Written By: Carly Burr
I went to check the calendar this morning and to my surprise, it’s already June! That means that we are officially half way through 2023. Time really does fly by. I wanted to use this blog post as a mid-year check in. We are always so consumed with everything going on around us that we generally forget to check on how WE are doing. So, I’m going to take you through a few exercises you can complete so you can take care of yourself. Even if you think you don’t have time for it, you need to prioritize yourself first before you do anything else.
1. Reflect on how your year has gone so far.
Did you uphold any of those new year’s goals you set for yourself? If you feel like the goals you set for yourself were unrealistic, re-create them into small tasks that you can actually achieve. According to Ohio State University, researchers suggest that only 9% of Americans actually complete their new years resolution. This is probably because they are not taking the proper steps to reach their goals, and, set goals that are too big for themselves to fulfill. The best way to reach a goal is to take baby steps. For example, say you want to save up money to buy yourself a new car at the end of the year. Instead of making your goal “buy myself a brand new Mercedes at the end of the year”, write down the small steps you can take to make that goal actionable. Instead, you can say:
I will save $500 dollars a month, which equates to $125 a week. I will do this by eating lunch and making my own coffee at home.
I will visit the car dealership once I have 50% of my money saved. This way, I’m not getting myself excited over something that I don’t have the money for.
Once I have 75% of the money saved, I will start to think about what I’m going to do with the car I have now. I’ll see how much I can get for it at the dealership, if anyone I know wants to buy it, or if it will increase in value, etc.
See how breaking the goal down makes it seem so much easier and attainable? So, now that we are half-way through the year, go through all of the goals that you set for yourself, pick one, and do this. If you have too many goals it will overwhelm you to the point where you don’t complete anything.
2. Write down three things that have brought you the most joy this year.
What did you write down? People? Places? Things? Your dog? A hobby? Whatever three things you wrote down, you should evaluate how often you actually do those things, and if you don’t do them often, make that change! Life is too short to not be enjoyed, so make sure you’re incorporating those things you love into your life at least once a day.
3. Reflect on your whole year and think about what your favorite day has been so far. How can you create more of those days?
What did you do during this day? Similar to the prompt above, think about exactly what you did on your favorite day and how you can incorporate some of those things into your life all the time. Maybe you have a hobby that you are obsessed with. Have you thought about making it a career? Maybe your favorite day was spent at the beach. Do you live in proximity to a beach? If not, should you reconsider living closer to the beach? Think about these things and what you can do to make your life better for the next 6 months of 2023.
P.S: This journal prompt is also included in our annual life purpose contest (which you can enter at www.theamericaninterns.com). It's a great way to reflect on what makes your soul happy.
4. What did you accomplish so far in 2023? What are you most proud of?
Why wait until the end of the year to ask yourself this question? Close your eyes and place yourself back in January to see what you accomplished up until now. There may be large accomplishments you can easily remember, but don’t dwell on the small accomplishments as well. Maybe you’ve been strengthening your relationships with your friends, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, doing more meditation, eating healthier, or just making good decisions. When you appreciate the small accomplishments, it makes you feel good and boosts your motivation to accomplish some of those larger goals you've set for yourself.
In addition to these prompts, we are also doing a super fun challenge for the month of June! Studies show that we have around 70,000 thoughts a day, with 90% of those thoughts being negative in nature. Even worse, the following day we have repetitive thoughts up to 75% of the 90% that are negative and repetitive from the day before. So, for the month of June: start thinking about what you are thinking about! Learn to replace those negative thoughts with positive ones.
Learn more about this on our Instagram and Tik Tok, @MelissaCButterworth, and in our book CLUES, available on Amazon.com.
