Aull About U, LLC

Mid-Year Review

Posted on July 1, 2016

“Happiness is not a goal…it’s a by-product of a life well lived.”
~Eleanor Roosevelt

It’s the middle of the year, are you on target to achieve the goals you set earlier this year?

Now is a great time to step back and analysis the progress you are, or are not, making with your goals.  Use the below looking-back and looking-forward questions to identify how you want to spend the second half of your year.

Looking-Back Questions:

• Key Accomplishments
  • What are all of the great things that I got done over the past six months?
  • What goals did I achieve?
  • What things am I most proud of accomplishing?
  • Which of my goals did I really miss the mark on?
• Learning
  • What opportunities to learn new things did I take advantage of?
  • What were the things I learned most?  
  • What mistakes did I make and what did I learn from them?
• Time Management
  • How well did I manage my time?
  • Have I been focusing my time on the most important things in my life?
  • Are there any significant “time wasters” that I need to reduce or eliminate from my life? 

Looking-Forward Questions:

• Top Three Goals
  • What are my top three goals for the remainder of the year?
  • Why are those goals important to me?
  • What habits and processes do I need to adopt to support those goals?
• Learning and Knowledge
  • What areas of learning do I most need to focus on?
  • What new skills do I need to develop or strengthen?
  • What things do I need to “keep current” on?
  • What one skill, if mastered, would have the greatest impact on the achievement of my goals?
• Habits
  • What time management habits do I need to develop and strengthen?
  • What three habits, if developed and sustained, would have the greatest positive impact
    on my life? 
  • What habits do I need to drop or replace?
    

Taking time to check in with your goal status provides you an opportunity to celebrate your accomplishments and regroup where needed.

If you are having challenges with meeting your goals taking time explore why, how, and where will help you create an action plan to overcome your obstacles.  Methods to overcome hurdles:

Recognize	Step back from the situation to get a better perspective. Taking obstacles personally may cloud your judgment; try to understand how you usually interpret difficulties. Avoid blaming others or making excuses, try to define the problem clearly. Be honest about what has happened – ignoring or downplaying the obstacle may only intensify its impact.
Reaffirm	Although your plan may not have worked out as you had intended, maintain a positive outlook and channel any negative reactions into productive behaviors. Avoid making self-defeating assumptions about your abilities. Control your initial response to obstacles by challenging pessimistic beliefs and focusing on your successes. One failure doesn’t mean your goal is no longer valid or possible.
Refocus	Learn from your mistake or oversight to prevent repeating it in the future. Brainstorm ideas with colleagues to find an alternative solution. When brainstorming ideas, start by focusing on one clearly defined problem. Then identify strategies or tactics that have worked in the past, and adapt them to your current situation. Change some of your goals if needed. Changing some aspects of your goal is better than abandoning it altogether.
Resume	Apply your new plan of action by focusing on factors you can control. Explore factors that are out of your control but which you can influence.

Taking time to be mindful with your goal pursuit will give them a more gentle, realistic, and achievable tone.  Find a quiet place to sit, take a few deep breaths, relax, and visualize what it
will be like when you achieve your goals. Imagine what it will feel like to be in this space of accomplishment.

“I’ve always found that anything worth achieving will alw
ays have obstacles in the way and you’ve got to have that drive and determination to overcome those obstacles on route to whatever it is that you want to accomplish”. ~ Chuck Norris