We’ve just passed the six-month mark of the year—and doesn’t that feel wild? Honestly, I feel like I say this every year: Where is the time going? How is it already time for a midyear check-in?
Whether it feels fair or not, the truth is—time moves fast. That’s why I think it’s so important, whether it’s coming from me or someone else you follow, to pause and check in:
How are your first six months going?
Are you on track with your goals for the year?
Have you made decisions or shifts along the way?
Sometimes we look back and think, “I haven’t really accomplished what I set out to do on January 1st,” but maybe your priorities shifted, your season changed, or life just happened—and that’s okay.
That’s exactly why setting goals once a year isn’t enough. And goals don’t have to be huge, intimidating things like, “I’m going to make a million dollars this year.” That’s often what we hear, but it’s not the only way to approach progress.
So, this episode is just a little midyear checkpoint. We’ll do it together. Let’s get into it.
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Table of Contents
Okay, so my answer might surprise you, or maybe not, but as a marketer, I have to say it: yes, you should still be marketing your business, even if you’re fully booked.
Now, can you dial it back a bit during a busy season when you’re fully booked? Sure. That’s totally fair. But I believe there are three important reasons why you should still maintain some kind of presence in a marketing channel, even when you’re swamped. So let’s get into those.
Having a Midyear Check-in With Yourself
I’ve talked about this before, and I usually do a quarterly check-in. I actually had to pull mine up because I couldn’t even remember my goals for the quarter. I forgot my words of the year too, which is rare for me—I normally keep them front and center. But since moving, I genuinely have no idea where they are.
This move has been such a whirlwind that I almost forgot I even had goals. Back in Episode 55, I shared what my 2025 goals are, and how I create quarterly Loom videos for my team so they’re in the loop with what I’m thinking. Because let’s be honest sometimes things change. I call myself a “squirrely entrepreneur” because I try really hard to stay focused. And to be fair, I’ve gotten so much better at that. But still… I’m not perfect.
Recognizing that most seasons in life are busy, and that’s not an outlier
So here we are. I had to look back at my Q2 plan, and honestly, this is exactly why I recommend quarterly check-ins—even if you don’t have a team. At the start of the year, I felt really dialed in. But Q2? It was my three-year-old’s birthday party, and we moved. Actually, it wasn’t just moving—it was me fully leaning into my nesting era. We’d been renting for years, and now we own again. We can paint, decorate, put stuff on the walls—whatever we want. And a lot of my mental energy has gone into that.
Add in the usual distractions of being visible online, and then just the realities of business growth—it’s been a busy season. And when I say “this year,” I don’t mean since January. I mean the last 12 months have been all about growth.
So yes, I’m sharing some very specific things going on in my life right now, but honestly? I don’t think this season is unusual. We like to think certain quarters are “weird” because of birthdays, moves, or whatever else. But really, that’s life.
And if we’re being honest, who wants every single quarter to be 100% focused on business, all the time, without exception? Most of us didn’t start businesses just to live like that.
Even if you’re not running a business (though let’s be real—you probably are if you’re listening to this), it’s totally normal to forget your January goals by February 1st.
Sure, maybe your business goals are top of mind, but what about your personal goals? Most of us don’t have a consistent check-in process for those—and we should.
So, let’s change that.
I went back to revisit my three words of the year. If you want to hear me talk more about them, check out Episode 55. But just to recap, my three words are:
- Delegate
- Discoverability
- Deep relationships
Right now, I’m scoring myself—what’s going well, what could be better, and what I want to change for Q3.
I also choose a single word for the year, just for me personally. This year, it’s routines. And as you can probably tell from the chaos of my last few months—and all these excuses I’m throwing at you—I haven’t really made progress on building better routines.
To be honest, Q1 was a normal quarter, and I still didn’t make much headway. Which is why I’m so glad we’re doing this midyear check-in together.
Looking at Your 2025 Business Goals
So now I want to ask you:
What were the focuses or goals you set back in January?
