How Often Do You Choose to Reset or Readjust?

I love the summer. The summer sunshine helps me do more—inside or outside. I even get a bit of a tan. Summer rejuvenates me.

It’s also the time of year when I review my goals. That’s because July means half the year is over. Or, if you’re an optimist like me, you still have half the year to accomplish what you want. I often reset in the summer.

I set myself both broad and specific yearly goals, as in:

• Write a certain number of words. (A broad goal.)
• Create workshops and books in a variety of formats. (Specific for consulting and nonfiction. Broad for fiction.)
• Continue my marketing and promotion efforts. (Both broad and specific.)

There’s a limit to what I can control: my output (words and marketing) and outcomes (products). I can’t make people buy them—but I can help people learn about them.

All of this means I reassess my work on a regular basis. I reassess monthly and quarterly throughout the year. Those assessments help me do little readjustments every month and quarter. And, I do a “big” readjustment (or a reset) twice a year: at the beginning of July and at the end of December. I reset to replan the rest of this year and to plan the next year.

When I adjust, I re-rank the work, clear obstacles, and continue with the work itself. However, a twice-a-year reset option works for me because a reset allows me to change everything.

Resets Change Everything

Why a reset?

Long ago, I learned:

• I often persuade myself I will do this or that thing on my list in the “future.”
• If I haven’t done it yet, at two important points—midway and at the end of the year—I probably won’t do it.

When I choose to reset, I re-examine these data:

• My why—the reason(s) for this work. Are those reasons still valid? Will the reasons get me the results I want?
• Are there still customers for this work? Has the world changed since I determined the why?
• The outcomes. Do I still expect the same value for the outcomes?

These questions help me see if I have learned something. Even with my monthly and quarterly readjustments, I might not have integrated that learning into my actions.

This is why I choose to give myself the option to reset twice a year.

In 2020, I felt as if I reset every month for the first six months of the pandemic. Now that I’ve practiced, I have more insight into how I want my consulting and writing businesses to proceed. I’m sure I’ll change my mind again, which is another reason for my twice-yearly purposeful reset opportunity.

Maybe you don’t need the wake-up that halfway through the year brings. I do. That’s one of the reasons I use the ideas in Where Do You Want to Be Long-Term, Say in 50 Years?

If you’re like me, and you want to increase your outputs so you can deliver better outcomes, consider when you reset and readjust. I don’t know the right cadence for you. However, I’m sure it’s more often than once a year.

That’s the question this week: How often do you choose to reset or readjust?