June 30th has come and gone. Half of the year has transpired. So tell me (or someone else or just yourself), how’s it going? Are you on schedule to have the kind of year you planned? Business working? Family? Recreational activities? Other things?
I don’t believe in New Years resolutions. To me, any day is a good day to set goals and strive to get better. I do know, however, that many goals are set in conjunction with the calendar year. So, the halfway point is approaching, I’ll ask again, how is it going?
But, wait……. WOW! When we set those goals for 2020, we thought it would be something like a NORMAL year. We could anticipate how the year would unfold……. then, BOOM, Corona Virus. I can’t speak for you, but I know that my goals for this year have been smacked up side the head pretty significantly.
Frankly, I am on target for NONE of my goals. A few are salvageable. As a result, I am optimistic about some, hopeful on some others and ready to either alter a few OR find some new approaches that will help me achieve those many pesky other ones. So what do we/I do?
Like most of you, I monitor my goals constantly. Like the blue dot steadily moving along the purple line of my iphone Google map, it helps me to be able to see where I am along the purple line that is my goals and the direction of my life. If I don’t know, well…… I don’t know. So, I want to keep track. Just the fact that I know exactly where I am and how far I might be behind gives me a path for the second half of the year. And maybe the goals just need to be reframed, Corona virus be damned, they need to placed within the context of the years’ environment. Expectations for what could have been get substituted for what CAN be. Reframed, right?
When the Cheshire Cat told Alice that it doesn’t matter which way you go if you don’t know where you’re going, he was unknowingly referring to goal setting and achieving. What he didn’t tell her was that if you not only don’t know (or care) where you are going AND have no idea where you are, you are in double trouble (ORRRRRR maybe completely happy not worrying about such things, but I digress…).
So what am I saying?
If unlike Alice, you have a goal, a destination, now is a good time to evaluate how your journey is progressing (as is every other day but halfway is kind of a landmark). If you’re somehow on track – great. If not, it’s perfectly okay to alter the plan or even the goal. Yes, even the goal. They are yours, by the way, no one said they weren’t adjustable.
Keep in mind, Resetting or Reframing goals is not failure. As mentioned above, I believe it is the nature of goal setting to be flexible and open to progress, lack of progress, and reality. So let’s reset. Let’s reframe. At some point we let go of what COULD have been and set a new focus for the next six months. So, let’s develop a plan to create a second half finish the year with an upward trajectory. And next week, let’s explore some second half strategies.
Normally, I’d finish this by writing: It’s halftime. How’s it going? Instead……
It’s Halftime. Where are we going?