It’s about to be June, so I’ll pause while you keep yourself from barfing over the fact that it was just January. You good? Kay.
Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time for us to do a mid-year audit on all those goals you set in January.
Why should you do a mid-year audit? Because if you’re unwilling to do an audit, I’m almost willing to be that you aren’t as close to your goals as you wanted to be. In all seriousness, how are we supposed to know how far off we are if we don’t check in? The great news is, it doesn’t have to be complicated - in fact I’d argue that the more simple you can make this, the more likely it is that you’ll do it.
The first task is auditing the initial goals in the first place.
What were the original goals? What still aligns? What feels less important than it did before?
It’s not quitting to strike a goal off the list if it no longer aligns with what you’re trying to accomplish. Be willing to trim that fat on some of those original goals in order to cross the finish line on the ones that really matter.
The second step is surveying what’s working well.
What seems to be going well? What goals are you on track with? WHAT CAN YOU ATTRIBUTE THAT SUCCESS TO? Let’s make more space for THAT - the work that works.
You’ll achieve 80% of your results from 20% of your efforts, so we need to understand what that 20% is, and try to create more space to continue doing MORE of that.
Then, it’s time to be honest about what’s not working well.
What goals that remain on that important list seem to be lagging? What are the barriers to success here? How can we mitigate those barriers? What can you commit to (within reason) to change the path of what’s happening in relation to these goals.
What accountability do you need in order to prioritize the goal? Adding in accountability in the form of deadlines, check ins with partners, etc really help drive the likelihood that you make them a priority.
Finally, it’s time to assess if we move the goal posts.
If we’re too far off from our goal and it isn’t realistic, we’re less likely to even try. So instead of starting with a goal that’s too ambitious, start with one you KNOW you can meet. This small win breeds confidence and momentum, which we need if we hope to pursue bigger things.
In addition to this general assessment as a mid-year audit, I do specialized marketing audits (what’s performing well and what’s not), financial audits (how are we tracking towards financial goals), time audits (where is my time going and is it allocated appropriately), and excitement audits (does this still light my fire?)
If you need a coach to help you perform a mid-year audit on your business, you can schedule a one-time deep dive to have me as your guide in the process to not only determine how things are going, but to make a game plan to help you execute the rest of the year so those goals become a reality. To learn more, head here.