Do you stress about the second half of the year? I sure do!
“Oh no, the year is half over! Have I done all the things? I should have done more! What’s still on the list to conquer? Do I even have a list?”
The pressure that I feel (even typing those words) makes me a little sick because I know it’s my brain playing tricks—comparisonitis and “not enoughness” rearing their ugly heads.
Since becoming my own boss (a blessing and a curse), it has taken some experimentation, but here’s how I combat these unwanted annual besties.
I usually take a day in the summer and fall for a “Self” Strategic Planning Retreat (below is my social media post from November of 2021 and some reflections).
My retreat days have been like medicine for a wound; they tend to heal and prepare me for the months ahead. If you are thinking about planning a day for yourself (or even half an hour just for you) and want a few of the worksheets I use, grab them here.
I typically kick the day off by looking back at the goals I did and didn't achieve. I do some reading that I wouldn't normally make time for, and then I start dreaming and scheming about the things I could do, want to do, need to do, have to do, and in my wildest dreams would attempt to do! I grab a stack of Post-it notes and put them all over my kitchen counter.
It’s like therapy for the brain to pull my dreams, vision, worries, and hopes out of my mind and put them on paper. I encourage you to try it! Also, if some of your post-its are centered around doing less, that’s great too! I usually have a mix of items that are "slow down" items because sometimes we need a reset or a rest.
Worried you won’t get it all done? Read my post below for a little reassurance.
POST FROM 2021
I held today and part of tomorrow on my calendar for my first annual "self" Have Good Ripple Effect Strategic Planning Retreat.
I plan to spend the day reflecting, outlining my goals for 2022, running the numbers, and doing one of my most favorite things...sketching out my "Living In The Lab" ideas (aka experiments) for next year.
"Living in The Lab" ideas are the outside-the-box things that I will give myself permission to experiment with and possibly fail at, because they will certainly lead to more ideas, innovation, and execution.
Lab item number 1: Sell my Have Good Ripple Effect at a boutique or store.
Lab item number 2: Find a boutique or store to let me sell Have Good Ripple Effect items.
What are your "Living In The Lab" ideas for next year? I would love to live in the lab alongside you!
Your turn! What are you working towards? Send me a DM, I’d love to hear.
Do you know what I noticed from that day a few years back?
I haven’t actually completed the lab items that I set out to do (facepalm)!
It made me smile to see what I was thinking about (thanks, online journal that the whole world can see), and it made me feel more confident that, even though I am still working towards those goals, I have come so much further on other things (keynote speaking to large audiences, a book, podcast).
Moral of the story?
Goals are one part strategy and one part grit. Things will take longer than you expect, and the road may take you on some detours, but either way…the journey is worth it!
Let me know what you are planning towards in the second half of the year. I’d love to hear from you!
Need a little boost to get started? Grab the dream-setting worksheet I use during my "Self" Strategic Planning Retreat.
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