Ooooohhhhh, we’re halfway therrreeee OOOOOHHHH livin’ on a prayer!
If you were born in 1980 like me – or the 80s at all – I have a feeling you’ll be singing that the rest of your day. #yourewelcome.
I have been thinking a lot about the halfway mark of this year – we are closer to 2020 and over 6 months in to this year. The race is closer to finishing and for some of us, we are feeling pretty energized. Our pace is steady and the rhythm is good. For others, we are sluggish, discouraged and would rather give up now than to finish this race strong. And honestly, there may be a third group of people that falls somewhere in between. Regardless, I want for all of you, no matter where you fall in the race, to stop and do a check in with these easy ways to help reset your year.
Here are 7 ways to reset your year and get back on track so you can say 2019 was your best year yet!
1.) Review Your Goals
Spend 60 minutes reviewing your goals you set out to achieve; take inventory and create a plan of HOW you will achieve them by the end of the year. There are still 180 days left, you absolutely can knock some of those goals out of the park with this simple way to reset your year.
2.) Rate Yourself
Regardless of what you set out – or didn’t set out – to do this year, do a quick check in on these key areas and rate yourself 1-10, 10 being the best. And then prioritize and take action.
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- Your physical health – do you need to challenge yourself between now and December to actually start working out? Join the gym? Play tennis? Walk in your neighborhood 4 nights a week? It’s time. Your physical health matters – to you and your family. 30 minutes a day. YOU GOT THIS!
- Your emotional health – are you harboring anger or unforgiveness and need to actually process through? Or maybe you’ve had some trauma in the last few months and calling a therapist has been on your list… Make the call, start where you’re at.
- Your spiritual health – this looks different for many but being around spiritually healthy people and making faith a priority is a must. Attend your church more regularly. Heck, even start serving! Download the Bible app and read one verse a day. Pray pray pray.
- Your financial health – for better or worse, money plays a big role in our lives. It can be the route of evil and simultaneously, it can NOT control us and allow us to leave freely. Often finances tend to be part of goal-setting so now is the time to check in. Celebrate the wins and recalculate as needed to get back on track to end the year strong.
3.) Create a Gratitude Journal
You’ve seen this and been advised of this many of times, I am sure. I believe that if we first can intentionally experience thankfulness, there will be limited room in our minds for anything else. We lose sight of the good when we are complaining, when we are getting in the way of ourselves. But changing our mind to focus on the gifts, the blessings and the miracles could absolutely leave you ending this year much better than it started. And isn’t that what we are after? Progress, growth, gratitude? YES!
4.) Forgive yourself, remove the guilt and move on for crying out loud.
Living in the past or feeling bad for yourself that you haven’t achieved what you have wanted will help nobody and will only keep you paralyzed.
5.) Identify some of your blind spots or weaknesses and ask for help.
Maybe you’ve gone this whole year trying to do it all. Do it all by yourself. And you are tired, feel defeated, behind and discouraged. Well, you don’t have to feel that way. As women, I would argue all of our weakness is actually asking for help. BUT DO IT. Even with something small to start.
6.) Honor the change.
A lot can happen in 6 months and often, what we set out to do looks much different and sometimes literally not achievable as we check in at the halfway mark. So what? Just accept where you are at, embrace and honor the changes that have come your way (even the hard ones) and start over if needed. Life is crazy. We lose jobs. Our marriages go through tough seasons. Your friend gets cancer. Your child gets in trouble at school. The list goes on and on and on. We can’t control most of these changes and curve balls that are thrown. But we can control how we respond, what are plan of attack is and how we can make progress, taking each day one at a time. Honoring the change is an important way to reset your year.
7.) Gather 5 of your closest friends and spend 2-3 hours in a room, with coffee or tea, snacks, some good music and a peaceful atmosphere.
Each woman take 15-20 minutes to offer updates from the year. The big wins, the miracles, the pain, the losses. Grab your 2019 goal list and share it out to the group. Laugh a little. Pray more. Cry. Laugh again. Open up some wine if needed. But make it productive and be intentional about preparing in advance. Leave with 1-2 action items that each of you will hold each other accountable for. What could be a more encouraging way to help reset your year?