Half time review

Half Time Review

Practically every competitive sport I can think of has a half time or break of some description. Of course one of the reasons for this is for players to catch their breath (tennis players only seem to manage sustained activity for a few minutes at a time. Footballers can last for 45!)

But the other vital reason for "half time" is to review performance so far and make the necessary adjustments to mental attitude and technique to sustain or improve results in the remaining time.

As we enter the second half of the year this is the perfect time to reassess where you are with your goals and identify what changes to your mental attitude or technique will enable you to sustain your progress, upgrade your effort or even, if necessary, turn a losing streak around. There is still plenty of time to make 2003 your best year yet.

For readers in a leadership role you can do this exercise for yourself and, just like the football manager at half time, you can encourage your team to assess where they are and what needs to be different in the second half.

For those readers who are interested in their own personal and professional development you can either work on this yourself or with a buddy.

Step 1 - Recreate the vision
At the start of the year you probably had some hopes and dreams for the next 12 months. Many of you will have compiled a list of New Year's resolutions or professional goals. But now you may have lost sight of what these were. To re-energise yourself at half-time, remind yourself of the fresh slate you started with in January 2003 again.

What did you want for yourself this year?
What goals did you have?
What changes did you want to make?

If you wrote these down, consult the list again.
The aim is to recreate the powerful picture of success you started the year with.

Step 2 - Where are you now?
List your wins.

What have you achieved so far this year?
What lessons have you learnt?
How have you changed as a person?
What obstacles have you overcome?

You may be surprised at how much you've already done.

Step 3 - What still needs to happen?
Now it's time for the pep talk! This is the bit in half time where it gets serious.

For you to be where you really want to be by the end of the year, what do you need to do differently?
What qualities do you need to draw on in order to turn things around?
If you have achieved all your goals already, what new challenging targets do you want to set?
How can you use everything you've learnt so far this year during the final push?
What mantra/theme/affirmation is going to keep you focused and motivated on your goals?
What would a really tough sports coach tell you now in order to get you to raise your game?

Step 4 - Decide your "plays"
Once you've decided what you need to do differently over the next 6 months you need to address the "how". This is the strategy or set of action steps you need to take. Without a clear plan of action specifying what is going to happen and when you could let the next 6 months slip by and miss this opportunity to win the game.

Take out your diary as soon as you have completed Step 3 and assign days or even times to your action steps.
Write your mantra/theme/affirmation on a big piece of paper and put it somewhere you can see it every day.
Identify who is going to support and encourage you (just as the fans on the sidelines help players to achieve more than they ever could in training) and tell them exactly what you need of them. Sportspeople understand the power of fans and many actively whip them in to a frenzy (think Tim Henman) in order to get the adrenaline rushing and help them to focus.

We've all seen football and tennis matches, games of cricket and cycling races where a competitor or team has gone from struggling to winning. At some point that individual or group transformed their mental attitude and decided it was possible to change the result even half way through. And you can too.