We are almost past the first 6 months of the year. Where do you stand in attaining your goals? Are your goals also near the halfway mark? Time for you to stop and ponder i.e. do a personal mid-year review.

At the start of the year, you made some goals and even made some progress towards them. Now, six months down the road, have your yearly goals also neared their halfway mark? Or, have your barely made any progress? Either way, do you know why? This is where a personal mid-year review will tell you.

How then can you conduct one? The answer is simple; with questions! Yes. through asking 6 key questions.

But first, let’s briefly talk about:

WHAT is personal mid-year review for and WHY it matters to you

The What:

  • to analyse and think about what has happened over the past six months; and
  • to plan what to achieve in the following six months.

The Why:

  • to check your progress in achieving your goals.
  • to know the impact of your actions and decisions. Have they moved you towards your life goals?

If you are off-course, you still have time to make adjustments to put yourself back on track. Our hectic daily life can drag you off track from our priorities, our life goals. It resembles the sea’s undercurrent that can make you float further and further away from your set course. So, it’s up to you to find out whether you are off-course or on-course on your goals.

Reflecting on your past actions is an essential skill to gain if you wish to succeed in life.

But, before you start the actual review, get prepared.

How to get prepared before the review?

Get yourself a place with a quiet atmosphere. Reviewing your performance for the past 6 months and then deciding what to do for the next six months requires deep thinking. You must keep the interruption at the minimum.

So, it’s a simple preparation. Do 3 things:

  • Locate a place you deemed appropriate and most comfortable
  • List out your goals set earlier as a reference for the review
  • Laptop/desktop and writing materials (pen & paper)

Once set up, it’s time for the review. Answering a series of specific questions is one of the best ways for you to reflect. These key questions may sound simple but require some deep thoughts..

Here are the steps or rather the key questions to ask yourself to guide you to an effective personal finances mid-year review:

Q1: RELEVANCE — Do the goals you set in January still matter to you now?

Do a minor spring-clean of your goals (health, finance, career, etc.).

For each goal you set earlier in January, try to recall why it is important to you then. But now, it might surprise you the goal is no longer relevant. Your situation has changed. Perhaps you have greater needs now. Tonnes of things can occur in half a year.

Discard the irrelevant goals to make room for the goals that now matter more. Sometimes, the motivation behind a goal isn’t for you to accomplish it. Instead it causes you to recognize that that ‘thing” truly isn’t important to you. If you continue making a similar goal every year, what does that tell you?… that goal isn’t important for you! At least for now. It may become a priority later. For now, keep-in-view (KIV) first.

You can also change or tweak your goals. So, perhaps something required additional time than you at first envisioned, or more exploration, in which case you can move the goal lines somewhat nearer.

Q2: ACHIEVEMENTS — What have I accomplished so far?

For the goals that are still relevant, pen down an overview of where you are now. Has has your progress been?

It is hard to notice improvements on a daily basis. But, when you have a review after 6 months, the results may surprise you. Regardless of the progress made, you must recognize and commend successes. Some may view the little wins as a failure. But, it does not do you any good beating yourself up. Instead, you need more morale boosters. Set aside some time to take in your successes, regardless of how unimportant they might appear.

Q3: CHALLENGES — What are the struggles and challenges faced and/or solved?

The next action is to recognize your battle zones, your struggles, and your challenges.

Everybody faces difficulties in their life. If it were all simple, everybody would do it and it wouldn’t mean anything any longer. It wouldn’t be extraordinary. You wouldn’t feel a sense of fulfillment out of it.

Own your battles so you can emerge stronger from them.

For existing challenges for the past six months

Write what obstacles you faced and why. No time or energy? Maybe no friends and family members are helping. No cash? Whatever the reason, write it down.

In our minds, obstacles can appear to be greater than they really are. We can dwell on an issue day and night until it turns into this mammoth thing that appears to be unbeatable. Yet, if you put it down on paper, it’s just that. It’s limited to two sentences.

It’s additionally simpler to wrestle with something and to comprehend it when you can put words on it.

For foreseeable challenges in the next six months

Likewise, you can write what battles you are like to confront in the second half of the year. Challenges which are “sensibly predictable”. For example, perhaps you need to be frugal because a new baby is coming.

Note how I said “sensibly predictable”. Not each and everything that might conceivably turn out badly will do so.

Challenges you have solved

Record all hurdles that have been overcome and how you did it. What good have you learnt from the experience?

Keep in mind that we often gain knowledge through making mistakes. So, be daring to take action regardless of the results. Either way, you will gain.

Q4: SOLUTIONS -What are the solutions to the problems/challenges?

We can fix many of our issues. Just spend some time to think of a logical solution. For example:

Problem: I have no time to pursue this.
Solutions:

  • Would you be able to get up 30 minutes earlier?
  • Request that somebody help with childcare?
  • Watch 30 minutes less of TV?

The problem is the execution, which may not be simple. You may need practice and discipline. The first step, though, is to recognize them.

So, what can you do to deal with the difficulties you face? Aim for a simple solution. You won’t stay with it if it’s too complex to understand.

Q5: IMMEDIATE ACTION — What next steps to take now for each goal?

For every goal, jot down the immediate step you could take that will push you ahead. What could you do today — at this moment — that would draw you nearer to your goal?

Can you ask someone? Can Google help?

You know…something little and easy to do. If you could think of plenty, great! Record them all but only pick one, now, to do. Give yourself a minor achievement that you can focus on, and easy to achieve…the little successes.

Q6: NEW GOALS — Are there any new goals to add?

The last step is to add any new goals to your list.

Earlier, under relevancy’s question, you might wipe out some earlier goals because of changing needs. So, this is the ideal opportunity to plunk down and rethink what is genuinely imperative to you at this moment, that worth moving towards.

Always strive for constant improvement! Never stay contented with being self-satisfied. Ask yourself these specific questions to give ideas for any new goals:

  • Any habit you want to instill or have to change?
  • What additional help do you need?
  • What procedures do you have to set up to be productive?

Conclusion

Make it a habit to review your goals regularly. Do that and you will be on the right path to success.

 

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So, where are you in the achievement of your goals at this mid-year? Do you have any other key questions not mentioned in this article? Please share and leave a comment.