Mid-Year Review: Making the Most of This Year

We are now in July. That means the first half of this year has passed, and we are entering the second half.

Many people wait until the end of the year before reflecting on their lives, but I think it’s a good idea to do it now. Why? Because you still have half a year left. You can still make this year right. You can still make this year your best ever.

So, how should you do a mid-year review? Here are some ideas:

1. Check your life map.

If you don’t have one, I suggest you create a life map. This is a simple but effective way to see the big picture of your life.

In personal finance, many people don’t realize how much money they spend until they start tracking their expenses. Similarly, you might not realize how you have spent your years until you track them.

In my case, my life map helped me realize that there were years where I accomplished almost nothing. During these years, I only maintained the status quo and my progress was very slow.

What about you? What is the overall direction of your life? How do you project yourself into the future? And most important: is the way you spend this year aligned with your desired future?

2. Write down the lessons you learn.

To make the most of this year, you should apply the lessons you learned in the first half to the second half.

Take time to think about the lessons you learned and write them down. If there were many lessons, distill them to just a few key ones to make them easier to remember.

Next, think about how you can apply them. What action steps can you take?

3. Renew your focus.

If you aren’t careful, you could get distracted and lose focus. You could become busy with things that shouldn’t be among your priorities.

Check yourself: are you doing the few things that give you the most results? Or are you trying to do too much?

Renew your focus. Eliminate some things, and delegate some others. Don’t hesitate to say no. After all, you need to say no to good opportunities so that you can say yes to the great ones.

4. Rebalance your life.

In investing, there is something called portfolio rebalancing. What you do there is updating the asset allocation of your portfolio to make it balanced again.

Similarly, you should do a life rebalancing. Here what you do is balancing the way you spend your time among the five aspects of life. Here are the five aspects of life:

• Work
• Health
• Learning
• Social
• Spiritual

Which one(s) needs more of your attention? Which one(s) takes too much of your time?

5. Make a commitment.

Based on the four points above, make a commitment on how you are going to spend the rest of this year. This is your “mid-year resolution.” What is the one thing you can do to make the rest of this year the best possible?

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With this mid-year review, you will be on your way to making the most of this year. I hope the rest of the year will be a great one for you!

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