We love celebrating the beginning of things, like the New Year, a new job, a new venture. We also tend to go into reflection mode when things come to an end, such as when closing a life chapter, while reviewing one’s work at the end of each year, or during project evaluations. But what about things that are half way through?
The end of June has always been a time that I look forward to. The end of the scholastic year, the beginning of summer with its related activities, and a time to adopt a calmer pace perhaps. It is also the time when my husband and I celebrate our wedding anniversary. We usually take some time away and enjoy a bit of a breather. This year was no exception, but obviously we had to work with the limitations of the current situation and with what felt safe. Well…a couple of days spent differently are always welcome 🙂
Reassessing my direction
For me, this short break also serves another purpose. Since it happens to come around the end of June, it marks a mid-year point which I like to utilize to reflect on the first six months of the year, assess how things are going and make adjustments when things are no longer working. I see it as on opportunity to reconsider my earlier intentions, check where I am now, and re-tweak my plans to where I am heading.
It is incredible how little we stop and reflect. For some, the pandemic offered an opportunity to slow down and seriously think about things. And that is excellent. Those who still struggled to do so might find this time of year ideal to re-evaluate things. Such mid-year reflection does not require anything fancy. Just block some time out (ask others to help you minimise distractions), find somewhere quiet, turn your phone off to avoid interruptions, prepare some coffee or tea, and simply reassess things.
The following simple starting points might be helpful if such exercise feels somewhat overwhelming (These could be applied to aspects like your career, health, fitness, family, business, relationships, self-growth, faith, etc.)
Step 1 – The positive things
What went well? What worked? What are you grateful for? What made you happy? Who left a positive impact on you?
Step 2 – Growth and Accomplishments
What did you learn? What did you discover about yourself? What new skills did you learn? What did you accomplish? What goals did you reach? Did you celebrate any of these?
Step 3 – Challenges
Are you happy with where life is heading? What is not working? What is not feeling good or right? What is draining your energy? What is causing you a lot of stress? How are you allocating your time?
Step 4 – Goals
What would you like to learn? What would you like to focus on? What is your vision for the next six months? What would you like to see more of? What would you like to introduce?
You might find remarkable value in assessing your progress to date, as well as, in planning the coming months. And since nothing is written in stone, you could always change your mind, reset, refocus and repeat this exercise as often as you need to. This is just a little gift of time that you could give yourself at the 6-month marker during the year.
Hope this inspires you! 🙂
Christine x
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