Sometime around May or June every single year I fall into a slump. I’ve been chugging along, ticking off one goal after another on the list I made for myself back in December. I’ve made a lot of progress, but I’m certainly not done.
But as I look at what’s left on my list, none of it catches my energy. Nothing lights me up and inspires me to take new action. After 8 years of building an online, momstyle business (and hitting this slump every year), I’ve learned to anticipate it and to get past it with a mid-year business review. I’m going to teach you how in this short article so you can get out of your mid-year slump.
Why You Need a Mid-Year Business Review
First, let’s look at why you end up in a slump, as this will help you understand the point of a mid-year business review. Simply put, you’ve changed since the beginning of the year when you set your goals. If you’ve done some mindset work, you could have changed in some big internal ways. But even if you feel like essentially the same you, you’ve learned from what’s happened in your business.
You are in a slump because the goals you set 6 months back no longer make sense. They no longer represent the best of what you have to offer. So it’s time to adjust.
(As an aside, this feeling doesn’t necessarily happen only 5-6 months into the year. If you are growing and evolving at a fast pace, you could find yourself feeling this way in April, March, or even February. This why I’ve given up detailed annual planning all together.)
Instead, I create a big picture mind map with some high-level goals, a short document outlining my assumptions and overall strategy, and then break them down about 3 months at a time using the 30-60-90 day process I learned about in Katy Moses Huggins’ Kick Start Your Business.)
How to Complete Your Mid-Year Business Review
Next, let’s talk about what your mid-year review looks like. Thankfully, since we are busy moms and there never seems to be enough time, this process is short and sweet. Set aside an hour and start writing:
- First, list out what have you accomplished so far this year. Be as complete as you can. We often discount our accomplishments. Think of products released, content created, social media accounts set up, significant updates to your website or email sequences, relationships established, tasks outsourced, people hired, and even mindset shifts. Review any planning documents you have to make your list as complete as possible.
- Next, look at the raw data inside your business. Statistics like revenue, website traffic, and follower counts. You’ll receive a template when you download my complimentary workbook, Build Your Business the Momstyle Way.
- Look at what you’ve captured and connect the dots. What actions led to what results? What actions didn’t turn out like you expected? Sometimes I like to write a story to put it all into narrative form as this can be a powerful way to work through what I’ve created inside my business.
At this point you should feel more grounded and have a sense of clarity about what the first part of your year looked like. If you have a clear vision about where you are headed, then the next logical step will be to map out your high-level goals for the next 3 months or the big picture flow for the rest of the year. If you feel stuck, spend some time envisioning where you want to be by the end of the year in your business and then set the interim goals that will take you there.
The whole idea behind this work is to reinvigorate the energy you have around your business. By looking back, you can see how much you accomplished and get a clearer sense of what’s doable from now until the end of the year. By resetting new goals that light you up, you’ll get new energy for moving forward. By letting go of goals you set in December that no longer resonate, you clear space for more meaningful work.
How have you used a mid-year review in your business?
