Happy July!
We’re half way through the year. If you’re like most people (including myself at times) you dreamed of how this year would be different. You set amazing New Year’s Resolutions. You imagined how life would be different once you’ve accomplished your wildest dreams. You got off to an awesome start. You did your crunches, tracked your spending, studied your craft. And then you fell off. Completely. You told yourself you’d start back up again. “On Sunday I’m starting my diet again.” “Next week I’ll finish that project.” But somehow you just couldn’t manage to turn things back around. Soon you forget you were even working towards anything at all.
And then the process gets repeated the next year.
The new year is always a good time to reevaluate your life, your dreams, and map out how to get there. At the same time, any time is a good time to reevaluate your life, dreams, and how to get there. With six months left in the year here are 4 steps to help you end the year with a bang.
1. Reflect – Reflection is the precursor to self improvement. You have to know where you are, what led you there, and where you want to be. Once you have this basic understanding you’ll know what the gap between where you are and where you want to be looks like. You can then develop strategies to close that gap.
Ask yourself these questions to help with your reflection:
– What has worked well for me in the first 6 months of the year? Why?
– What has not worked so well for me in the first 6 months of the year? Why not?
– Where do I want to be?
– Where am I now?
2. Decide – After you’ve reflected on your current situation it’s time to decide what you really want to achieve in the next 6 months of year. In the last step you answered the question “Where do I want to be?” The answer to this question will help you in this step.
For example, let’s say you want to further your education and get a Master’s degree. You probably can’t get a Master’s degree in the next six months unless you already have some credits. So, instead you might decide your goal for the remainder of the year is to research and apply to various degree programs and to apply for financial aid.
3. Plan – “Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail”
You’ll need to establish a plan in advance. When we leave things up to chance chances are they won’t end up how we intended. If your goal is to lose weight, schedule your workout days on the calendar. Go ahead and do this for the next six months. Plan your meal strategy. Yes, you need a meal strategy. What types of food are you going to eat? How often? What’s your strategy for eating out with friends? When you plan in advance how you will handle certain things it’s easier to accomplish your goals. You don’t have to think about what to do next or what to eat. You already know, because you have a plan in place.
4. Act & Commit – Now it’s time to implement your plan. Follow through with your plan and when you fall off don’t stay off. Get back on. Stay committed to your plan.
There you have it. Follow these steps and watch your next six months end up better than your first six months of the year.
Need additional help? Get the Transform Your Year Planner – Six Month Edition