Checking Your Map: A mid-year review

Here we are in the middle of the year.

The first six months are very nearly behind us and the next six a vast road of possibilities stretching out ahead.

Even as the excitement and potential of the next six months call your name, I invite you to stop for a moment to think back and assess how far you have come in the first half of the year.

I want to share with you the process I am using this year to take a look at my progress BEFORE I look ahead to the next six months.

Below are the six questions I am using this year to check my map and make sure I am going in the right direction.

1. What were your goals at the beginning of the year?

Even if you didn’t have anything formal in the way of goals or resolutions, you probably had some idea of things you want to have done or where you want to be by the end of 2012. You might have even chosen a word, or intention, for the year. Where are you right now, at the midpoint on your timeline?

2. What have you done to move towards those goals?

This part isn’t about whether you connected at all, but where have you stepped up to the plate and taken a swing. List everything you have tried, even if, maybe especially if, it didn’t work out.

3. What did you try that did NOT work out for you?

Look at the list you just made and pinpoint the things that didn’t work out the way you wanted or maybe they even failed miserably. Where can you make adjustments and try again? What needs to be scrapped completely? Remember though, this isn’t an excuse to be down on yourself or to give yourself a hard time. This is an opportunity to see where the lessons are.

4. What did you try that DID work out?

What was successful? Take a look at the things you tried that worked well. How can you make that same kind of success happen again? Look for ways that you can duplicate what you did or how you can take what you have learned from this success and apply it to other goals or areas that might benefit from it.

5. Where did you find unexpected benefits?

Sometimes things don’t work out the way we thought they would. Life has a way of turning things around and giving them back to you in a new way. Where did something work out in an unexpected way and what were the lessons and benefits in it?

6. What are you the most proud of?

It’s totally ok to be proud of what you have done. You have worked hard and taken risks and now it’s time to toot your own horn! Make a list of what you are proud of, no matter how big or small, no matter if it was a success or a failure. You deserve to celebrate what you have accomplished. Celebrating success is also really motivating on a psychological level. Go on! Reward yourself!

A mid-year assessment can be a really valuable tool.

It shows you both how far you have come and seeing where you need to make course corrections to make it to where you want to be at the end of the year.

In my next post, I will share my own assessment with you and let you know what the next step is in preparing for the rest of the year. I invite you to check your own map and let me know in the comments what you discovered, or if you are struggling with any part of it!