Mid-year check in

I really meant to do this exercise at the end of June on the actual halfway point date of the year. The second half of the year officially started on July 1st. I figure it's still close enough to count this as a good mid-year review of where I'm at on my creative projects and goals.

The first thing I want to check in on is my One Little Word for the year of READY.  I feel like I did great with my word for the first 4 months of the year and then I sort of lost steam for a bit. I don't feel too bad about that because I think it's hard to stay completely focused on an idea of goal for the entire year. I do believe it has to ebb and flow a bit as circumstances change. Now with my daughter getting married in 5 weeks, it seems like I need to re-up my dedication to the word READY and put it back on the front burner. 

Ways this word has helped me already this years:

• I've improved on not being late as much and being more prepared for appointments and events. I still have room for improvement here, but I have definitely made progress.
• I've spent a big chunk of time and energy this year into trying to help my family get ready for the future, especially my daughter who is getting married next month. Lots to get READY when there is a wedding to plan and many life changes as a result.
• I've become a better planner in general (even though this was already a strength for me). I use Trello to keep track of tasks and projects. I have been dedicated about getting calendar events scheduled and I have taken the time to think about what needs to be done ahead of upcoming appointments.

Still need to work on:

• Having myself physically ready. I wanted to be in better shape for my daughter's wedding. I wanted to keep up the regular exercise program I was on earlier this year. I am struggling to maintain the laundry and have my own items ready to go when needed. And grocery shopping and food prep are so difficult to stay on top of!
• Being more mentally ready for challenges that pop up. In all fairness, I think I do pretty well with this but the circumstances in my life (special needs son, husband that travels a lot, health issues for me and family members) require me function at my highest capacity most of the time.  Still, I want to be ready to deal with the things life throws at us. Maybe this is asking too much, but a girl's gotta try, right?
• Being prepared for emergencies. I had sort of forgotten that I had used this as part of my inspiration in choosing this word until I went back and read my initial blog post. I sure am glad I decided to do a mid-year review!

Reading and learning is another area I've been trying to focus on this year and I'm feeling pretty good about my progress there. I do have a TON of online courses and resources that I haven't even touched this year, but I've been pretty faithful about reading. I'm currently on track to be able to meet my goal of reading 24 books in 2018 with 16 already completed.

As far as creative projects go, it's been a mixed bag for me this year. I've had some droughts with my memory keeping, but I have faithfully completed my roundup each month and I have kept up reasonably well with my personal and professional blogging which helps so much with keeping track of what is going on in life. Writing is a creative exercise for me and blogging is a big part of that.

I've also released new designs each month this year and worked hard to improve my creative skills in this area. I have followed Ali Edwards' One Little Word workshop each month, read books to spark my creativity, and also tried to learn new things. I know my goals for what I want to accomplish with learning and creativity are out of reach, but I'm ok with that. I'd rather bite off too much here than not enough!

How does your 2018 look so far? Where are you at with your goals? How about your creative projects? What do you hope to accomplish in the second half of the year? This is a great time to do a mid-year review and get yourself on track for where you want to be when 2018 comes to a close. We are more than halfway there now!