It’s the end of June. We’re halfway through the year. It’s the perfect time to pause and take stock so that we don’t fall into the trap of rushing headlong into the rest of the year on autopilot.
Every quarter I carry out a simple check in to make sure I’m on track, and I’m about to do one that marks the midpoint of 2025.
Here are the four questions I ask myself at this point in the year to keep me on track in case it’s useful for you to do the same.
How has 2025 felt so far and what does that tell me?
I spend far too much time in my head and not enough time in my body and this reminds me that feelings are a good source of data. By paying attention to how I feel I can think about what that might mean I want to do more of and less of.
What worked, what didn’t and why?
It’s important to celebrate the things that have worked so that you can replicate them. This is why I share wins of the week on LinkedIn every Friday, both to build the habit and have a record of sorts to look back on. It’s equally important to look at what didn’t work, and in both cases to think about why. Did something not work because it was a bad idea, or because you didn’t give it enough time, or you chose the wrong supplier. Noticing means you can do something different next time.
Have I done the things I set out to do and if not, why not?
It’s a great feeling when you realise you’ve checked off the things you had on your list to complete by the middle of the year – assuming that you have such a list of course! It feels less great when you realise there’s some big stuff you haven’t done. Rather than immediately beat yourself up, it’s useful to go a bit deeper so you can find a solution. Did you forget, get busy doing other things, change your mind, do something different instead? All of those are allowed and seeing that helps us resist the awful false binary of done = good and not done = bad.
What are my three priorities for the rest of the year?
As the saying goes, if everything is important then nothing is important. I have a real tendency to want to do everything and need to be disciplined with myself to narrow my focus. I know that’s the way to have the most impact and yet I forget often. Listing the priorities on a post it note and having them on my desk helps. Every time I get an idea, invite or opportunity, I can look at the list and ask if it moves me towards one of those things. If it does, I’ll find a way to make it work. If not, I’ll give myself permission to say no or let it go.
That’s it. Simple and very effective in my case.
If one of your priorities is making progress with your sales, marketing, communications or training plans, get in touch and we can explore options for how I might support you in those goals.
Finally, if you’re anything like me you’ll have the Bon Jovi earworm in your head after reading the title of this post. Enjoy.