Maybe you thought you’d do four launches this year—and none have happened yet. Are you going to do all four in the next six months? Probably not.
But could you do two?
Could you do one?
So—what’s the plan now?
Maybe you’re realizing that you’re not going to launch after all. Maybe you’re thinking, “You know what? Launching just feels like too much right now—I’d rather try an evergreen approach.”
Although, to be fair, the general advice out there is to launch live first, then move into evergreen. But hey—I’m not your business coach. My job here is simply to help you look at your goals and ask: What can be done now?
Every time we do a goal-setting exercise, there’s a tendency to be overly ambitious. I get it—I do it too. So I’m not going to tell you to stop doing that, but I am going to ask you to be aware of it.
Look at your current goals.
What can you take off the list?
We Have So Much Time Left After This Midyear Check-in
And also—let me remind you—we have so much time left in the year.
If you’re sitting there thinking, “I never picked a word of the year,” or “I didn’t really set business goals,” or *“I haven’t accomplished much yet”… let me say it again: There is still plenty of time.
Wheel of Life Exercise
But I don’t want this episode to be just a pep talk. I want to share an actual exercise that’s helped me. I first did this in a mastermind, but it’s pretty widely known. If you Google “Wheel of Life template,” you’ll find it.
Here’s the gist:
- Take a circle and divide it into several life categories—things like health, work, family, friends, romance, creativity, white space, finances.
- I personally love including white space as a category—it was in one of the first versions I ever saw, and it really stuck with me.
Now, when you do this exercise, the goal isn’t to figure out what you’re going to focus on this quarter. It’s more about defining what a well-rounded life looks like for you.
Then, for each section, you shade it in based on how full or satisfied you feel in that area.
So, for example:
- If your business is thriving, but you’re working constantly, maybe “Work” gets an 8/10—but “Health” is more like a 2/10 because you’ve been skipping lunch every day.
It’s about gut instinct. Don’t overthink it. Just go with your first reaction:
- Money? Six out of ten.
- Health? Nine out of ten.
- Fun? Two out of ten.
Whatever it is, just go.
Once you’re done, you’ll be able to visualize what areas need more attention.
Being realistic about what you can do in the second half of the year
And listen, as someone who once did this exercise and realized everything was a 4… let me tell you:
You cannot fix four major areas of your life in a single quarter.
If you look at your wheel and say,
“I want to work on health, romance, work, finances, friends, and home,”
that’s too much.
Instead, choose two to three focus areas max. Then within each one, choose one to three actions you’ll take to improve them.
So maybe your goal is to move health from a 4 to a 6. That’s great. That’s doable.
Also—keep the season in mind. For instance, maybe “Fun” isn’t your most urgent category, but it feels like something you really want to prioritize during summer. That’s valid too.
Again, focus on two to three areas, with one to three actions each.
And remember: the more support you have, the more you can realistically accomplish.
Say business is one of your categories. If your three priorities are “SEO, blogging, and Pinterest,” but you’re outsourcing one of those to me (great decision, by the way), then that frees up your capacity.
But be careful—if your three business goals are:
- Hire a team
- Build out your agency
- Launch a course
- Grow your YouTube
That’s probably too much for one quarter.
You need to ask:
- How much support do I have?
- How much can I realistically do?
- How much do I want to do?
- What actually makes sense for Q3?
And while we’re focusing on Q3 here, let’s not forget about Q4.
Whatever we want to happen in Q4? We need to set that up in Q3.
Planning Q4 in Your Midyear Check-in
I can’t tell you how often I see this happen—especially with things like blogging and Pinterest. We say, “I’m going to take it slower this summer,” and then we’ll “deal with it in September.”
But here’s the problem with that:
Q4 is one of the biggest quarters for most businesses.
We’ve got:
- Black Friday
- The holidays
- End-of-year energy
- Clients looking for last-minute tax write-offs
And for some industries, like weddings, it’s engagement season. Q4 is packed.
So waiting until September—the last month of Q3—to start planning for it? That feels wild to me.
