July officially marks the transition into the 2nd half of the year, which also makes it the perfect time to assess how things are going with the goals you set back in January. How are things going with those, by the way? In this article, you’ll explore how to conduct a mid-year review, and how setting aside time for this important task can help you crush your goals and intentions.
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What is a Mid-Year Review?
A mid-year review is a self-assessment that helps determine if you’re on track with the goals you set back at the beginning of the year.
It’s an opportunity to examine how things are going with your goals, whether or not you’re on the right path, and if your daily habits are aligned with your intentions.
Sometimes a mid-year review can reveal that you need to change your goals. Let’s face it, priorities change and life circumstances change. Learning to play the violin might not be as important as it was before an unexpected illness or change in employment status occurred. It’s perfectly okay to change your goals. In fact, in many cases it’s the best thing you can do.
And sometimes a mid-year review can reveal that you simply need to adjust your habits. If the goals you set back in January are still relevant and important, but you’re no closer to achieving them than you were then, it may be time for a habit reset.
A Mid-year review can offer helpful insights about why you might not be making the progress you’d hoped for, and this information can help make a prompt course-correction.
Below you’ll find a simple process for conducting a mid-year review and annual reviews. That process includes reflecting, releasing, realigning, and redesigning.
Here’s an overview:
1. Reflect
The first step in the mid-year review process is to reflect on how things have been going during the first half of the year.
What progress have you made on your goals? Where are you on the path to achieving them? What unexpected blessings did you experience along the way?
Here are some tips to help you reflect:
Carve Out Time
Schedule time on your calendar in advance, to ensure you have plenty of time complete your review. A couple of hours should be sufficient, but you can always buffer in more time to avoid feeling rushed. Alternatively, you could also complete each of these four steps on different days if that works better for you.
Create Space
Choose a location that’s free of distractions, so you can focus your full attention on the review process. Be sure to consider where you generally do your best work. For example, do you prefer total silence or do you need a little background music? Do you love being outside in nature or would you feel more comfortable indoors where there’s air conditioning?
Be Honest
For the best outcomes, be honest about how things are going. If you haven’t invested much energy into your goals, now is the time to fess up. Your mid-year review might just prompt you to make the necessary changes to redirect your efforts and get back on track. Being honest will also help you make decisions about how to move forward.
2. Release
Once you’ve finished reflecting on the first half of the year, it’s time to move into the next phase of the review process: releasing what’s no longer important or relevant.
While you may associate clutter with physical possessions, goals can also create clutter. And staring at a list of goals that you feel completely disconnected from can make you feel bad when you don’t achieve them. The truth is, sometimes you might ignore or put off goals because they aren’t the right goals. If you really want to crush your goals, you might need to cut some loose. Besides, releasing goal clutter frees up space for you to focus on what’s more important.
Here are some tips to help you release what’s no longer serving you:
Review Your Goals
Pull out the list of goals you outlined back in January and reassess each one. As you move through the list, ask yourself these questions: Which goals are still relevant to your life right now? Which of your goals are no longer important? Which intentions no longer apply? And which goals have you been putting off or ignoring?
Review Your Theme Word(s)
How about that theme word you chose for the year? Does it still feel right? Does it still reflect how you want to feel? Or do you need to change your theme words as well? If you use the Lifestyle Design Planner, you can also add your theme words here.
Once you’ve identified which goals or themes are no longer relevant or important, there are a few things you can do with them. One is to release them altogether–cross them off your list, toss them into the circular file, bid them farewell. And the other is to place them in what I call the “goal parking lot.”
3. Realign
Now that your list of intentions is free of irrelevant goals, you have space to realign with your values, personal brand, and desires. These elements fall within the Luminescent Dimension of Self-Care, and when used properly they can become trusty decision-making guides.
Here are some tips to use the mid-year review process to get realigned with what’s most important:
Realign with Your Values
Your values are the things you cherish the most. They can include people, beliefs, or even things in some cases. When you value something, you’re more likely to invest resources there. The easiest way to identify your values is to pinpoint where you spend your money, time, and attention. Wherever you invest energy, you’ll likely find your values. (Side note: if you use The Lifestyle Design Planner, you can review your values on page16.)
Realign with Your Personal Brand
Your personal brand is a blend of your identity and your reputation. And it serves as a compass when get lost along your way. Your personal brand helps ensure that you’re saying ‘yes’ to the things that are important to you, and ‘no’ to the things that aren’t. It also helps you return to what’s most important when you get distracted or overwhelmed.
Realign with Your Desires
To get realigned with what’s most important, you need to get reconnected with your desires. What do you desire most? Why do you get up in the morning and do what you do to earn an income? What kind of life are you actively creating for yourself and your family? Your desires are the reasons behind your goals. And they can also be a big source of motivation. Realignment is a critical step in the mid-year review process. Being in alignment ensures that you’re focusing your attention on the right things, so you get the results you want.
4. Redesign
Once you realign with your values, personal brand, and desires, it’s time to examine your day-to-day habits. Are your habits supporting or sabotaging your goals?
Even the smallest decisions you make day after day can translate into big results. How are you spending your time? Are your daily routines leading you toward or away from your goals? If your habits aren’t moving you closer to the lifestyle you want to create? If not, then you’ll need to make some changes.
LivingUpp’s 8 Dimensions of Self-Care framework helps you identify and prioritize which areas of your life need the most attention. And that means you can choose specific self-care strategies that support them.
Here are some tips to help you redesign your habits:
Establish Daily Self-Care Rituals
Daily self-care rituals are targeted acts of self-care that support one or more of the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care. Over time, your daily habits can render big results, so it’s important that they’re moving you in the direction you want to go. (After all, 14 jelly donuts a day also renders big results.) If you’re just getting started with self-care, or feel overwhelmed by the idea of changing your habits, start small and focus on tiny acts of self-care. A solid self-care plan can help you absolutely crush your goals.
Rate Your 8
The Rate Your 8 self-assessment tool is designed to help you easily identify which areas of your life need the most attention at any given time. By integrating the Rate Your 8 tool into your morning practice, you’ll be able to choose specific self-care strategies on a daily basis that address your greatest needs.
Keep Moving Forward
Knowing which dimension of your life needs attention is a good start, but knowing what to do with that information is the key to moving forward and getting results. When it comes to the lifestyle design process, understanding which self-care strategies match your stage can propel you forward and help you regain your momentum more quickly. In order to crush your goals, the best approach is to keep moving forward.
Is it time for a reset?
It’s easy to lose sight of your goals when life gets busy. That’s why it’s important to reassess your status on a regular basis. By carving out time to conduct a mid-year review, you’ll be able to make the necessary course-corrections to get back on track and crush your goals.
Information on this website should not be interpreted as providing or replacing medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All content is intended for adults over the age of 18. LivingUpp is a participant in affiliate programs, which means we may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases on links to Amazon and other sites at no additional cost to you.