We are already midway through July. How did that happen?! It’s time for a Mid-Year Assessment to ensure that you are on course for success in all areas of your life.
It’s so easy to lose track of time this time of year. Schools are out, vacations and holidays happen, and we get out of our routine. Hopefully, you are having fun and enjoying the fruits of your labor from the first half of the year.
In The ONE Thing community, they coach us to reflect and plan at the end of each month and do a Mid-Year Reset—Reflect, Evaluate, Simplify, Establish, Time Block—an in-depth assessment to ensure that we are on track to meet the goals that we have set. For the past few years, I have been doing this Reset and have found it invaluable to ensure I am on track to reach my annual goals. Over the years, I have refined the process to suit me, so I will share it with you.
Mid-Year Assessment
It’s time to review your goals and targets from earlier this year. Ideally, you’ve been reviewing these weekly or at least monthly, but so many people don’t, which is why this mid-year assessment is critical.
Step 1. Review and assess whether you have met, missed, or exceeded your targets at this point in the year.
- If you haven’t set goals and targets or looked at them since the start of the year, perhaps you need to return and start with that!
- I have a spreadsheet where I keep track of my goals for each business area broken down by month. I can then easily see if I’ve hit the targets and update if I need to change the targets. I include rows for goals related to the number of leads, meetings, proposals, deals won, etc., in addition to specific marketing metrics.
Step 2. If you have missed any of your targets, have a look at:
- By how much?
- Likely reasons why? What went right and what didn’t?
- Was it something you had control over?
- Were the targets realistic or too high to begin with?
- Were these targets critical to your overall goal?
- What actions can you take to get back on track?
- Can you increase the monthly targets to meet your initial year-end goal, or do you need to reassess that year-end goal?
- What impact will that have on your overall business and personal goals?
Step 3. If you have met or exceeded any of your targets, have a look at:
- What went right?
- Is there anything that could happen in the next six months that could prevent you from staying on track?
- Were these targets too comfortable? Do you need to increase them?
Step 4. Whether you have hit or missed these targets, how was your overall satisfaction with your life over the past six months? Very often, we are soaring in some areas of our lives and not doing as well in others. Do you need to do some “counterbalancing?”
- In the One Thing Community, we look at our life as seven circles and set and work toward our goals in each area:
- Spiritual Life
- Physical Health
- Personal Life
- Key Relationships
- Job
- Business
- Finances
- Sometimes, you must focus on one or two areas for a specific reason and put the others on autopilot. You may have personal or health issues that need your full attention, so your professional life gets less focus, or vice versa. When this is the case, ensuring this is intentional and only temporary is essential. If the issues are ongoing, it’s important to realistically reassess the goals in all areas to reflect your new long-term goals and avoid “beating yourself up” over something you cannot control. In ONE Thing, they call this “counterbalancing.”
Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”
Often quoted and usually attributed to Bill Gates, nevertheless very accurate!
People often make this mistake – in two ways:
- They see all goals, tasks, etc., as equally important, which means less focus on anything, which is inefficient and perhaps ineffective.
- They don’t do long-term planning and try to juggle and fit all tasks into too short a period.
Step 5. Plan the actions needed to get or stay on course to meet your goals in all areas of your life.
- Set priorities. Determine which area(s) you will focus on from the Seven Circles and within the Seven Circles.
- Decide which actions are needed to stay on course.
- Schedule these actions, aka “time block,” ensuring that the time frames are realistic and in line with your priorities. Don’t cheat on your priorities! Include time to assess weekly and monthly and adjust as needed to achieve your goals.
Step 6. Before you move on with the rest of the year, look at your wins in all areas of your life and celebrate those. Also, celebrate that you have done a mid-year assessment to get back on track for a successful year overall.
Mid-Year Assessment: Ann’s Final Word
You want to do everything but can only do one thing at a time. If you prioritize and plan, you can focus and start ticking off those “one things” that will lead you to achieve your goals in all “circles” of your life.
Take action!
📍Go through the six steps above for the highest priority “circle” of your life. Then, continue with each of the circles based on the priorities you have set until you’ve assessed them all.
📍Email admin@anndonnelly.com with your plan, and get a quick evaluation from me!
If you enjoyed this article and found the information useful:
📍Click here to subscribe to the Next Level Success Newsletter, a weekly email for ambitious individuals looking to take their businesses to the next level with insights, advice, and how-tos from Ann Donnelly’s 40 years of business and marketing experience.
