It may feel like 2024 just started, but here we are at the half-way point already. It’s a great time to pause and reflect upon the year so far and plan for the second half about to begin. Here are seven questions you may find helpful to reflect upon at this midpoint.
What Has Been Good?
Start by identifying the aspects of life that have been going very well lately. Perhaps you’ve upheld the promise to yourself to exercise a few days each week, or your family has been enjoying screen-free dinners together at the table each night, or you’ve made progress toward a financial goal, or you’ve honored your commitment to engage in your spiritual practice each morning. Recognize all that’s going well and recommit to keep going in the second half of the year.
What Needs Improving?
There will always be areas of life that could use improvement. What would you like to improve in the second half of this year?
How Would I Rate Each Major Area of Life?
Take a look at the bigger picture of your life. What main areas do you focus on the most? Common areas of focus might be spirituality, fitness, finances, friends and family, home, career, and fun. List the handful of big-picture categories that make up your life and rate how well you believe you’re doing in each. Which areas would you like to focus attention on in the second half of the year?
What Can I Let Go of?
Sometimes we tend to focus on things we have little control over or those that are simply not a good use of our time and energy. For example, worry and fear, what other people might think, say, or do, what might happen with the weather, the economy, or politics. What can you let go that is bogging you down, not serving you or your loved ones, and not in line with your priorities in life?
What Have I Learned?
Don’t miss an opportunity to take note of any lessons you’ve learned so far this year. Perhaps you’ve come to realize that you’re more of a morning person than a night owl, or you’ve seen the great benefits quiet time to yourself each day brings, or you’ve realized that you’ve been viewing things from a negative starting point and it’s time to change. Don’t let life’s lessons pass without taking them in.
How Can I Do Better?
A question we can ask every year, every month, and every day of our lives—how to do better. We can always do better. Perhaps you’d like to treat your family with a bit more grace and kindness, or you’d like to improve your diligence and consistency in doing what you know you should do, or you’d like to reach out to loved ones more frequently—however you see an opportunity for improvement, get busy making progress in the second half and beyond.
What Am I Looking Forward to?
What’s on the agenda for the second half of the year that you’re looking forward to? What might you plan that you can enjoy? How might you contribute to others in the coming months? What would you be proud of having done by the end of the year? Set down some positive plans for the second half.
