Mid-Year Resolution Check-in

With the start of a new month, the seasons on the verge of change and as families prepare for back to school, we can all use this time to make new habits and changes we may have been putting off.

New Year’s resolutions are great but more often than not we can fall off the wagon in a couple weeks and our lives and businesses can continue on as they were. So why do we wait for a change in the year to get the kick in the pants we may need to implement change? What is so magical about a new calendar year?

So why not today? Why not take 10 minutes to look back at the goals we laid out for our year and circle a few changes we can do right now? Who’s with me?

Here are some suggestions for making these changes stick and making the most out of the last 4 months of the year:

• Cut yourself some slack. Let go of the pity party that you may be feeling for realizing 8 months have went by and the good intentions you once had fell by the way side. Even if you didn’t write down a list of 2016 business goals it’s never too late. Set aside time to look at your current business model and what you want to achieve. Don’t filter yourself and just download everything in your brain onto a page.
• Look at the list you have or just made. Try and categorize the list into changes that can be done immediately (organizing files or your workspace / touching base with past clients), can be done in the next month (implementing a newsletter or fall campaign), in the next 3-5 months (Holiday party or hiring a buyer rep) and in the next year.
• From this new list write down 3 things you really want to get done and the simplest first step necessary for each to make that happen.
• Put this list up somewhere you’ll see it daily and update it often. (Suggestion make it your locked screen on your phone or paperclip it in your planner so you can move it daily and be reminded).
• Pat yourself on the back because you’re already 4 months ahead of what you might put off until 2017!

Change is hard and breaking habits can be paralyzing but if you break even the smallest thing down to one single step it doesn’t seem so difficult. Make the most out of every day and you will thank yourself for the changes you made today when you look back and these changes are now new habits.