Do this reflection with me right now.

My personal half year check-in with you

Understanding the importance

Last week’s newsletter was about me failing my New Year’s resolutions every year before turning 20. That can be very disheartening when you wake up one day and realize that you are pretty much the same underdeveloped person you were years prior. Things really changed for me once I tried a different approach and one of the most effective new methods were periodic check-ins. This simple change has enabled me to accomplish most of my resolutions the last few years and I’ve evolved completely in every aspect of my life—relationships, faith, career, academics—as a result. As we have just surpassed the halfway point of this year, I want to walk you through a reflection in hopes that we can make your future-self proud together. 

By being constantly distracted with society, you fail to truly care for yourself. You don’t ever take a second to question your path and wonder if you’re actually living a life fulfilling TO YOU. I think eventually everyone has a moment where they come to this realization, but for many it’s usually too late where they no longer have the time or opportunities that were available to them before. Therefore, it’s so imperative you take moments to reflect on your life regularly so that you can make the necessary changes now.

Follow these steps

1. Get out a piece of paper and pen. Answer the following questions beginning with “I” in order to take responsibility of your past and future. 

2. Write down all the New Year’s Resolution goals you had for 2023.

3. Answer the question: “Which were you successful with in accomplishing?”

4. Answer the question: “Why were you successful in accomplishing those in particular?”

5. Write down all the strengths you displayed in the past 6 months.

6. Answer the question: “Which were you unsuccessful in accomplishing?”

7. Answer the question: “Why were you unsuccessful in accomplishing those in particular?”

8. Write down all the weaknesses you displayed in the past 6 months. 

9. Revise your initial plan or create a new one according to your reflections. Aim to build on your strengths and improve on your weaknesses. There are two really important suggestions to consider:

   1. Limiting the number of goals will reduce the amount of potential distractions + will increase the likelihood that you will actually get them done.

   2. Break down goals into practical steps using a calendar. For those procrastinators, you should aim to proactively block by the hour so that you don’t leave any room to hesitate or second guess on the day of.

Now put the list of goals someplace you will see it everyday and turn your notifications on your calendar so that you are reminded of the practical steps every day. 

Two additional tips: 

1. Eat the frog

   Mark Twain once said that if you have to eat a live frog, do it first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day. The idea is that you should do the most difficult thing that requires the most amount of will and energy first so that you don’t suffer from the consequences all throughout the day. I highly encourage you to adopt this tip for your practical steps daily for three reasons (a,b,c).

   1. You tend to have the least number of distractions in the morning so you ensure you get the task done.

   2. It builds positive momentum making subsequent tasks easier.

   3. It ensures you have a daily highlight so even if you don’t get a single thing else done, you know that you did something productive for your future-self.

2. Find an accountability partner 

   This certainly isn’t a requirement because the goal is to eventually be able to keep yourself accountable. However, I understand that is far from easy so it may be beneficial to find an individual who can check in on you regularly. That person should be someone you trust will tell you exactly how it is without pampering or sugarcoating. You should be serious about your life so find someone who will be serious about it too.