Five tips to review your year

Most of us start the year with new years resolutions, goals, desires and hopes for the year. And then life happens and Christmas is here again. Nothing has changed but we want the change so again, we set new years resolutions, goals, desires and hopes… For some of us it is an exhausting game we play year by year. 

But you can put stop to it today by reviewing how far you’ve come since January. Are you on track to have a year you set out to have? Did you completely forget what you wanted to achieve? Did you fall behind on your goals and made small or no progress?

Where ever you may be on your journey, this article is for you.

Reviewing and reevaluating our experiences forces us to grow, develop and become more self-aware and mid-year is ideal for it. Are you on track with the goals you set for yourself at the start of the year? How are you feeling? Accomplished or exhausted? Excited or burnt out?

#1 Review

Let’s look at the areas of your life.

List all the important areas of your life right here.

The areas I would list are: career, personal development, my partner Jon, other relationships, health, finances, self-care and travel.

You may list completely different areas, I listed mine to give you some examples.

Let’s review every single area you have listed and let’s see where you are at. By reviewing I mean, score yourself on the scale of one to 10 where you are at, 10 being awesome, one being A lot of work to do.

Which of these areas stand out as the most important one for you right now?

Which of these areas stand out as the area which needs your attention right now?

Maybe it is time to finally go for that career change you’ve been postponing for so long. 

Maybe you feel that the relationships you have are not as strong as they used to be. Perhaps you did not spend enough time with your partner this year. 

Maybe you have been working so hard in past six months you feel burnt out and need to focus your attention on self-care. 

Maybe it’s your health or finances. 

Whatever it is, you can work on it. If you decide right now to direct all of your focus on the area you chose, you can make all the necessary changes you need to. 

And in six months time you will see and feel the difference. However if you continue as you did, nothing will change and six months from now you will be at the exactly the same place you are right now. 

So the question you should really ask yourself right now is:

Am I willing to put my focus and effort to improve this area of my life?

If your answer is yes, then we are good to go. If you answer is no, then review the exercise you completed earlier and choose an area on which you are willing to work on instead. 

#2 Clarify

Think about the area you chose to work on. 

Where do you want to be in this area in six months time?

How committed are you in achieving it? Rate yourself, 10 being absolutely this is what I want, to one being ah, I could do without. If you are scoring anywhere from eight to 10. Great! This is really what you want. If you are scoring seven or lower, really think about it - is it really what you want to work on in next six months?

The goal you set for yourself needs to fill you with enthusiasm and energy so you thrive to achieve this goal no matter what. You need to feel unstoppable. 

#3 Time travel

How can you do that?

With time travel exercise. Let me explain more.

Once you are clear on your goal, it is a good thing to remind yourself daily what it is going to be like once you achieve it. 

So transport yourself into the future right now, it is six months from now and you achieved your goal. What is it like? What are you doing? How are you feeling? What are you saying to yourself? What are others saying to you? Where are you? Go into real details. Connect your emotions with your vision. Really relive your success moment. 

All you need is two or three minutes. Now open your calendar and book your time travel exercise into your calendar on daily repeat with alarm. 

Commit yourself that every time this reminder pops up you will travel into the future for two or three minutes and remind yourself what you are thriving for!

#4 Action plan

Next thing you need to do, is to break your goal down. Sometimes the goals we set for ourselves can overwhelm us, therefore breaking them down into small manageable chunks can do the trick. 

What steps will you need to take in next six months to achieve your goal?

Get really specific. This is the moment when I need you to take pen and paper and create a whole list of things to do. 

Ask yourself: what do I need to do to achieve my goal in next six months?

Keep asking yourself this question until you map out all of the steps you need to take. 

#5 Enjoy the process/journey

No matter what you set out to achieve in next six months, ensure it is something that will bring you joy. This is important. Ask yourself how can I bring more joy to my days? 

Thriving, creating, working hard, becoming someone you want to be is important and it is fulfilling but remember to have a good time while you do it. Smile and enjoy the journey. 

Usually we set goals because we hope as the result of achieving these goals we will feel a certain way. Happy, fulfilled, successful, accomplished, smart, clever, important, wanted, needed, cared for… Whatever it is for you ask yourself:

How can I already feel the way I want to every day?

You know the answer. You just need to ask the question. 

As always, I would love to hear from you in the comments below. What is it you want to achieve in next six months? How can you bring more joy to your days?