One thing I have done every July for years. This year was no different. Somewhere around the middle of each year, I pause. I take an intentional step back and assess my life. And no, I don’t do this because things are falling apart. I do this because staying on track is easier when you frequently check your progress.
I used to wait until December to sit down and assess my goals, habits, finances, and overall direction. The thing was, by December I would realize I was falling behind on stuff I should have caught earlier in the year. Every January I would make the same promises to myself, and the cycle would repeat itself year after year.
Then one year, I realized that July was just as good of a month as December to perform a self check. Instead of waiting 6 months to review every area of my life, I decided to cut my review in half. July became my new time to reevaluate my goals, habits, health, finances, and anything else I could think of. By doing a mid year life audit every year, I became more intentional. More productive. And hyper aware of what areas of my life needed adjustment before the year passed me by.
Life seems to pass us by far too quickly. If you’re feeling like this year is already half over and you’re just now realizing it, use this mid year life audit checklist to gain clarity, identify what’s working, what’s not, and take meaningful action in the next 6 months!
Mid Year Life Audit Checklist to Reset and Refocus Your Life
1. Review the Goals You Set at the Beginning of the Year
There is one important place to start with any type of life audit, and that’s by reviewing the goals you wrote down at the beginning of the year.
Far too many people sit down and make huge lists of goals in January, then immediately hang them up on the “goal” to never look at them again. Either they forget what their goals were or, when they look back on them later, they assume they’ve made 0 progress.
Take out your goals and review them. Which goals have you accomplished? Which ones are you making progress on? Which ones have you not even touched?
There is no judgment here. The goal of this exercise is to become aware of where you currently stand with each goal. You cannot improve unless you measure where you are starting from.
Read also: Setting Goals: A Guide for Success
2. Assess Your Physical Health
How are your health and daily habits? Do you feel like you are taking care of your body, or are you just grinding through each day until you collapse into bed?
Your health impacts every area of your life. If you are not feeling good physically, it will be difficult to find motivation and energy to excel at the things you want to improve.
Use this section of the audit to really dive deep on your health. How’s your sleep? How often do you exercise? What are you eating? Are you drinking enough water? How stressed out do you feel? What’s your energy level like?
You would be surprised at how much better your health can become by simply tweaking a few things each day. Take notes on areas you know you could improve, and create a plan to make better health a priority.
Read also: 6 Essential Mental Health Facts You Need to Know
3. Evaluate Your Mental and Emotional Well Being
Do you feel mentally clear and emotionally healthy? Are you constantly stressed, anxious, frustrated, and burnt out? Or do you feel inspired, happy, confident, and motivated?
If you spend all year smashing your goals but neglect your mental and emotional well being, have you really achieved success?
Use this section to really think about your mental health. Are there things weighing on your mind? Is there too much stress in your life? How often are you practicing gratitude?
Many of us work ourselves to the ground WITHOUT stopping to take care of our inner health. Your emotional state needs to be addressed in this audit as well.
Read also: 13 Positive Reminders for Mental Health
4. Examine Your Personal Growth
Are you growing as a person? This can be tricky to measure because you will probably feel like you are learning and improving every day. However, take a moment to really think about how you could have better reacted in certain situations.
What books have you read? What skills have you learned? What lessons have you learned about yourself this year?
Remember that personal growth doesn’t always come in the form of outgoing accomplishments. You can improve every day by becoming wiser, more disciplined, more confident, and learning how to make better decisions.
Reviewing your personal growth helps you appreciate how much you’ve learned while also identifying areas you still want to improve.
This is also a great time to reaffirm your commitment to personal development, continuous learning, and becoming the best version of you.
Read also: 150 Self-Reflection Questions for Personal Growth
5. Audit Your Finances
Are your finances where you want them to be? Even if you hate talking about money, this is an important section of your mid year life audit.
Look at your income, expenses, savings, debt, investments, and any financial goals you’ve set for yourself this year. Are you spending money wisely, or buying things you don’t need?
Are you on track to meet your savings goals? What financial habits can you improve on?
Reviewing your finances halfway through the year can help you prevent small problems from turning into giant issues down the road.
6. Evaluate Your Career or Business
Are you satisfied with your job or the progress you are making with your business? Use this section to think about various areas of your career.
Are you learning new skills? Do you feel challenged? Are you building towards your long term career goals?
If you own a business, think about your revenue, goals, systems, employee or team growth, and any areas you’d like to improve.
It’s important to schedule regular career audits to make sure you’re spending most of your time and energy on work that moves you closer to your vision.
7. Review Your Relationships
How are your relationships? This includes family, friends, romantic relationships, mentors, teammates, and anyone else that has a significant impact on your life.
Think about the relationships in your life that are adding value. Which relationships do you wish you were spending more time on? Are there any friendships or connections that are dragging you down?
Your relationships are just as important to review as anything else on this list. Take time to really evaluate your connections with others and identify ways you can improve them.
8. Analyze How You Spend Your Time
How are you spending your time? There are 168 hours in each week. Where are most of your hours going? Watching TV? Social media? Working?
