The Mid-Year Goal Audit: What to Keep, Change, and Let Go
- Kate Siegel
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
By this time of year, many of us find ourselves in one of two camps: goal-quitters or goal-strugglers.
The quitters have quietly abandoned the goals they set in January. The gym membership is gathering dust, the leadership book remains unread, and the strategic initiative has been pushed to the back burner.
The strugglers are still pursuing their goals, but with diminishing enthusiasm. They're working hard toward objectives that no longer feel relevant, energizing, or important.
Both groups could benefit from the same exercise: a mid-year goal audit.
Q3 offers a natural opportunity to pause, reflect, and recalibrate, especially when some businesses are quieter over summer than at any other time. Rather than doubling down on the goals we set in January, we can take the summer to treat them like scientists and investigate how important and relevant they still are.
Because the most successful people aren't necessarily the ones who never change course; they're the ones who know when to.
One of my favorite behavioral scientists, Katy Milkman, has studied what she calls the "fresh start effect," or the tendency for calendar-based landmarks (like New Year's Day, birthdays, anniversaries, or the beginning of a new semester) to motivate behavior change. These moments work because they create an imaginary psychological separation between our past and future selves. They give us permission to turn the page.
Mid-year also serves as a natural checkpoint (just maybe one that's not as popular). By this point in the year, you've got enough experience to know what's working and what's not. You have real data instead of good ideas. So the question isn't whether you've achieved your goals exactly as planned, it's whether the goals you set in January still deserve your time and attention in July.
Enter the Mid-Year Goal Audit!
For each goal on your list, ask yourself three questions.
Should I Keep It?
Some goals remain just as important as they were six months ago. Maybe you haven't gotten quite where you thought you'd be on the goal, but it's still aligned with your values, priorities, and long-term vision. Keep these.
To determine what should stay or go, ask yourself:
If I were setting goals today, would I choose this one again?
Does this goal still support the person/team I/we want to become?
Would I regret abandoning it?
If the answer is yes, the goal stays. (The challenge may not be the goal itself. It may simply be the need for a kick in the pants.)
Should I Modify It?
Sometimes the goal is right, but the approach is wrong. Maybe your timeline was unrealistic or your circumstances changed. Maybe you've learned something that suggests a different path forward. This isn't failure; it's adaptation.
Organizations revise strategic plans when conditions change. Athletes adjust training programs based on performance data. Effective leaders continuously course-correct. Yet many individuals cling rigidly to goals they set months earlier, as though changing them somehow indicates failure.
Consider modifying a goal when:
The objective remains important.
Progress has stalled despite genuine effort.
New information suggests a better approach.
Your original assumptions proved inaccurate.
The goal might stay the same while the timeline, strategy, scope, or metrics change. (Flexibility is not weakness. It's responsiveness.)
Should I Release It?
This is often the hardest question. Some goals made sense six months ago, but things have changed. Maybe you lost a team member or hired a new one. Maybe a nationwide pandemic hit. Or maybe you lost or gained funding.
Many of us continue pursuing goals because we've already invested time, energy, or identity into them. Psychologists call this the sunk cost fallacy - the tendency to continue investing in something simply because we've already invested in it.
A goal that no longer serves you is not redeemed by the amount of work you've already put into it.
Consider setting a goal free when:
It no longer aligns with your priorities.
You are pursuing it primarily out of obligation.
The expected benefits are no longer worth the costs.
You have evolved beyond it.
Quitting is often portrayed as a character flaw, but sometimes it's a strategic decision. (If you want proof, talk to me about quitting acting. And remember that everything you say yes to means you automatically have to say no to something else.)
The purpose of a goal audit is not to beat yourself up. It is to learn.
What have the last six months taught you?
What assumptions turned out to be wrong?
What opportunities emerged that you couldn't have anticipated in January?
What deserves more attention moving forward?
My mid-year challenge for you:
Set aside 30 minutes this week. Review every goal you've been carrying since the beginning of the year. For each one, decide to keep, modify, or release. (You can use the free form I've included below.)
You don't need a new year to create a fresh start. Sometimes all you need is the courage to reassess where you're headed (and the wisdom to change course when necessary).
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