How To Do A Mid Year Reset
I don’t know about you, but every newsletter I subscribe to started this month with, “Can you believe it’s July?!” I have to admit that I share the same surprise. At the start of 2021, I was so sure that this year would be THE year to make up for 2020. Now that we are halfway through, I cannot express how wrong I was. Even though the world outside is still up in the air, that doesn’t mean that I can’t continue to work towards the personal goals I set. As I start a new bullet journal, I wanted to do a mid-year rest on my goals. Here are the steps if you are also looking for a pickup/back on track/reset as we go into July.
Look Back to January
What goals did you make at the beginning of the year? I am a big believer in giving yourself tangible things to work towards. At the start of 2021, I made five resolutions/goals for the year:
Read 21 books
Do a 30-day challenge every month
Keep a sense of adventure
Be able to do splits
Engage more online
Just looking at that list, I can say that I am accomplishing 3/5 so far. I have already read thirteen books, so I am ahead of my 21 book goal. I’ve done a 30-day challenge every month and tried to keep a sense of adventure - even when in lockdown. When you look at your list, are there items you have already accomplished or are on track to achieve? If so, congratulations! When it comes to the other things, there is no shame. Life happens! Let’s look at the list of the items that you haven’t accomplished.
If you didn’t set any goals six months ago, then think about things that you had a passing thought about accomplishing by this point. Just because you didn’t write it down doesn’t mean it’s not real.
Ask Why
If I look back at the original list of items, I have fallen short on splits and engaging online. The main question is why? Again no shame here! This is not supposed to be a beat yourself up session. Take this time to reflect and ask yourself what else got in the way. When it came to the splits, I frankly never prioritized them. I worked out loads but never focused on working towards my goal to do splits. As for engaging online, I was doing great at the beginning of the year. Every morning with my cup of coffee, I would sit on my sofa and spend ten minutes engaging with my followers, ten minutes responding to those who engaged with me, and ten minutes commenting on posts that were under the hashtags I follow. It was an excellent method. However, once I got Bourbon at the end of February, it went out the window. I woke up and went into immediate dog mom mode. Even now, as soon as I wake up, I feed him and change to take him out. Not a lot of time for engaging. “What about when you come home”? You might ask. The truth is I’ve forgotten the importance of genuinely engaging and growing my community. Just like a garden, it’s essential to take time and nurture your little corner of the internet if you want it to grow.
When you reflect on your goals that missed the mark, think internally. For example, if your kids are doing home school right now and your partner is working from home, it’s probably tough to find time to do that goal you had in mind. Again, the key is to look internally. Yes, your environment was a factor, but what else? That’s the question to keep in mind.
Assess Going Forward
As you continue to look forward, it’s also essential to look at the seven main areas of life. If one area of life is off, then there is a strong chance that you will fill that in other areas of your life as well. The seven areas to examine are:
Relationships
Spirit
Education
Adventure
Fitness
Finance
Career
Even if you didn’t set a goal in one of these areas, ask yourself, how do you feel about it? If you feel off in any way, ask yourself why that is. Then take your answer and begin to think about how to get back on track in that area. On the other hand, if you feel great about your finance or fitness, again ask yourself why. This inner questioning will illuminate steps you can implement in the areas that you want to expand on.
Think BIG for 2021
Looking into the rest of the year, what would your perfect second half of 2021 look like? Think big here! What are the goals that your would love to hit in the next act of the year? Again, it’s essential to focus on things that you can control here. For example, while I would love to hit 1,000 followers on my Instagram with all of them engaging daily, I can’t control that. All I can control is how much I post and what type of content I am offering up.
Next, pair each goal up with a motive? Why do you want to obtain that thing? In the example of me growing 1000 followers, my rationale for posting every day is to tell my story and continue to build a bridge between different cultures. Your motive can be as altruistic or inward-looking as you want. The point here is to make a genuine motive for yourself.
Create Steps
Next is implementing a routine to make it all a reality. Think about a daily/weekly/bi-weekly practice that you can set in place to work towards your goals. These are the small tasks that equal your big goal. For example, looking back at my original list, since I want to do the splits, I should implement a daily practice of stretching to achieve that. I also want to engage online more; therefore, I can set up a weekly day to interact with my online community. Setting realistic routines and small tasks can break down these larger goals into manageable areas.
I can not say enough good things about getting an accountability partner as well. Your accountability partner can be a close friend, sibling, or even your therapist. The role of an accountability partner is to know what your goals are, know what your small tasks are to achieving that goal, and keep you honest about them. My accountability partner is my sister Kandace. She is incredible at giving me tough love when I need it and cheering me on when I have significant accomplishments. Finding someone to share your journey with will keep you on track and make the whole process more enjoyable.
A photo from the last time I saw my sister May 2020
Get Organized
Do you love a calendar app? Perhaps you are like me and live by your bullet journal. Whatever your method is, ensure that you have a centralized location to write out your goals and tasks and track all the progress you are making along the way. I began bullet journaling last year simply because I could not find a planner that had the things I wanted in it. Since adopting a bullet journal, my days are more laid out, and I can keep track of the essential things. Find your method and genuinely use it. If you don’t have anything that comes to mind, see if there is a way that you can reconfigure a site you already use, i.e., wall calendar, Google drive, the Notes app on your phone, etc. You are going to be more likely to use a resource you already know. Check out my post Getting Organized in 2021 for all the tools that I use and how they can benefit you.
So bring on Part II of 2021! Whatever your goals are, know that you ARE worthy of achieving them. If you ever need a cheerleader for anything big or small, know that I am here for and Magnolia On The Move is your resting place.
