give you an extra incentive to continue and might be a source of encouragement if you falter.

Consider an accountability partner – or partners. Finding someone else with similar aspirations or challenges can also provide a sounding board to discuss new ideas or strategies and can make it more fun along the way, especially on the days when it is a struggle to continue.

Challenge

Set up an accountability system that will keep you going – a large wall calendar marking the dates, a friend who will meet you for a walk every morning, a Facebook group where others are on the same journey, an Instagram challenge to post a picture a day of what you have done towards your goal(s). It has to be personal and it has to be something that will consistently motivate you but other than that, how and what you track is up to you.

What is your next step?

What will you do today to prepare for a fabulous end to 2022?