So I know you guys didn’t think I’d let the month of June pass by without checking up on ya. So, how are ya? How you doing? Has this year gone the way you planned? Yes? No? Kinda? Well if you already haven’t, it’s time for a little reflecting, assessing, and planning for the second half of this year. It’s never too late to reach your goals and accomplish what you set out to accomplish at the beginning of the year. So for this episode I hope to inspire you to keep pushing.
So guys…we are halfway there! Can you believe it?? Like where has the time gone. I still remember the episode I recorded in January and now we are heading into July. Time is flying by, literally. So, uh, let’s talk for a minute…just you and me. I want you to go to your journal or your computer or your phone and dust off those goals you set for the beginning of this year and tell me…how’s it going? No for real…is this year going the way you hoped or planned? You can be honest with me, I won’t tell anyone, lol. Have you been reaching your goals? Have you been consistent? Have you been taking risks and conquering fears? I hope the answer is yes, yes, yes! But Imma be honest, since yall are being honest with me, the answers are not all yesses for me. This year has been full of ups and downs, twists, and turns and I took some time this month to go back to my game plan and determine what I need to do to ensure that this second half of the year is a successful one. So I’m going to share with you the exact steps I took in assessing these last 6 months and to plan for the next ones to come. So go grab your journal, the notes app in your phone or whatever you use to keep your important notes and lets get to work.
So the method I use to work my goals is called the R.A.P method. And yes, I came up with this. It stands for Reflect, Assess, and Plan. The first step is to reflect. Let’s take a moment to look over your goals for this point in the year. If we’re honest, some of us don’t even remember what our goals were because we having looked at them since we made them months ago. So go pull them out and look over them. You may even be surprised that you wanted to accomplish that thing that you forgot about. In addition to reflecting over the actual goals themselves, I want you to also reflect on your memories. What happened this past quarter or year that stands out to you. Make sure that you remember the good stuff. I find way too often that when we are reflecting that we focus on what went wrong, what didn’t happen according to plan, what didn’t work. And now while it’s important to note these things, you have to make sure you point out the good stuff. Don’t just skip over them. Celebrate your achievements…no matter how small because each one of them matter. Be sure to take a moment to breath those successes in because that is part of what will keep you going the second half of this year. So first take some time to reflect on how things have gone this year. Be sure to also reflect on your emotions. Reflect on the times you laughed until your stomach hurt and even the times when you cried yourself to sleep. It’s important to have a wholistic view of how things have gone up until this point. Before we can move forward we must reflect on the past.
Now that we’ve reflected we can access. This is where you are honest about what really happened and look at the whys and hows of how we got to this point. In therapy, before we move forward with creating a plan of action to help my clients reach their goals I must first conduct an assessment and during that assessment I ask a lot of questions to figure out what is happening or what has happened that caused us to get to this place. This is exactly what we are going with our goals. You are going to go goal by goal and break down what has happened over these past 6 months, the good, the bad, the ugly. This is essential if you want to plan properly.
So on to planning. You take what you have learned from your reflection and assessment and create a plan going forward. This is where you apply what you’ve learned. Your plan and your new goals may look totally different from your previous ones and that is completely fine. Sometimes during the assessment you learn that you need a totally new game plan because the previous one wasn’t serving you well. Write you plan. Make sure you prioritize your goals. And please be sure that you don’t overload yourself. Be realistic when setting your new goals and be sure to remember important factors such as setting realistic timelines as there isn’t unnecessary pressure.
So before I get out of here I want to add one bonus tip for the road and that is to keep pushing. I realize that some of you may not be in the best space mentally at this moment. The first half of the year hasn’t gone as planned. Some things occurred that you didn’t see coming. You’ve cried more than you ever hoped you would. You’ve suffered losses, you’ve had to face transitions you didn’t expect. You felt like quitting a few times. I get it. Change is hard. Greatness is even harder. If this year has been just a amazing as you’ve hoped, keep going! If this year has been tough…keep going. You can pivot if you need to. You can adjust if you need to. You can let some things go if you need to. But don’t give up. Keep pushing. While you’re reflecting, assessing, and planning make sure you assess your mental health. Some of yall are doing things that are mentally taxing. Whether it’s your demanding job that’s wearing you out. Being a mom to those kids that’s draining you. Starting that new venture that’s wooping your behind. Or maybe some things have happened in life recently that kind of threw you for a loop and you’re struggling to handle it. Be sure to take care of your mind yall. Burnout is now a mental health diagnosis. The stress and struggle is very real. One of your goals my need to be to sign up for therapy. To join a support group. To get a coach. To find an accountability partner. Set yourself up for greatness, including mentally. We are halfway there. You can do this! Don’t quit. If you need to take a some R&R time, do so, then get back to it. Do the work necessary to make the days to come better than the days past.
So I hope that you feel inspired to reflect over these past 6 months to remember your journey. To assess your efforts truthfully so that you can make smarter decision moving forward, and to create a plan that will take you to the next level. Greater is coming, just keep pushing.
So until next time stay encouraged and inspire someone else along the way.