The Mid-point: 5 Reasons to Stop and Look Back Over Your Year Now

As the month of June comes to a close, I realize that almost half the year is gone.  As Michael Altshuler says, "The bad news is TIME flies.  The good news is you're the pilot."

So the question is, how will you navigate the remaining 6 months of the year?

This is a good time to pause and reflect on the first half of the year, and chart your course for the second half.

To live an intentional life, one where you deliberately create the life you envision takes planning.  Making time to realign with your vision for your life provides an opportunity to assess, where you're been, where you are now, and then you get to decide where you are headed.


Why is this important?  Let me share with you the 5-C's:  the key reasons why it's worth your time to pause and reflect now, instead of waiting until the end of the year.


1.  Celebrate.  We often set goals and when we meet them, we're off and running to the next one without taking a moment to celebrate what we've just accomplished (sound familiar?).  Checking in mid-year allows you to honor and acknowledge the successes you have had so far, both big and small.  Make a list of all the things you can think of and then go back and review your calendar to add things to the list you may have forgotten.  It may surprise you how much you've already done.  Cheers!

2.  Clarity.  When life is busy it's sometimes hard to see the forest for the trees.  You may not remember why you're doing what you're doing because you're stuck in the busyness.  Making space and time to step out of the busyness allows you to see things more clearly.  It gives you an aerial view; you get to see the bigger picture and remember your why for your life.  Being clear on your vision for your life makes it so much easier to make decisions by asking, "does this align with my vision or not?"

3.  Core Beliefs.  We all have a set of core beliefs that determine the rules we live by.  Sometimes we're aware of them, sometimes we're not.  Assessing the year at mid-point allows you to ask, "Are the choices I'm making, aligned with the life I say I want?"  In answering this question you get to see where you may be sabotaging your own success and identify hidden limiting beliefs that may be keeping you stuck (to learn how to break through limiting beliefs, see my most popular blog post, http://bit.ly/1jUnDkR).  Then, you get to create new beliefs that serve your current vision for your life and move you towards it.


4.  Consistency.  Developing key habits and activities to support your goals is one of the most important elements in your success formula.  My coach is constantly saying consistent actions bring consistent results.  As you review your year so far, notice whether you have been consistent in taking the steps necessary to move you forward.  This includes actions that help support a healthy you like eating well and regular exercise, in addition to actions that support better life balancing.


5.  Community.  Take stock in your community.  Who supports you?  Who are your encouragers?  I have an accountability partner that helps me stick to taking the actions necessary to move towards my goals.  I also have a coach and belong to a mastermind group.  Yes, my life is busy but having this support system in place has yielded greater returns on my investment of time than I could have ever imagined.  My coach holds the vision that I have for my life and continues to believe in it even when I get discouraged.  She motivates me to get up when I've fallen and to try again.  She gets it because she's been there.  And having a group of like-minded individuals to serve as my personal board of directors keeps me on purpose.  They have been my biggest cheering squad and also call me out when I'm making excuse to play small.


I will be spending this weekend reviewing 2014 and charting my course for the coming 6 months.  I recommend realigning with the vision you have for you life at least twice per year.  I make time for this activity quarterly.  I've learned alot in the process and feel more and more like the leader in my life rather than feeling like life is leading me.

How often do you make time to assess where you are in life?  Leave a comment and let me know below.

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