“Rest when you’re weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.” —Ralph Marston
I am sure if I asked you how the first half of the year went, you will say it went so fast or very slow; you accomplished most of your goals; or it was a rather disappointing one. Regardless of how it went, its important to take stock of the past six months. If it was excellent, great! How can it be better? If it was not good, ok. What needs to shift?
I always look forward to the end of the six-month mark in the year. It is like half time in a football match or any other game. You can imagine if there was no half time in a football match, the players just went on for the entire duration of the match without taking a break. Both the players and spectators would become weary. Players need to rest briefly and recover; the coach often steps in and likely gives a brief review of the 1st half and possibly gives them a pep talk to encourage them to put in their best for the second half and reassure a losing team that all is not lost.
The first half of the year is a great opportunity to rest, reflect, recharge and rejoice for the second half of the year. It is an opportunity to do a reset.
No matter how busy you are, it is important to take some time to rest; to pause and do nothing for a while. It means to switch off temporarily from the things that keep you busy. Some ways to rest include catching up on sleep, taking long walks, reading a good book, having friends and family over – just not think about work for a short while.
It is when you have rested some time, that you can effectively reflect on the 1st half of the year. You review how the period has been for you. Some questions to ask yourself include:
What were my major accomplishments and why?What were my challenges and why?What were my learnings and why?What could I have done differently and why?What did I do that served me well?
It is important that you are truthful to yourself. It will also help if you have a separate notebook to write your answers out.
The third step is to spend some time to refocus. Refocus is possible only with rest and reflection. The mind must be settled and calm to regain focus. You would have dealt with any disappointments of January to June; and given yourself a pat on the back for a job well done. It is now time to plan out the next six months. Some of the things to consider include:
What do I want to accomplish in the next six months? I suggest you have no more that 5 projects you can focus on.What gaps in knowledge or skill do I have to accomplish these projects?Who can help me achieve these projects?What could go wrong in accomplishing these projects? This is where I consider the various risks and how I can mitigate such risks.
The final step is to rejoice at what will be an excellent next six months, if you did all you have put in your plan. As you rejoice, you begin to visualize the successful accomplishment of your projects, come December 2021. This is an important step because you have taken the powerful step of linking your emotions to the achievement of your goals.
In a nutshell – The 4 Rs to incorporate at mid-year are: Rest, Reflect, Refocus and Rejoice.
Question 1: What else do you do to review and plan at the mid-year mark?
Question 2 : What topics will you like me to write about during the next six months? Just add a comment below.
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