Welcome back to another post :) In this one let’s take a look at where we are right now, check in with ourselves, and do a little mid-year “audit”. Don’t worry - you can explore as much or as little as you like.
Why Checking in Matters
Taking time to look back and reflect is always a good thing. When we do it in the context of looking at where we are now, compared to maybe what we wanted/thought of, it can really help keep us on track, and usually it will surprise us in a really positive way.
By checking-in with yourself, you not only create accountability, but you are very handily reminded of what you chose to do. Sometimes you’ll be surprised at what you wrote down - when you read it you may remember how you felt writing it down. I’ll give you a personal example: I wanted to achieve the splits. I wrote it down thinking “meh, we’ll see…don’t know…” In one month I achieved this.
So you see, a check in will help you realize that maybe, you have achieved many of the things you had planned/thought about. You might see that something really important has changed, for example.
Maybe back at the beginning of the year you were in a situation that brought anger or sadness, and now that situation has changed. There’s a lot to potentially be very happy and grateful about, and when we take time to reflect, we give ourselves the ability to allow all this in and recognize all the areas in our life where we have grown, seen positive change, and can continue forwards with.
So checking in with ourselves is actually very important and really useful. You can do this a lot more regularly too, especially if, like me, you have decided to embark on something like a “No-Spend Year” (more on this another time).
You can also see where you are emotionally, and what has changed. You really create a space where you can be proud of what you have done, and be able to easily realize what you have not yet done - and now you can explore if you still want to! Or maybe, why something didn’t happen, or you did not yet do it…
Questions to Ask Yourself During a Check In
At the beginning of the year, you may have set some goals, or plans for how the year was going to play out, things you wanted to do, or maybe try, or accomplish. It’s quite different to a “new year’s resolution”: If you are the kind of person who enjoys looking inward and taking the time to learn and explore, you may have thought of things you would like to start changing or incorporating, and these go way beyond the new year’s resolution types of “goals”. They tend to be more long-term, and achievable.
Usually, people who set new year’s resolutions do this without first analyzing where they are at, what they can commit to, what they can change and do away with in order to make space for something new. Usually, the goals tend to be way too drastic and unrealistic in the context of people’s lives, and they end up feeling like they don’t have enough time.
When we set goals, or ideas, or whatever it may be, we should always do this mindfully and kindly with ourselves. We should think about how much time we really have, how much we can change things around to make more time for something, and other considerations such as these.
So, let’s get started and check in with ourselves. Use this list of questions that I have come up with and see if these help you check in:
Have you made commitments/thought of changes for this year?
How have you gotten on with them? Did you do some of it? All of it?
If you fell short, why do you think that was?
If you had plans or wanted to try new things, did these come to fruition in any way?
If they didn’t, what is or did stop you?
What goals do you want to set now, going forward?
What changes are you thinking of making now?
Of the things you had decided on previously, which of those are you carrying forward? Need more work? Were successfully checked off?
Is there something you want to change?
As always, I have recommended keeping a journal whilst reading my articles, because if you did go ahead and practice some or all of the posts’ suggestions until now, you would really have quite a long year’s worth of progress, changes, likes, dislikes, learning, challenges, etc …. you may well have overcome things, or learned how to do something differently.
By asking yourself the above questions, if you did keep a log or journal of any of our previous exercises, you could also check-in with your progress in all those ways too!
Separately, if you made any choices or decisions or changes at all during the start of the year, or had any plans or goals for what this year was supposed to look like, then the above questions will be super useful for you too.
My Personal Check In Story
At the beginning of the year, I created a vision board, and had very firm ideas on what I wanted to achieve in my personal life, athletically with my yoga, and other things. I therefore now have a very clear point of reference for my check-in. Did I commit to those things? Did I achieve any of them? (and all the other above questions…) Before I tell you how my check-in is going - here is a bit more background on how transformative some of my commitments were.
I completed an at-home yoga retreat, which lasted the entire month of January. The retreat required you to journal every day, and complete the assigned yoga and meditation classes. Of course, you are at home, so the only person holding you accountable and responsible is yourself - serious dedication to an online program does require discipline - but I am a very, very disciplined person so once I commit to something I’m all in.
So I decided to put myself into doing things I would never normally do. These were things such as guided meditations, all different styles of yoga, daily journaling, etc. What it basically meant, was that I was not in control. Usually, I journal if I “feel like it”. In short, I never operate on any obligations, in any area of my life.
In the end, the entire at-home retreat ended up being a huge practice in letting go. Letting go of that control that - thanks to the retreat - I realized I was applying in all areas of my life. (I’m not controlling with others - just myself and my life.) In short, the experience was actually really transformative for me. I went through a lot of healing and understanding about myself, my whole view was shifted forward in so many ways and so many positive and permanent changes are now a part of my life thanks to my commitment to pursue that retreat.
So commitment and goal setting can hands down be a completely fantastic thing to do - as long as you are being conscious, kind to yourself, and giving yourself time and space.
Looking back at my vision board, I have very much accomplished all the things I had set for myself. Some of these goals were:
Being able to do front and middle splits - I can’t yet do the middle splits fully.
Achieve full forward fold
Have a lot more free time
Being happier in my life - change my work
Feel peaceful, calm as much as possible
Going roller blading a lot more
Really cleansing and being fully minimalist
Rushing less
Being more present
Keep healing and working through my personal things
Have a more wellness oriented home: always has been, but more strong focus now on this: yoga mat always available, comfortable, full of plants - feels like a retreat, safe, very minimal, very calming
My other goals on the board I inserted without super clear timelines, but it’s slightly more long-term ones.
Not everything had to be a huge achievement or milestone - going roller blading more can sound really mundane - but these are the things that mattered to me.
As the year went on, I continued embracing the slow-living lifestyle, being super mindful, and minimal. I focused on my words for the year, and brought each of these things into my life. My routines slowly changed to adapt to this new way, new amount of free time. The more I fell into this rhythm, other new goals appeared too. Like my no-spend year commitment which I will discuss in my next post. Everything falls into place into the right rhythm for what we each want.
I hope you find this mid-year check in very useful - let me know what you have achieved and worked on, and what you’ll be setting more of going into the rest of the year.
I wish you a beautiful and blessed week.
Lots of love <3
Este es una reflexión de las difíciles. Repensar como pienso y rehacer lo hecho. Pero de los mas satisfactorios y personales, porque realmente podemos cambiar nuestro día a dia y aunque nos parece poco el cambio, realmente no lo es, es grande e importante porque de a pequeños pasitos arreglamos situaciones en nuestras actividades y COSTUMBRES ( esta es peor que cualquier otra) que realmente nos dan paz, mas rendimiento en el tiempo y alegria, como por ejemplo : pintar, arreglar mi jardin(por pequeño que sea)deshacernos del tumulto de cosas y cosas en una casa, cosas que no tocamos o miramos por largo tiempo y entonces pensar para que las tengo si solo las veo cuando las limpio; en fin cada persona es diferente pero por experiencia propia digo que no es bueno acumular solo porque si.
Gracias por el blog siempre ayuda a reflexionar y mejorar como persona♥️🌹