Unless you have a super simple business model or you’re reusing your exact Black Friday campaign from previous years (with maybe a tiny tweak here or there), you need to be thinking about Q4 now.
So, what can you do in Q3 to prepare?
How can you grow your audience, experiment, or get ahead—so that your Q4 goals are actually achievable?
Turning Your Goals Into Habits
Now, I know I veered off into business (as I always do), but let’s bring it back to the Wheel of Life exercise for a minute. I want to give you a personal example.
One area I’m focusing on right now is health.
Here are my three goals—just to show you how simple they are:
- Have coffee and breakfast at home
- Walk on my walking pad for two hours per day
- Drink eight glasses of water per day
That’s it.
These are small, realistic habits. Even the walking pad—those two hours are during the workday, not extra time. It’s totally doable if I’m intentional about it.
And maybe I’m biased (my word of the year is routines, after all), but I truly believe that once you pick your 2–3 focus areas and your 1–3 actions per area, you have to ask yourself:
How does this realistically fit into my current lifestyle?
For me, as a busy toddler mom, going to the gym for an hour a day sounds nice—but it’s just not realistic right now. Sure, I could make it work, but I’d be fighting my own circumstances.
Instead, I chose goals that are aligned with my lifestyle and my priorities.
Now, maybe next quarter I’ll stick with health again—but once these basic habits are locked in, I might build on them. Maybe I’ll start prepping healthy lunches or doing weekday salads or whatever fits next.
The point is:
- These simple habits are still powerful.
- They’re easy to visualize.
- They actually fit into my day.
Okay—back to business goals for a second, because I’ve been blending personal and business focus areas this episode (sorry, not sorry)
If you’re using the Wheel of Life and you choose business as one of your categories, I’d encourage you to think less about tactics (like “post five times a day on Instagram”) and more about routines.
For example:
- “I’m going to sit down and work from 8 to 4 every day.”
- “I’m going to respond to emails within 24 hours.”
These kinds of habits create structure and consistency that ripple into everything else.
But of course, outside the Wheel of Life, you also need a tactical plan for your business. That’s where you get more specific about strategy.
It’s OK To Do What’s The Most Fun
And honestly? It’s okay to lean into what feels fun.
That’s something I talked about with my biz bestie recently—and it’s been on my mind ever since the Creative Educator Conference back in April. (Shout out to Laylee for hosting such a fantastic event in Austin!)
Jen Olmstead, the founder of Tonic Site Shop, said something on stage that really stuck with me:
“When you’re in a slump and trying to get momentum, sometimes the best thing to do is just ask yourself—what feels the most fun? Start there.”
We have so many options as business owners. And yes—strategy matters. But if you’re feeling stuck, uninspired, or overwhelmed?
Start with what feels good.
I mean, let’s be honest—most of us aren’t Tonic, with what feels like an unlimited marketing budget and tons of street cred. Sure, they didn’t start there, but that’s kind of where they are now.
And for the rest of us, these decisions can feel a lot heavier.
- Should I focus on the agency side of my business?
- Or the passive income side?
- Should I start a TikTok this quarter?
- Or get serious about YouTube?
Sometimes, the best thing you can ask yourself is:
What feels the most fun?
Now, don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying “fun” should be the only factor. You know I care deeply about strategy.
But when you’ve weighed all the options, looked at the pros and cons, and everything’s coming up even…
Let fun be the tiebreaker.
So, that’s all I’ve got for you today. I know this was kind of a short episode—but honestly, I think summer episodes will be shorter.
Not because I’m working less, but because I’m a little more distracted. (Anyone else?)
My attention span isn’t what it is in, say, October—and I’m guessing yours isn’t either.
So yeah, that’s what’s going on over here.
If you want some bestie-style accountability, I’d love to hear from you.
Send me a DM and let me know:
- What are your goals right now?
- What came up for you during this midyear check-in?
- What are you thinking about for the next six months?
Let’s make the second half of this year even better than the first.
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