We\u2019re at that point in the year where we can see the new one on the horizon.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve lived through Valentine\u2019s Day, honoured Independence Day and chopped five different holidays in May. We\u2019ve survived Gemini season, begrudgingly welcomed winter and now July has arrived with a mid-year performance review.<\/p>\n
While 2020 taught us never to claim a year as our own, the best of us still had plans for 2026. We wanted to launch that business, grow that social media account, start a fitness journey, travel, pursue a new stream of income or take up a new hobby.<\/p>\n
If this was your year to do any of the above, you have six months to get back on track, begin or lock in.<\/p>\n
But first, a mid-year life audit. With just six months until 2027, let\u2019s take stock of the year so far. From your personal to your financial health, here are some things to consider.<\/p>\n
First, and to quote celebrated Namibian hip-hop trio Black Vulcanite, let\u2019s remember the future. Six months ago, when you trotted out your new year\u2019s resolutions, good and gleaming as they were, what did you imagine your life would look like right now?<\/p>\n
July is as good a time as any to take another look at your initial goals, recommit to the ones you\u2019re busy with or get going on things that may have fallen by the wayside.<\/p>\n
As a primer to any incoming self-flagellation, July is also an apt moment to celebrate your wins. If you\u2019ve been putting in the work to achieve your goals, now is the time for a tangible pat on the back.<\/p>\n
If your goals were in the realm of financial health or saving, I\u2019m not saying spontaneously book a European holiday. Similarly, if you\u2019ve been working on your physical health, let\u2019s not take two weeks off those workouts or rekindle that spark with junk food.<\/p>\n
But definitely do something nice, eat something delicious and indulge reasonably to celebrate your dedication. The long haul isn\u2019t as gruelling when we take a few moments to commend ourselves for largely staying the course.<\/p>\n
Once you\u2019ve reminded yourself how amazing you are, let\u2019s get into tracking failure. With your unmet or stagnant goals in hand, ask yourself where you\u2019re falling short and why that may be.<\/p>\n
Identifying pitfalls like poor time management, toxic relationships, too much doomscrolling, excess bed-rotting, just plain procrastination or sustained ill health can help pinpoint what\u2019s holding you back.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019ve identified your weaknesses, weak spots or distractions, the next stop is an action plan. How are you going to manifest the life you envisioned when you set your goals and intentions earlier this year? What practical, real-world things do you need to do to achieve your goals?<\/p>\n
Start small. Write down what you need to do. If your goal is to exercise regularly, ask yourself how your life would need to change to do so. Would you need to get up an hour earlier to go for a walk? Would you join a gym or regularly do YouTube workouts after dinner? Keep asking questions until you have a plan that answers those questions as practical steps and commitments.<\/p>\n
Should you want to start a business, have you done your research, gauged market interest, drawn up a budget or familiarised yourself with the practical aspects of registering your company?<\/p>\n
Maybe you want to read more. Have you bought a book that intrigues you, joined a book club or implemented a no-screens rule past 20h00 so you\u2019re encouraged to read for an hour?<\/p>\n
If the plan is to eat better and order fewer takeaways, have you designated a day for grocery shopping and budgeted time for cooking or for meal prep?<\/p>\n
The little things are stepping stones to the bigger things and having a plan helps structure your time, build constructive habits and momentum and assists in holding yourself accountable.<\/p>\n
While a mid-year life audit isn\u2019t the easiest on the ego and is actually a prelude to even more self-work, taking a moment to realign and recommit to your goals is worth the discomfort of acknowledging you aren\u2019t currently where you hoped you would be.<\/p>\n
2026 is still here and so are you.<\/p>\n
Cheers to making the most of a year that\u2019s still yours for the taking.<\/p>\n
\u2013 martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019re at that point in the year where we can see the new one on the horizon. We\u2019ve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,4174,4175,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-674735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}