Mid-Year Review – Welcome to My Barbecue

Just Past Half. I always say that my new year starts in February. 

There’s just too much to recover from in January. Either way you slice it, we are just over halfway through the year. It’s a good time to reflect on how things are going. Are you meeting those goals you set at the beginning of the year? A mid-year review is a great way to take stock and course correct.

Benefits of the Mid-Year Review

While we don’t want to live in the rearview, it is good to glance back for perspective. A lot can happen in six months or even six weeks! It’s good to determine if you’re still on course or if you want to choose a different course. The intentions we set are not set in stone, they are fluid. We get to tweak them, change them, or clear them and set a completely new direction. 

Pursuing things that no longer serve you can weigh you down. The stress of trying to hold yourself to a goal just because you set it, can take a mental and emotional toll. Learning to evaluate and release allows you to create space to move to what is most fulfilling for you. Ultimately, this is what will allow you to design your life. It’s what gives you purpose and peace, knowing you are doing what you are meant to do. The benefits reach way beyond our “to-do” list. Intentions dissolve self-doubt. They keep us grounded and present. They build an attitude of gratitude. They impact every area of life and there are no limits!

“Gratitude blocks toxic emotions, such as envy, resentment, regret, and depression, which can destroy our happiness.” – Robert Emmons

 

Begin with Gratitude

When I visited the Big Island in Hawaii, I drove out on the first day and as I reached the top of a hill, I could see everything. The most pristine, blue ocean, sandy beach, tropical lush trees, lava fields, and volcanoes to the right and left. I was so overcome with gratitude that it brought me to tears. So, to begin the review process, tap into gratitude. What are three things you are “Big Island” grateful for? Write it down and write why.

Creating a gratitude practice is one of the best health practices you can adopt.

Dream Big

Next, tap into your dreams and find what pumps life into those dreams. Reinvigorate those goals. What is the single goal that makes you feel most alive? A goal for which you are deeply passionate, maybe even a little scared. Write that goal down in this modified SMART format.

Specific. Measurable. Accountable. Realistic. Time-Linked.

Why do you want this? Why as why? Because when you link your goals to your purpose it becomes based in emotion, which makes us act.

Review. Revise. Reaffirm.

I call this the 3 Rs. It’s time to take a look at those goals, intentions, or resolutions you set at the beginning of this year. Maybe you’ve accomplished some. Some goals may have revealed that you were not approaching things in the best way. Are there things that no longer matter to you? Have life events changed the trajectory in certain key areas?

Now is the time to revise. Eliminate that which no longer serves you and reaffirm what matters most. Have clear goals for the next 6 months in all the key areas of life that will create balance, growth, and purpose. 

Barbecue Time

Now consider this, have you just realized that there are things you’ve written over and over, year after year? Is there something you’ve been yearning for in your life, but you can’t seem to get there? Get really honest with yourself.

What is the single thing you must release to live your best life? What has been holding you back?

Now tear out a piece of paper or grab a sticky note. Write down what you need to release and why. Physically barbecue that paper. Build a fire. Roast it. Ok, it’s summer so maybe you flush it, shred it. Rip it to pieces and stomp on it. Do whatever you need to physically extricate what’s holding you back. Trust me, it will feel amazing!

I see you, and YOU are beautiful!