Mid Year Goals Review

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It’s June!  Back when I was a working mom, every 6 months I would have a mid-year review at work.  This was the time when I’d meet with our office manager and go through how I was doing on my goals, what was working, what wasn’t and get on track for the remainder of the year.  Many of my co-workers didn’t like these reviews, but I always found them to be helpful because without a map and clear direction, it’s hard to get to the final destination!

I started off 2014 with my list of goals.  Some I’ve done well on, some I’ve completely bombed.  After the first few months of the year, I realized a few of my goals really weren’t a priority in my life (whether it’s good or bad is another story) and that maybe I shouldn’t have included them on my list at all!  An example of this is my exercise goal.  I do have a goal of increasing exercise to live a healthier lifestyle, but when I set the goal in January, it was a goal that I felt I should do instead of a goal that was in line with my priorities at the time.  Guilting myself into doing this goal hasn’t worked at all and until recently I pretty much avoided it all together.  (I always exercise more when the weather is nice…winter is a killer for my motivation!)

Another goal I bombed on was to complete Beth Moore’s Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit by May.  I had planned to do this as a group Bible study at church.  After we went to Puerto Rico and came home to 3 weeks of sick kids, it not only didn’t happen, I was so far behind the group, I gave up for the semester.  (If you’ve ever done a Beth Moore study, they are very time intensive, but also very good!)   Even though I have the book and want to finish it, the odds aren’t looking good this year.  Hopefully, I will  find a friend to complete it with together at some point, but this just wasn’t the right time.

Some goals get completed, some don’t.  That’s ok!  I realized that I set too many goals based on reading (my camera manual, my books, bible studies, etc).  As much as I love reading, I can’t possibly read that much and get all of the rest of my to-do list done.

We have 29 more days of June before we are officially half done with the year.  I am going to be going through my goals list, item by item and reworking my goals into a revised version to finish off the year.  I think it’s encouraging to do so because by letting go of the items that you know are not feasible (or simply adjusting those goals) you let go of guilt.  Another reason for doing this mid year review is you can look to see if there are any new areas that you want to work on, an area that you have developed interest in (clean eating in my case), and get yourself set to succeed for the rest of the year.

Here are a few tips to help you with your own mid year review or setting goals for the remainder of the year if you haven’t set any for 2014:

• Find a place to sit down and be able to focus and enjoy this time.  For some of you, a quiet hotel lobby would be perfect.  For others, it could be a day on the lake with your husband floating in the boat, and for many of you who are thinking, “what reality does she live in…” after the kids go to bed or early in the morning before they wake up have worked really well for me.
• What are you passionate about?  Is it getting rid of debt or clutter?  Eating better?  Exercising?  Making time to take care of yourself?  Maybe it’s to be a better friend, mother, or wife.  It could be to further your education, try a new hobby, do mission work, or volunteering!  If you are passionate about it, you are more likely to do it (once again, my bombed exercise goal…).  For those of you who are new here, I divide my goals into the following categories:  Intentional, Present Relationships, Intentional Self-Care, Intentional Homemaking & Intentional Business.
• Have your calendar ready so you know what is coming up.  It would be insane for me to try to set 30 big goals in June when I am gone at least 20 nights of the month with ball games or other activities!
• Plan your goals using the method of planning that works best for you.  If you are a paper and pen kind of woman, that’s what you need.  For those perfectionists like me, who need it to be pretty using the computer might be better.  (I like to picmonkey.com because you can use your own pictures, they have good fonts, and the basic package is free!)
• If you are having problems setting goals, check out How To Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals
• If you can, find an accountability partner to help you stay on track.  It really does help!  I put my Goals For The Week up every Monday and you are more than welcome to come link up yours as well!

What is an area that you feel you need to work on with your goal setting? Have you found that by setting goals you are accomplishing more than you had previously?