Half Way There: How Are You Doing? by Cindy Stradling CSL, CPC

Most professionals set goals for themselves in the first part of the year. These goals will differ from year to year and career to career, but they should include specific outcomes you want to see in a given time frame.

As the beginning of July is about halfway through the year, this is a perfect time to check in with yourself and see how you are doing. This is also a good opportunity to revise any goals based on current information and to perhaps consider adding a stretch goal if you are moving along the path to meeting your goals without a lot of difficulty or challenge.

How to Check In

This is a time to sit down with yourself, your leadership or business coach, a mentor, or even a trusted colleague and do a deep dive into your current level of meeting your performance goals.

Having someone you trust to check in with can make this a more collaborative and insightful experience. If you are working with a coach or a mentor, she or he will ask questions to help you determine if you are on the path to achieving the goal, or if you are encountering an obstacle.

If you are doing this with a trusted colleague or friend, consider talking to them in advance about what you want to accomplish. This helps them to ask the right questions and to provide the opportunity to give feedback that is constructive and beneficial.

Charting the Journey to Achievement

If you have used S.M.A.R.T goal setting, which breaks each goal down to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely, there should be definite markers to help you to determine where you are on the route to goal achievement.

There may also be short and long-term goals within your overall vision. If you have short term goals, have they been achieved or what is still outstanding? This is also a time to take a look at the long term goals and the timeline and to consider if they are still accurate or if they need to be modified.

Modifications and Adjustments

Things can change dramatically in the workplace from January to July of any year. Goals that were achievable in January may not be possible in July due to restructuring, downsizing, career changes, or any number of other factors.

That doesn’t mean that all the goals need to be thrown out, and this becomes an unfocused year in your career. Use this time to make modifications and adjustments to the goals, or even consider adding a few short term goals that are achievable given the changes.

Finally, if you are well on the way to achieving your goals, perhaps challenge yourself with a stretch goal. This not only gives you something to work for, but it also can be used to work on an area of difficulty as a form of continual self-improvement.