Halfway Mark: Taking a Step Back

It’s already June. We all know what that means. Yup, summer officially starts and Father’s Day is this month…but, that’s not what we’re talking about. It’s month six—the halfway mark of 2010. Already, you ask?

Let’s see: In January, Haiti gets pounded with a 7.0 quake; February we’re busy watching the Winter Olympics (South Korean Kim Yuna wins the figure skating gold metal); Chile gets slammed with an 8.8 quake; March is the Academy Awards (Avatar wins best picture while Sandra Bullock wins best actress for The Blind Side, before finding out husband Jesse James has been cheating on her); April is Easter and a 6.9 quake hits China; May is Mother’s Day, BP has a massive oil spill and Memorial Day is right around the corner. Is that all?

No. And…maybe you got laid off at work, got a promotion, or are still looking for a job. Or maybe you decided to discontinue a diet plan or exercise regimen and planned a trip to Costa Rica or Greece.

One thing certain is that we all need to come back in a cocoon and do some reflection whether it’s to bring back motivation, get back on track or learn from mistakes with the six months left of 2010. So if you’ve never made any new-year resolutions, now would be a good time to start. Make them practical and achievable. Six months is short enough, leaving less room for procrastination, but long enough to tackle the goals. And there’s no better feeling than seeing a fully crossed off to-do list, right?

To get some ideas flowing, here is a partial list of Craig Harper’s Fifty Habits of Highly Successful People, nicely hashed out on LifeHack.org:

1. They look for and find opportunities where others see nothing.
2. They are fearful like everyone else, but they are not controlled or limited by fear.
3. They rarely complain (waste of energy). All complaining does is put the complainer in a negative and unproductive state.
4. They innovate rather than imitate.
5. They have balance. While they may be financially successful, they know that the terms money and success are not interchangeable.

Balance. Maybe some of you are too ambitious and goal orientated that you’ve neglected your friends, family and a social life. Then now would be the time to follow Dentyne’s past Make Face Time marketing campaign to really:

“Power down. Log off. Unplug. Have mercy on your thumbs. Browse the word wide something else. Send some not so instant messages. Undo/hit cancel. Be together. Make some face time.”

Whether you’re too lazy or too ambitious, or you think of the glass half empty and not half full, take a step back and glance at the rear view mirror from time to time. You won’t regret it.