Even when you are intentional about your time, it still seems to fly by. Here we are at mid-year already!
Many of my clients are celebrating significant wins: one earned her PhD, another tripled the size of her team, a couple more held their first keynote presentations or retreats. I recently shared on Instagram some decisions I’ve made regarding my goals, too. Exciting times for many!
And while we all certainly have some wins to celebrate, many of us are still in what I call the “seed planting” phase with our 2017 goals. We’ve aimed high and continue to make progress, but the rewards might still not be visible. We often feel like the tortoise when we want to be the hare, right?
Mid-year, then, offers a ripe opportunity to take stock. Rather than waiting until December to decide if you’ve lived and worked the way you wanted, assess it now while you can still course-correct if necessary.
I’ve been sharing a mid-year review process with many of my coaching clients, and I’d like to offer some of that to you as well. I encourage you to take yourself on a solo date, somewhere peaceful and outside of your usual surroundings, and spend a few hours in reflection, visioning, and planning mode.
If you can free-write and assess using your own tools, go for it! If you’d like help, start by clicking here for my year-end review, complete with 21 questions to ask yourself. If you find areas you’d like to upscale before year-end (which, let’s face it, will be here before we know it!), make plans now to do so.
Then, for a deeper dive, ask yourself the following seven questions:
If I knew you only from your bank statements and calendar, what would I assume are your priorities? How accurate would I be? What unexpected wins have you experienced? Since they were unplanned, what led to them? (For example, being open to possibility, leaning into fear, trying new things, adopting a growth mindset…) Where do you feel behind? With 100% honesty, what are the primary reasons? (For example, lost interest in a particular goal, major change in life circumstances, excuses…) Look at each of your goals, one at a time. With each, close your eyes, take a deep meditative breath, and ask yourself what it will feel like when you’ve accomplished it. Capture your thoughts on paper. Conversely, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and for each goal ask yourself how it would feel to let it go or postpone it a year. Pay attention to your body’s responses, noting those in your journal as well. Look at your summer months ahead, taking into consideration any vacations, visiting guests, events, and so forth. Realistically, what progress do you envision making on your goals during this time, while still being present in the moment? Set one or a couple of 90-day milestones and focus on those rather than letting the overall end result prompt you to procrastinate. What completely new, out-of-the-ordinary strategy, technique, or experience can you implement? For example, I recently experienced my first ‘gong bath’ – totally out of my norm and comfort zone, yet it turned out to be one of the most powerful meditative experiences I’ve ever had. Is it a meditation course for you? Ziplining? A staycation, exploring new sites in your own town? A vacation somewhere brand new
