Do you remember what your New Year’s resolution was? What goals and plans did you set for yourself this year at the beginning of the year? With the year is halfway over take a few minutes to reflect back on your goals, resolutions, and plans you made at the beginning of the year to educate yourself about how you accomplish your goals and to motivate you to stay on track.

Look over your goals

How many goals are you on the mark to meet? Which goals have you made progress on? How many have you yet to begin? Which goals are you struggling with? How many have you already accomplished? By taking the time to assess your progress and your goals, you take what you learn from the first half of the year and apply it going forward.

Track how you’re doing so far.

Only by measuring your progress will you know how much farther you have to go and what adjustments you need to make to reach your goal. Keep track of what you’re accomplishing- it will inform your progress, therefore help you achieve your goal.

Once you know where you’re succeeding and where you’re struggling, think about why. What’s making you successful? In the same regard, how can you apply this to goals you’re struggling with? What is preventing you from meeting the goal? 

What doesn’t work is easy- you push it to the side. There’s value in asking why it failed, though. If your goal is to lose 15 pounds this year and so far you’ve only lost five, why do you think that is? Are you not going to the gym enough? Are you not eating as well as you’d like to? Are you eating out too often? Look at your bank statements, your diet, your workout routine and get to the bottom of it. If you’re not going to the gym enough, what ensures you go to the gym? Is it a time of day, scheduling it, or not packing gym clothes? If your diet isn’t as healthy as you’d like, when you do eat well what do you do- is it grocery shopping or planning ahead?

Evaluate when you succeed and when you fail. Try to create circumstances when you usually succeed: schedule your gym session, pack your gym clothes the night before, schedule time to grocery shop and make that healthy meal you’re always happy to make. Taking the time to evaluate your approaches to your individual goals and understand what works will help you understand how you meet your goals, which will help you meet all of them.