With 2025 now just a little more than half over already, Certified Life and Executive Coach Melanie Sorensen said a mid-year review is due, especially for those who set some new goals in January.
While anytime is a good time to set goals, transitional times of the year are ideal for forming new habits or tracking progress.
"Did you have a solid goal? Did you have one goal for every area - family, finances, relationships - or did you just kind of throw out some vague ideas that you maybe now want to solidify? Either way, you want to set yourself up for success."
First, what is needed to review goals?
"Do you need a pen and paper? Do you need your bank statements? Do you need a scale? If that was one of your goals, do you need someone at the gym to do your body fat measurements? If that was where your goal was? You need to know where you started, if we're going to review. You also need to be able to set yourself a block of time. Is there somewhere you can sit down and really evaluate and reflect properly? Because what can happen is you get stuck in what you haven't accomplished versus where you were when you started and how far you've come."
Sorensen said that not taking the opportunity to reflect and acknowledge where you've come from can make it harder to continue down the path on which you intend to progress.
While the metrics can help, she said they aren't always the best way to determine how close to your goal you wish to be.
"Sometimes the scale isn't telling you what you want to hear, but your pants fit better, so you know you've accomplished something. Maybe the goal was to become more fit. So what does that mean to you? Well, six months ago, I couldn't do a pushup. Now I can do five. You've accomplished something. Maybe it isn't where you wanted to get to, but you've accomplished something. So that's why I said give yourself some time to really reflect on where you were."
Insight is required for true honesty with oneself, but is critical as part of the review process.
"Be honest with where you actually were, where you came from, and where you're going to go next: Did I accomplish my goal? If I didn't, did I do nothing towards that goal? How did I not achieve that goal? How did I get in my own way? What did I do to stop myself from being able to achieve that?"
Keeping in mind that priorities change, Sorensen said it is possible that unmet goals simply meant it did not line up with what really matters to you.
"Maybe it was a priority then, but what has happened since, that it's not a priority now? Life changes. The only thing constant in life is change. Maybe what your reality was six months ago is vastly different than what it is today."
The review process then gives way to reevaluating goals going forward, she noted, with priorities in mind.
"Do I drop that goal that really isn't that important to me anymore? Did I do the best I can, or is there more of me to give?"
On the flipside, was too much of an emphasis put on a goal that caused neglect in other areas? "Did I do too much? Did I put too much of myself into that?"
"You have to really do a full, thorough, robust review of not just one goal, but how everything fits together as a package."
She said one question to ask yourself is what did you have to say 'no' to, to say 'yes' to that which gets you your goal?
"Are there things you can implement that you couldn't otherwise? Maybe that will help you put you on a different path."
For example, walking to work may take more time, but it can produce multiple goal-achieving results.
"You're saving gas money, you're getting fresh air, you're getting some alone time to just be in your thoughts," she said. "When you're looking at your goals, think beyond them as just 'I want to walk to work because I want to lose weight? Yes, you might, if you walk to work enough, and you weren't moving at all before. But you're also going to gain some other things."
How does the goal - met or unmet - make you feel?
"If we really are just doing something because we think we should be doing it, it's going to make it a lot harder than if we're doing something because it brings us joy - it makes us feel like we've accomplished something, we've helped someone else out -it's going to have a vastly different impact than doing something because society says we should all be a size two."
A big part of the mid-year review is to celebrate what you did accomplish. Sorensen said rewarding yourself for your accomplishments helps encourage you to keep going.
"Maybe you set ten goals and you didn't do any of them, so look at what else happened during that period of time. Did things get in your way, or did you accomplish 10 completely different things? Maybe other priorities took over. The only constant is change. We're constantly changing, so everything in your life today is not the exact same as it was six months ago."
What sparks joy and motivates one person is not going to do the same for the next person.
"One of the things we do is compare ourselves to what we think should be. That's tough. We all have our own road to walk. We all come from different places. We all have different day-to-day lives. You have your own unique path," she explained.
Emulation is not the same as comparison, as it inspires goal-setting.
"Bring it to your own unique self. Don't try and carbon copy yourself to somebody else's life. Your life is your life. We're all unique, and we're all motivated differently, too. Some people are motivated by money. Some people are motivated by what the neighbour next door said. Some people are motivated by, 'oh, they're disappointed in me. I'm going to prove them wrong'. Taking some time to look at who you are and what your motivating triggers are is an excellent thing. Different things work for different people.
Sorensen pointed out that having the world at our fingertips in these modern times avails everyone the kinds of resources to help determine what works best for each individual.
"Sometimes you have to try 20 different things before you figure out what works for you," she shared. "Just because this worked for you last time, doesn't mean that's going to be the same thing that's going to help you stay on track this time. So try the thing that you know worked before. That's always the best place to start. But realize that might not be enough. You might need to do something different, as whatever was in your life at that time could be gone, and you need to find something different to push you forward."
"A goal is just a goal. You can start at any time. You can put it down, you can pick it up whenever you want and need to. It's not a reflection of who you are as a person. It's not a reflection of your character. We just keep moving through life. That's all we do. So just don't give up. You tried it once, and it didn't work? Try it again."
"If it's important to you, you will figure out how to make it work. If you never figure out how to make it work, maybe it's not that important to you."
Ways to keep oneself on track, she reminded, is also unique to each person.
"Some people like checklists. Some people like planners. Some people like apps. Are you the kind of person who needs to tell people 'This is what I'm going to do. I need you to check in on me once a week to remind me and see how I'm doing'. Be aware of what is out there to help you. There are support groups all over the place."
If your goals are overwhelming, Sorensen concluded it might be time to narrow your list and keep moving forward.
"Keep moving forward. That's all we can do."