Your time is precious, and you never get it back. If you are not spending most of your time doing things that improve your life, you should ask yourself why.
When I look back at a typical week, many times I’m surprised to find that my calendar doesn’t align with my priorities. I think I spend more time than most people on intentionally improving different areas of my life. But I still find areas I can improve!
9. Evaluate Your Habits
Working on better habits is one of the best ways to transform your life. But you can’t improve your habits if you don’t know which good habits you need to focus on more and which bad habits you need to break.
Take a moment and think about the habits you have formed over the past year. What good habits have helped you reach your goals? What bad habits are preventing you from reaching your goals?
You can improve your habits by creating better daily routines. Try thinking of your day as a grinder who needs direction. What habits do you need to program into your day to make him more productive?
10. Review Your Digital Life
There is an amazing opportunity to learn and improve your life through technology. But if you are not using technology wisely, it can seriously harm your progress.
How much time do you spend on social media each day? Are you using websites like YouTube and Instagram to learn new information, or are you mindlessly browsing?
Take some time to review your digital life. How can you use technology to help you versus distract you?
11. Evaluate Your Learning and Skills
Technology is advancing quicker every year. One of the best investments you can make is to continuously learn and improve your skillset.
What skills have you learned so far this year? Are there areas you know you should become more knowledgeable in?
Whether it’s marketing, coding, writing, cooking, or public speaking, there is always more you can learn to improve your odds of success.
12. Examine Your Environment
It’s amazing how much your environment can impact your day to day behavior. Look around at your home and workspace.
Do these spaces inspire you to be productive? Or are they cluttered and making you feel stressed?
Make notes on how you can improve your environment to become more productive. You’d be surprised how much of a difference this can make.
13. Revisit Your Core Values
So often we get busy with life and forget about what’s most important. Use this section of the audit to revisit your core values.
Are your current goals and priorities aligned with your values? What things have you been working towards that don’t actually matter to you?
Take time to think about what you truly value. Then make sure the areas you spend most of your time on are in line with those values.
14. Identify What Needs to Be Let Go
If you want to improve your life, you will have to let go of the things holding you back. This could be old goals that are no longer relevant, negative people in your life, bad habits, toxic thinking, or anxious feelings.
Whatever is standing in the way of you improving your life, you have to let it go.
Sometimes, in order to improve your life, you have to delete the old version of yourself that no longer serves you.
Your energy is precious. Don’t waste it on things that don’t matter anymore.
15. Celebrate Your Wins
Most people jump from one goal to the next without taking time to appreciate how far they’ve come. But growth happens every day whether you realize it or not.
Take a moment and celebrate how far you’ve already come this year. You are better today than you were this time last year. And next year you will be better than you are today.
Looking back and celebrating your growth will help you build confidence and remind you that you are making progress even when it feels like you’re not.
16. Create a Plan
Like I said earlier, a life audit doesn’t mean shit if you don’t take action. Reviewing your life is only the first step.
You should write down your goals for the next 6 months. What areas do you want to improve? What new habits do you want to build? What actions will you take this week to steer your life back on course?
Again, keep your plan simple. You will achieve more by starting somewhere than never starting at all.
17. Write a Personal Commitment Statement
Before you finish this audit, write yourself a commitment letter. Write down what you learned from this audit, what you plan on doing differently, and how you want to show up over the next 6 months.
You can think of this letter as a contract you sign with yourself to stay on course and never give up. When you’re feeling weak or feel like going back to your old habits, you can refer back to this letter and remember why you made this commitment.
Conclusion
Performing a mid year life audit is one of the best things you can do to improve your life. It allows you to pause for a few minutes and reevaluate your priorities. Before you know it, your year is over and you’ve fallen victim to “autopilot” mode.
A life audit doesn’t have to be perfect. But it does have to be honest. Don’t go into this expecting to beat yourself up. Learn what you can and improve on the things that aren’t serving you anymore.
You still have half a year left to make this year great. Use this mid year life audit to your advantage and finish strong!
FAQ
What is a mid year life audit?
A mid year life audit is a structured review of the major areas of your life, including goals, health, finances, relationships, habits, and personal growth. It helps you evaluate progress and make adjustments before the year ends.
When should I do a mid year life audit?
July is often the ideal time because it marks the midpoint of the year and provides enough time to make meaningful changes before December.
How long does a life audit take?
A thorough life audit can take anywhere from one hour to an entire weekend depending on how detailed you want the process to be.
Why is a mid year life audit important?
It helps you identify what is working, what is not, and what changes are needed to achieve your goals more effectively.
Can a life audit improve productivity?
Yes. By reviewing your priorities, habits, and time management practices, you can eliminate distractions and focus on activities that produce better results.
Should I write down my audit findings?
Absolutely. Writing your observations and action plans creates accountability and makes it easier to track progress throughout the rest of the year.
What is the biggest benefit of a mid year life audit?
The biggest benefit is increased self-awareness. When you clearly understand where you stand, you can make smarter decisions and create a more intentional path forward.
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