As we approach the half-year mark, one of the things I make sure to do is reflecting on the past few months. In this post, I will share the 5 journal prompts that always help me in my mid-year review process – so that you can hopefully benefit from them too!
All you need is a pen and your favorite journal, a quiet space, and the willingness to dig deep into yourself and your life – so that you can improve both.
Are you ready to journal with me? Then, let’s get started!
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Why You Need a Mid-Year Review
Most people don’t achieve their goals because they fall for this mistake: they start the year off strong, with good intentions and full of resolutions, and then stop thinking about them or acting upon them when the initial burst of motivation fades.
Doing a mid-year reset is ideal because six months is the perfect point mark to pause, assess your progress, and adjust your shot.
You still have six months ahead of you – you can end the year feeling proud, or defeated. The choice is yours.
Sure, maybe the past six months haven’t been great for one reason or another.
Maybe you haven’t made the progress you hoped for. M
Maybe something unexpected happened and threw you completely off track.
It doesn’t matter. What matters is how you decide to act from now on.
5 Mid-Year Journal Prompts to Review Your Year & Get Clarity
The following five questions are designed to help you think mindfully about your past months, so that you can move forward with more clarity and intention, setting yourself up for a successful rest of the year.
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1. If you had to give a general score (1-10) to your year so far, what would it be? Why?
Start with this question. Why? Because you need to know where you’re at in order to improve.
Rate each month of the year so far, and then calculate an average score – that’s your starting point.
But the grade itself doesn’t mean anything; what matters most are the motivations behind it.
Unless you have a 10/10 (but even then, you could still do it), you should ask yourself the following questions:
- First of all, are you happy with your score?
- What does that number mean to you?
- What areas of your life do you need to improve most? How can you improve them?
- What’s already working in your life?
- What score would need to have, by the end of the year, to feel satisfied? How can you achieve it?
2. What’s one thing you wish you hadn’t done (or had done less) in the past 6 months?
This question is not about feeling guilty or dwelling on the past. It’s your invite to reflect on your past to see how that can help you create a better future for yourself.
The truth is, if you never stop and look backwards – how can you ensure you’re not making the same mistakes over and over again?
Another reason why this question is so powerful is because it challenges you to think differently.
You see, we’re so used to adding and adding things to our lives that we lose sight of what’s essential.
We constantly think in terms of: “Could I have done more?”, “Maybe I should have been more…”, or “If only I did…”.
We never give ourselves a break.
But, what if instead of doing more – you could do less, and still feel better?
Sure, you could have made more progress on any of your goals if you did more of the right things. But also, the same result can be achieved if you learn to do less of the wrong things.
For the next six months, focus on removing instead of adding. Go from:
- Trying to do everything → To doing less of the unimportant tasks
- Adding new goals, habits, and routines → To committing to the ones that are meaningful to you
- Saying yes to everybody → To saying yes only to what you truly want to do
3. In what ways are you acting accordingly to your higher self? And, in what cases are you still doing what the past version of yourself used to do?
For this prompt, I want you to take a piece of paper and split it into two columns. On the left, you’re going to write “higher self”; on the right “current self”.
From there, I want you to make a list of all the habits, routines, actions, thoughts, and behaviours your highest self would engage in.
Would she wake up early every morning? Would she speak kindly to herself, acting from a place of compassion and self-love? Or, would she approach her days slowly, mindfully, and with intention?
Now, I want you to list all the habits, routines, actions, thoughts, and behaviors you’re currently engaging in.
What do you notice? Where is the overlap, and where is there a clear gap in the two?
How can you expect to live your dream life if you’re letting the past control your future?
This exercise is great because it allows you to become aware of your current patterns and, since you can change only what you’re aware of, starting from today you can make different choices and act more like the future you.
4. Imagine it’s December 31st and write a letter to your current self. What would you say?
If you can choose only one questions from these 5 journal prompts to review your year, let it be this one.
Don’t underestimate how much you can change your life in the next six months, if only you commit to it.
The truth is that it’s so easy to lose sight of our goals and priorities in the chaos of our everyday lives…
There are only a few moments in life when we suddenly become more conscious of the time passing by. One of them is New Year’s.
So, to make the most of the upcoming six months, I want you to write a letter from the future to your current self.
Pretend it’s already the end of the year – what would you tell yourself? What message do you need to hear now?
5. If achieving your goals was a game, what would be your winning strategy?
What if the reason you find it so hard to achieve your goals is because you’re making it hard? What if you didn’t have to struggle as much? And what if you could make the process of achieving your goals more fun?
Enter the era of gamifying your goals!
Think about it: if this was all a game, how could you win?
Maybe your goal is to write a book, but you can’t manage to sit down and let those words out. Well, it’s an overwhelming goal if you think about it! So, how can you make it more doable and fun? You could:
- Choose a theme song for your writing sessions
- Start off with an achievable goal, such as writing 100 words per day
- Reward yourself for every week of consistent writing
Or, if your goal is to become more confident, you could:
- Say a positive thing about yourself every time you see something blue (or any color you prefer)
- Challenging yourself by doing one new thing every week
- Play the game of “acting like the most confident person you know” for a day
You can get there.
You will get there.
And…one way to ensure this is to make the journey as fun as possible – which is why you need to gamify achieving your goals!
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Bonus: The Ultimate 90-Day Goal Action Plan
Achieving your goals is not a piece of cake, but I want to make it easier for you. That’s exactly why I designed the 90-Day Goal Action Plan!
This planner isn’t just another place to jot down your goals. It’s a system designed to help you turn your “someday” dreams into actionable steps by:
- Getting clarity on what you truly want
- Breaking your big dreams into doable steps
- Staying on track with weekly check-ins
- Reflecting and adjusting your shot
- Actually following through & sticking to the plan
What are you still waiting for? Grab your planner now and create the life of your dreams – one goal at the time! 😉
Conclusion
That’s all from me today!
I hope these 5 journal prompts will inspire you during your own mid-year review process.
You’ll be surprised by how much clarity and motivation you’ll get, if you only sit down and answer these questions 😉
Q: “Do you have any other journal prompts you love to reflect about during your mid-year review session?” – Share it in the commenst! 🙂
Until next time,
Mid year resets are such a great way to refocus! Started doing it last year and it changed the game for me!