Guys…Where Are We?

Let’s begin with a hearty congrats to you.

You’ve made it halfway through the year (exactly halfway if you’re reading this blog on the day it first posts). Huzzah!

It’s funny. We start the year with all kinds of intentions about how – this year – we will do something different or new that will make us feel better, feel happier, feel more successful in achieving our goals.

And then…a few weeks in…we find ourselves buried in the day-to-day of what turns out to be the same life…and most of those intentions get buried right along with it.

So what better time – even if you’re not a New-Year’s-Goal-Setting kind of person – than halfway through the year for a quick check-in?

After all, it’s never too soon to feel happier and better, yes?

And so I invite you to join me and take a look around – and within – as we ask the question…

Guys…where are we?

(Author’s note:  if this question sounds familiar it’s also a favorite line in the very first episode of the TV show Lost. Been waiting for a time to use it. So there.)

It’s as simple as answering the following ten questions.

Have a go and I’ll see you on the other side…

1. In general, am I happy these days? Do I generally wake up looking forward to the day – no matter what day of the week it is? (If the answer is “yes”, skip ahead to #4. If it’s “no”, proceed to #2.)

2. So what’s my unhappiness about? My job? My personal life? My relationships? A combination?

3. What changes can I make in the second half of the year to feel happier? (Author’s note: the answer here is NOT nothing. We all have more choices than we think we do. We just tell ourselves we don’t sometimes because change is scary and so staying stuck feels like the better option. It’s not.)

4. What have been my top three moments so far this year?

5. How can I do more of that stuff?

6. In general, what projects, groups, hobbies or other cool things would I love to start or increase in the second half of the year?

7. What people would I love to see more of in the second half of the year?

8. What projects, groups, hobbies or not-so-cool things are just stressing me out or making me unhappy, and therefore I’d like to do them less (or eliminate them) in the second half of the year?

9. What people are just stressing me out or making me unhappy and so I want to see them less (or eliminate them in my life) in the second half of the year?

10. Keeping #1-9 in mind, what are three things I’ll do in the second half of the year to make it even better than the first half?

Nicely done! If you’re feeling satisfied, then scroll on down to the This Week segment at the end of this blog.

If you’re not quite convinced or need a bit more assistance, I offer some additional resources. They are based on various articles related to my latest – perhaps obsessive – focus on helping people find happiness through my book Bogus Balance.

Some of these are geared toward a specific audience, but, really, they work for anyone.

• Want to look at your career and the myths you might be living that are making you miserable? Click here.
• Want to take a deeper of assessment of your life to get a sense of how to make even greater strides toward your own happiness? Click here.
• Want to get to the heart of how your tech is messing with your day so you can fix it? Click here.
• Feeling overwhelmed and want to balance things better? Give this a go.
• Want to figure out who really belongs in your circle of friends? Go here.
• Stuck on how to get yourself to take better care…of yourself? Head here.

This week:

Congratulate yourself on the steps you’re taking toward greater happiness.

Then take those steps. Be happier.

And have an awesome second half of the year.

Now, go to good…and do it well.