In case you didn’t notice, we’re halfway through 2022. Six months might have flown by, but the year still has a lot of time for things to happen, especially in the area of self-improvement. So now the question to ask is, how much have you changed since the year began? Here are some helpful questions to ask during your mid-year check to know how much progress you’ve made with self-improvement since the year started.
Have you achieved any of your New Year’s resolutions?
If you’re the type to make New Year’s resolutions at the start of each year, a mid-year check might be easier to do for you. You can review the goals you set in January and look at how much progress you’ve made since. Did you make a dent on most of them? Have you finished any of them already? This mid-year check also allows you to adjust your goals accordingly, considering how much time you have left in the year.
But even if you didn’t make a New Year’s resolution when the year began, you could look back on goals you set for yourself over the last six months. Maybe you promised yourself you’d spend less time on social media. Or maybe you tried reading a book every day. How much progress have you made in accomplishing them?
What accomplishments made you proud over the last six months?
If you’ve got a long list of goals and you find yourself only making little progress with most of them, it might get disheartening. Which is why it’s important to ask yourself this question: did you have any accomplishments that made you proud over the last six months?
Whether you’ve learned a new recipe, started journaling, read more books, met up with friends, or submitted a work report before the deadline, take note of it. No matter how big or small, you should list down anything you accomplished since the year started, and these would be a significant boost in pushing you to finish more of your goals.
Did you meet any new people?
Additionally, did you reach out to or meet up with your family and friends?
Were you able to make new ones? Or were you able to maintain and improve your current relationships? Did you overlook any family or friends who you should probably check on? It’s important to ask these questions because relationships are one of the most important parts of both our personal and professional lives. As humans, we thrive on social interaction and continuously teach and learn from one another.
Did you take any opportunities to learn something new?
Did you sign up for a new class? Have you tried cooking a new recipe? Did you read a new book? Learning comes in all forms and helps us in both the personal and professional aspects of our lives. Whatever way of learning it is, you should list them down and determine how much you’ve progressed through them. If you miss any similar learning opportunities, you should also note them down and justify why you miss them. This way, you can see how much progress you’ve made for yourself and determine if you need to adjust your goals for the rest of the year.
What mistakes did you learn from?
This might sound scary to do, but looking back at your mistakes is one of the best ways to learn from them. We’re only human, and mistakes happen all the time. But recognizing those mistakes and facing them head-on instead of just sweeping them under the proverbial rug will go a long way in helping you improve upon yourself and do better in the second half of the year and onwards.
What habits did you develop?
Scrolling through your social media feeds a lot? Missed a gym session? Skipped lunch? Doing them once or twice might look insignificant on a day-to-day basis, but repeating them can make a huge impact.
So now you need to ask yourself: what habits are working for you and which ones aren’t? You might want to shake off that habit of getting takeout after a long day, and you may want to continue that habit of reading a book once a day. Consistency is key, especially when we talk about habits, goals, and progress. You just need to know which habit you should be consistent with and which one you should completely let go of.
What were the highlights of the first half of the year?
While it’s important to see how much you’ve improved, you should do your mid-year check while in a positive mindset. And it’s easy to do that by asking yourself: what highlights did you have during the past six months? It doesn’t necessarily have to be an accomplished goal or new knowledge. You just need to find anything good that happened in the past six months, like a birthday, a much-needed vacation, a fun work event, or a gathering with friends.
Should you pressure yourself for the second half of the year?
On the one hand, it’s good to know where you’re currently at in your life at this moment. But on the other hand, you don’t need to sweat it too much. If you weren’t able to set resolutions at the start of the year, that’s fine. If you weren’t able to achieve any goals yet, don’t beat yourself up too much. A mid-year check is meant to help you know where you currently stand now, so you can easily determine what your next step should be and what goals you can still accomplish in the remaining half of the year.
If you want to continue with your goals, the next question you need to ask yourself is: what steps do you need to take in order to act on the things you’ve learned considering the questions above?
But you can adjust your goals depending on your capabilities at the moment (we are still in a global pandemic and the economy is in shambles). It’s your personal goals, so you only answer to yourself.
What other questions should you ask yourself when doing a mid-year self-improvement check?
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