5 Steps to Make the Rest of 2005 Extraordinary

So here we are in July. Where did the first half of the year go? It only seems a couple of weeks ago that I was drinking festive egg-nog, wearing my Christmas sweater and humming 'Sleigh Ride' too loudly in line at the supermarket.

It's kinda scary to think that there's just six months of 2005 left to run, and we've already had the longest day of the year which means that the nights are starting to draw in (I'm not trying to get you down, honest!). So how's the first half of the year gone for you? Was it what you expected?

Most importantly, what do you want the next six months to be about? To help you get clear on the rest of your year, here's what I want you to do,

  1. Take a moment to think about the last six months - January to June. Think about everything you've done, the opportunities that came along, the tough times and the fun times, and think about where you are now having gone through the last six months. Give the first half of 2005 a rating from 1 to 10 - it could be a big-grin scale, a temperature scale or a fulfilment scale. How would you rate your 2005 so far?
  2. Now go forwards in time six months, and imagine yourself on a crisp December morning (or warm if you're somewhere hot!). You've put effort into moving things forwards and it's worked - things have progressed in some important ways and you're seeing results and reaping the rewards. Using the same scale as before, what rating do you want to give to July to December? What rating respresents how you want to feel about the next six months?
  3. Imagine that it's still that December morning. You wake up, your eyes flicker open and things are different. Things have moved on, you have more of something and things have changed for the better. What one thing would make the biggest difference to you? What do you want things to look like or feel like on that December morning? Be as specific as you can be (close your eyes if it helps) and write down what comes out for you. Maybe it