Goal Planning For The Second Half of The Year

Remember those New Year’s resolutions you set for yourself? Those goals that you’ve wanted to accomplish but haven’t had time to yet? There’s still time for goal planning for the second half of the year.

The second half of the year is your perfect opportunity to review your New Year’s resolutions if you set them or craft new goals with associated goal plans. Perhaps the first half of the year flew by, and you’re behind schedule you initially mapped out, or maybe you’ve been working on a goal that you didn’t initially build into your plan.

Perhaps you flew through your first half of the year goals and are in dire need of new pursuits. Or maybe you were in a season of rest during the first half of the year and are now ready to jump into goal achieving mode. 

No matter where you’re at, stop and take a minute to pat yourself on the back and acknowledge everything you’ve accomplished this year thus far. Stand up and do a happy dance! Now, let’s get to goal planning for the second half of the year.

Goal Planning For The Second Half of The Year

Those accomplishments that made you do a happy dance? Write them down. List them out.

Before we jump into the planning phase, take some time to write down your accomplishments. If you set New Year’s Resolutions, be sure to tie your achievements back to what you set out to achieve at the beginning of the year. If you haven’t set goals for the year yet, that’s okay too! Even if you didn’t write your goals down and formalize them or speak them into existence, I’m willing to bet you’ve made some accomplishments during the first half of the year. Think about any activities or tasks related to the goals you will set for the second half of the year.

Don’t skimp out on this list. Take as much time as you need to jot down your thoughts. Six months is a lot of time, so review each month carefully to build a comprehensive list.

Use your accomplishments list to do a mid-year check-in if you’re following up on New Year’s Resolutions.

If you set New Year’s Resolutions, now is the time to evaluate your progress. Here are some questions to ask yourself about your goals in progress:

• Is this goal still important to me and one I want to achieve? If your answer is no, take this goal off your list.
• What was my original deadline for this goal? Has it already passed, or is it upcoming? Do I need to make any adjustments from a timeline perspective? 
• Is there anything I need to help ensure I achieve this goal? Resources? Education? Moral support? Make a note of what you need and a plan to get it. 
• Do you envision working towards these same goals as you move into the second half of the year? 

Start outlining goals if you don’t already have any set or aren’t following up on any New Year’s Resolutions.

If you didn’t set any New Year’s Resolutions, don’t fret. In place of a mid-year-check-in, use this time as an opportunity to create a vision board or outline for your second half of the year goals. Here are some questions to ask yourself about the goals you want to set:

• What goals are important to me to work on or accomplish by the end of the year? 
• What deadlines am I going to set for my goals?
• Is there anything I need to help ensure I achieve my goals? Resources? Education? Moral support? 

Outline your goals even further with our SMART goals planner. 

Whether you’re doing a mid-year-check-in or outlining your second-half goals from start-to-finish, the essential part of this process is determining actionable steps. Do you have your actionable steps defined? Let’s keep going. 

Let’s make a plan! You’re going to need a digital or paper calendar.

You’ve celebrated your accomplishments this year up to this point, completed your mid-year-check-in, and decided what you’re goals you’re going to focus on for the second half of the year. Now, you need to fit these goals into your second half timeline. Start mapping out a plan and timeline for the rest of the year with each goal and your current schedule in mind. 

Be specific in your planning process too! Break down those larger goals into smaller ones with more manageable timeframes. What do you plan to accomplish next week? Next month? Next quarter? By the end of the year? Set tiny deadlines where possible to gain momentum to last through the rest of the year. 

Get to work on those goals! And repeat this process at the end of the year.

You have a goal plan in place for the second half of the year, and now all you need to do is put in the work! Need some inspiration to get started on your goals? Check out this article for tips and tricks on taking action and making it consistent.

Before you go, bookmark this article and be sure to revisit it at the end of the year. Walkthrough the accomplishments exercise and complete an end-of-year goal review. 

About the Author

---