July 2023

Welcome to the second half of 2023. We entered July 1st with (for some) a four-day holiday weekend. On July 5th, we were back at it and realized that this is now the second half of 2023. I hope, like all good sports teams that go to the locker rooms at halftime, you’ve been reviewing your progress during the first half of 2023.

Teams look to see what was working well during the first half and try to continue that progress. Teams also look at what hasn’t been working well and determine whether to continue trying or begin a whole new direction. They quickly try to make major decisions that will impact the second half. If changes need to be made, they incorporate them with what they’ve been doing well to hopefully come up with that big win.

So, what have you been doing well thus far this year? Hopefully, there is a lot to be proud of, so give yourself a pat on the back. But this is no time to take a rest. Continue the progress and add on some more goals to make the year that much better in December.

What has not been going well, or in some cases, not even started. Realize that there may be good reasons why things haven’t been shaping up like you expected. If you can pinpoint what the issues are, great! You can address those issues and make changes to get back on track. If you can’t realize what’s wrong, you’ll need a deeper dive or maybe even have to shelve the goal until a later time. And that’s OK too. You need to make decisions like that to help you KEEP MOVING FORWARD.

So if you have unfinished goals for 2023, let’s get you back on track. Here are three quick things you can do to help you make those dreams a reality.

Reconnect with your Why – Why do we have this goal in the first place? Do you remember the purpose of this goal? If you do, you can then reignite the passion you originally had to get it done. Once the passion refills you, you’ll remember the feelings of why this was important in the first place. Now you can refocus your energy and get things underway.

Set Realistic Milestones – Maybe you bit off more than you can chew. I have been serving on the Board of NSA Carolinas for the last two years as Member at Large. On July 1st, I start my third year as VP of Marketing. That’s a big step up in commitment, along with all the other things I do. It can be overwhelming, but it gets much easier if you set aside some time to organize the work and set realistic milestones.

Sometimes we set ourselves up for failure even before we start. We may not have all that we need in place to begin our goal. Map out a plan to get everything in place to begin work on the project. You’ll be setting yourself up for success instead of failure.

Discipline & Accountability – For me and a lot of others, this is where we fall down a lot. Discipline is hard, but once harnessed, it is awesome. It’s easier to say I’ll work on that one tomorrow, but the disciplined person will start to work on it today. This is where the excuses will rationalize the right turn to the off-ramp of failure. You have to, as the famous comedian Larry the Cable Guy would say, “Git-R-Done.”

Need help here? Find an accountability partner who will help you stick to your milestones. I’ve had my share of accountability partners through the years and none have really worked. Do you know why? They didn’t hold me accountable. There were no penalties, no loss of privileges, no real authority, and they were too nice. They need to be hard-ass. I finally realized that I have two very fine accountability partners at home (Wife & Daughter) who keep me going down the right path. Figure it out and find yours.

Don’t let the failures and disappointments of the first half get in the way of succeeding in the second half. Instead, look back on the accomplishments of the first half and break down how you succeeded in reaching those goals. Take those ideals and replicate them in your new projects. Once you start rinse and repeating, you’ll be on your way to an awesome 2023! Good luck.