Mind
•Centr Team
Your mid-year performance review: take our quiz
Calendar alert: It’s time for your mid-year performance review.
Remember those goals you set yourself at the start of the year? With the clock ticking down on making them happen, it’s important to check in on your progress now.
Why? In a review of studies of people trying to achieve personal health goals like losing weight or quitting smoking, researchers found that the more frequently someone monitored their progress, the greater their chances of success.
We’re not your boss, but for the purposes of this exercise, consider us your health and fitness HR representative. Need a smart goal checklist? We’ll help you come up with one. Lacking motivation? There’s a pep talk for that. Thinking your expectations may have been wildly unrealistic? We’ll help you bring those goals back down to earth.
Take our quiz to find out if your goals are on track or in need of a serious tune-up.
1. How many goals did you set yourself at the start of this year?
a) None
b) Too many
c) A healthy mix of short and long-term goals
If you answered…
a) None
This health and fitness thing isn’t always easy. If it was, we’d all be on track for Olympic gold and our doctors would have absolutely no notes. Just like you’re more likely to remember to buy cheese at the store when you write it on a shopping list, you’re more likely to achieve something you need or want to do when you set a goal. In fact, the simple act of setting a goal can improve self-confidence and motivation.
So come on, are you honestly telling us there’s nothing you’d like to achieve, be better at or simply give a red hot go this year? Think on it, we’ll circle back.
b) Too many
When you have multiple goals on the go, none are getting your full focus. And that’s a recipe for getting nowhere. It’s time to get ruthless and eliminate “goal competition”. Which of your goals are really important to you? Putting a line through less important goals and committing to what really matters is an easy way to speed up your progress. Just write down what you want to achieve over the next six months, then prioritize.
c) A healthy mix of short and long-term goals
We’re impressed. Go straight to the next question.
2. How do you feel your goals are tracking?
a) I’m making good progress on them!
b) I’m on the fence (about most of them)
c) I don’t think I’m going to achieve them
If you answered…
a) I’m making good progress on them!
Have you heard about the “progressive overload” philosophy in muscle building? In short, it means you need to continually challenge your muscles if you want to keep making gains. Well, the same goes for your goals. It’s great that you’re racing through your checklist, but it may also be a sign that you’re ready for more. Let’s aim higher and see what you can really do!
b) I’m on the fence (about most of them)
Spending the rest of the year on that fence doesn’t sound particularly comfortable. But then again, it sounds like you need to get out of your comfort zone in order to get back on track. This is a two-step process. Firstly, remember your ‘why’ – if you feel your motivation waning, return to this purpose and recommit. Secondly, lock yourself in a small room with Da Rulk – there is no obstacle that can’t be overcome with a Rulk pep talk coursing through your veins.
c) I don’t think I’m going to achieve them
If you don’t feel like your goals are on track, it may be because they’re not SMART enough. To give yourself the best chance of success, goals should be:
- Specific – rather than a vague aim like “getting in shape”.
- Measurable – e.g. body measurements, tracking how long/how far you can run.
- Action-oriented – don’t just talk about working out, plan how you’ll fit it into your day.
- Realistic – work on a goal that is achievable for you.
- Time-limited – set a timeframe so you’re less likely to put things off.
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Alexz is reviewing her smart goals checklist to ensure she’s on track with her targets.
3. Have you learned any new skills this year?
a) Yes
b) No, what’s that got to do with my goals?
If you answered…
a) Yes
Well done. The life skills you learn when working toward a goal – think the discipline required to crush a full set of burpees, or the planning you put into meal prep – can lead to greater levels of performance and success. Not just in your health and fitness, but in other spheres like your career and finances.
b) No, what’s that got to do with my goals?
Let’s say you set a goal to build muscle, but you’ve never stepped foot in a gym. That’s a whole lot of new skills you’re going to need to learn to even get started.
But don’t look at it as a bad thing – learning just one new skill can have a snowball effect. First, you learn good dumbbell technique. That gives you a feeling of accomplishment. Now you’re more motivated to try the cable machine. That makes going to the gym feel less like a chore. Suddenly you’re performing better at work, because your focus and memory has improved thanks to all these new skills.
Whether it’s mastering an exercise, learning a new language or nailing a different style of cooking, new skills can have big benefits for your body and mind… and your goals.
4. How often do you review your goal checklist?
a) Occasionally
b) Not until now
If you answered…
a) Occasionally
That’s a good start, but the more often you review your goals, the better. As Benjamin Harkin, PhD, of the University of Sheffield says, tracking your progress is key to “ensuring that goals are translated into action”.
b) Not until now
Let’s be real – you can’t achieve or improve on something you don’t properly measure or manage, can you? So first things first, write your goal down on a piece of paper. Research has shown you’re much more likely to achieve a goal if you write it down. Underneath that, break the big goal down into smaller stepping stones or micro habits that will help to get you there. Now you need to set up a routine to review your progress on this checklist – doing it first thing in the morning is a good way to get yourself into the right mindset.
A regular review won’t just increase your likelihood of achieving a goal (see above), it also helps you to celebrate your successes, acknowledge any challenges, cope with setbacks and build self-awareness. Have it on our desk by the end of the week, please!
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Whether your goal is mastering one-armed push-ups or eating more home-cooked meals, we’ve got your back.
5. Have you scrapped any goals this year?
a) Nope
b) Too many to count!
If you answered…
a) Nope
Please open your goal training manual and refer to section 3, subclause 4: If a goal doesn’t scare you a little bit, it’s too small. Aim higher, fail harder, win bigger!
b) Too many to count!
When things don’t go your way, it’s not failure – it’s feedback. So you face-planted when attempting a one-armed push-up. That’s a signal to go back and keep building your strength before trying it again. Research has shown that early failure can lead to greater success.
So take the learnings from any scrapped goals and use that knowledge to set better ones for the future.
Quiz complete. Are your goals on track?
Whether your goals are humming along or wobbling precariously, we hope this review has given you a fresh perspective and a new set of action items to get as much as possible from the second half of the year.
If you still haven’t come up with a goal, try thinking about what you don’t want instead. Don’t want to be at the gym by 5am every day? That’s okay. Lay out what you don’t want your day to look like, and work backwards from there.
This inverted thinking is known as anti-goals – and it’s just one of the ways you can start building good habits and achieving your goals.
Now get out there and let’s get things done!
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