Photo by K.C. © 2010 Kristin Conroy

We’re more than halfway through the year.  Can you believe it? As summer’s end looms over me, I’m experiencing feelings of slight panic. Am I still on track with those resolutions and goals I declared in January? Have I accomplished what I set out to do, or anything at all? Have I fallen out of a disciplined routine during these warm months filled with summer fun? Anybody with me on this?  I thought so.  Which is why I felt the need to write this post.

Are you living those resolutions and goals you made at the beginning of the year, or are they merely fuzzy, quasi-memorable images that you’ve tucked away in a dusty corner in your subconscious? Since most people dropped all pretenses of goals a while ago–maybe even by February–I thought it might be a good time to revisit our goals, adjust them if necessary, and enter the last five months of the year with renewed vision.

For the purposes of this post, “goals” refer to the steps you need to take to achieve your big-picture dream.  Not “lose 5 pounds”…unless your dream is to become a successful fitness model or prize-winning boxer!

If your vision for yourself has changed (or you find yourself on a new path)…

You need new goals! It’s time to chuck them and create new ones. Life changes–we change, circumstances change–so it’s reasonable that our goals would change too. According to your new vision, set appropriate goals, sub-goals, and objectives.  Don’t hold on to goals that have no benefit just because you committed yourself to them, or already put in a lot of time and effort to achieve them.  Useless goals gobble up your valuable free time and distract you from your dreams.  That’s no good!

If your goals aren’t serving their purpose…

A tune-up might be in order. If you’re not energized when you declare your goals, take a look at how you’ve worded them. Use active verbs and rich adjectives to create powerful messages. For example, if your dream is to be the lead singer of multi-platinum selling band, some of your goals may be find x# band members who share my vision and live, eat, and breathe music; connect with a manager who is passionate about our music and will fight for our band’s best interests; book x# gigs per month to gain valuable experience and a loyal audience who will recommend our music and follow us to the ends of the earth. I have no interest in that dream, but I’m kinda psyched just reading those goals!

If you got sidetracked from your goals…

It’s ok, it happens! Just find your way back. But first ask yourself why you wandered off the path in the first place. Were you distracted by other things (or useless goals)? Did you lose your confidence or positive attitude? Did you get a little lazy? Knowing why you detoured will help you find the solution to moving in the right direction.

If you’ve hit a brick wall (don’t know how to move forward toward your goals)…

Are your goals too overwhelming? I’m not talking about your big-picture goals (a.k.a. dreams)–go big with those!–but the goals that lead to them. Make your goals big enough to push yourself, but not so big that they’re unmanageable. You want to build your confidence, not destroy it. Break your goals into smaller steps, however small they need to be.  Affirmations can be useful tools to help you think positively and focus in on what you’re aiming to accomplish. If you carry out one little step each day,  you’ll have reached your goals before you know it!

Closing thoughts

It’s easy to forget/ignore/lose sight of our goals during summer, when we spend our free time at family gatherings, friends’ barbecues, on vacation, and enjoying outdoor activities.  All fun stuff, and much needed!  But after getting into a routine of a crammed social calendar–and letting our goals fall by the wayside–it’s hard to get back on track once summer is over.  Enjoy summer while it lasts, but don’t stop reaching for your dreams. Try to do a little something every day to get you closer to your goals.  That way you won’t lose your mojo, and it will be a lot easier to kick things into high gear once summer is over.