What’s been better than expected?
It’s not the question most people ask at the midpoint of the year.
Yet when I pause and look back, I often find the most important developments weren’t the ones I expected. They were the opportunities, insights, relationships and moments of clarity that emerged along the way.
Which is why one of my favourite mid-year reflection questions is: What has surprised me in a good way?
As well as revealing valuable insights, this simple question helps counter an old negativity bias that humans developed for survival many generations ago.
It’s also where I begin my own mid-year review.
With six months behind us and six months ahead, I find this point in the year offers an opportunity to pause, take stock and make a few thoughtful adjustments for the journey ahead.
The five questions that follow are the ones I most often return to. Whether you’re feeling energised by the year so far or wondering what comes next, perhaps one of them will offer a useful perspective.
1. What has surprised me in a good way?
What unexpected opportunities, chance encounters, or unplanned outcomes have graced your path?
These often contain valuable clues about what is working, where energy is flowing naturally, and what may be asking for more of your attention.
What has emerged that you couldn’t have predicted six months ago?
2. What have I actually made progress on and why did it matter?
Go beyond the metrics.
Where did you feel most engaged, most alive? What outcomes genuinely moved something forward for you, the people around you, or the work that matters most?
Progress can show itself in confidence gained, relationships strengthened, decisions made, or clarity found.
3. What have I been accepting that no longer serves me?
Mid-year is a natural point for clearing space.
What habits, commitments, routines or relationships have started to feel misaligned, even if they are still technically working?
What might become possible if you released something that has quietly outlived its usefulness?
4. Where have I overextended and what might I need to reclaim?
Many capable people unintentionally work with a slow leak.
Energy seeps away through small compromises, unclear boundaries and accumulated demands.
Where might you need to reclaim time, attention, focus or space?
What would recalibration look like?
5. Who have I become since January and does that align with who I want to be by December?
This question is less about achievement and more about becoming.
- Who are you now that wasn’t fully present six months ago?
- What qualities have strengthened?
- What have you learned about yourself?
Your way of meeting life matters just as much as the goals you’re pursuing.
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Before you move on with your day, consider giving yourself ten minutes to answer these questions as a mid-year pause. And if now isn’t the right moment, put a date in your diary and return to them later this week.
Because change is life. And how you meet it shapes what becomes possible.
Warmly
Amanda
Amanda Muckalt
Founder of Love Change®
Author of The Stability Effect®
W: https://love-change.com/
E: amanda@love-change.com
