Mid-year reset: Why the summer is the perfect time to update your life and business plans

I feel like my whiteboard has been redacted

A lot can happen in 6 months.

You can go from joy to misery.

You can go from misery to joy.

You can go from rich to poor.

You can go from poor to rich.

And so on…

However, whilst most of these changes don’t just happen by chance; the positive ones at least need a bit of vision, planning and proactivity to make them happen.

So last weekend I took half a day to throw myself into some visioning, strategising and planning for both me and my business.

It’s July, why do it now?

There are 3 main reasons that this seemed the right time:

1. We’re half way through the year 🗓 — Those who know me, will be aware that instead of New Year’s resolutions, I set myself yearly challenges to accomplish across different dimensions in life. However a year can be a long time so over the year I check my progress on each challenge and, usually around midyear, I make any updates as required.
2. Trying to address the rollercoaster 🎢 — Recent negative outcomes in my professional and personal life have left me feeling a bit mixed about the direction of my year so I wanted to feel more in control of what happens to me the rest of the year.
3. Time on my hands 🕒 — It’s summer so, being the CEO of a consulting business that relies on delivering workshops and training sessions for clients, our workload naturally eases at this point so it’s a good time to take stock and reflect.

What did my reset involve?

I break down my life into 8 dimensions:

1. Professional — what I am doing about my career/business
2. Relationship — what I am doing about my love life
3. Social — what I am doing about my friendships
4. Financial — what I am doing about my finances
5. Health — what I am doing about my health
6. Hobbies/Skills — what I am doing about my hobbies and skills
7. Emotional — what I am doing about my emotional state
8. Education — what I am doing about my development

For each of these a set a specific target to achieve by the end of the calendar year. So for example my target for my education is to read at least 10 books this year that must be a mix of fact and fiction.

Not only do I update each of these goals but I also determine the priority between them so I have clarity, if there are any conflicts, which takes precedence.

Then for each dimension, I reflected on what I had already done so far this year to hit my target and assessed the impact of each of my efforts.

This led to me to decide whether to continue with my current approach or to change tack.

Where I opted to change tack, I spent time brainstorming and researching other options available to me before selecting my new approach for the second half of the year.

This was amazing and I soon had several whiteboards full of amazing ideas [keeping it all visible on a whiteboard also helps increase my levels of accountability and stretches my creativity]

So, what now?

The net result is that I have a much clearer plan for the second half of 2024 and I feel more positive and more in control as a result.

If this sounds like something you would value too then why not do a mid-year reset too.

If you want some further tips then drop me a line, otherwise I’d love to hear how you get on 🙂

Faris

Faris is the CEO and Founder of Shiageto Consulting, an innovative consultancy that helps firms and individuals sharpen their effectiveness. Connect with him here

Success = IQ x EQ x FQ

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