What We’re Reading: The Mid-Year Reset
Hi everyone,
This weekend marks the halfway point of the year. Time management experts suggest harnessing this opportunity to review actions and set new goals for the rest of the year. Things to consider: What is working for you? What isn’t? Did your New Year’s resolutions stick? Have you turned your daily exercise into a habit rather than a chore?
There’s still time to compassionately review your goals and press that reset button. Empowerment coach Nykee Parker (Boldlyfreelyme) offers this advice: “You shoot for the stars but sometimes you fall a little short. And other times you exceed expectations. Either way, be kind to yourself…”
Over the years, Medium’s collection of stories about the midsummer review has grown. A few of those key stories are interspersed below in your weekend reads.
If you conduct a midsummer review, or life audit, I’d love to read about it. Once you publish your piece, tag me by simply typing the @ sign and then my name.
See you on Medium!
Adrienne Gibbs
Director, Creator Growth @ Medium
Your weekend reads
“Are You Squandering Your Intelligent Failures?” by Rita McGrath, Professor at Columbia Business School
Stop the blame game. Design experiments that reflect real life. Stop imposing the expectation of meeting plans on people doing things in unpredictable environments. Recognize that failure maybe needs to be re-defined.
“Try This Mid-Year Declutter and Breathe Again” by Sandra Pawula, essayist and mindfulness expert, in Better Humans
As mid-year approached, my planning system no longer met my needs. I wondered, “What else isn’t working optimally in my life?”
This spurred me to pause, reassess, and purge the unnecessary, ineffective, and de-motivating elements of my life.
“What is Racial Battle Fatigue? A School Psychologist Explains” by Geremy Grant, Assistant Professor of School Psychology at Alfred University, featured in The Conversation U.S.
The term “battle fatigue” has long been used to describe the symptoms that result from the stress of combat, such as depression and anxiety.
The term “racial battle fatigue,” then, likens the collective experiences of people of color who are subjected to racial hostility to that of soldiers who experience combat stress. Both are believed to result from being placed in a hostile environment filled with regular threats and attacks.
“Android Data Repository — A Simple Pattern That We Often Misunderstand” by Marcin Piekielny, mobile developer, in ITNEXT
After some time spent working with different mobile applications in different teams and companies, I started noticing that many of us don’t have a clear understanding of how a proper Repository should look like. When we are asked what the Repository actually is we often answer: It is a class for accessing data from a database or API.
This is partly true, but it definitely doesn’t show the full picture.
“The Color of Night Time is Changing, and It’s Messing With Nature” by Thomas Smith, CEO of Gado Images, in DIY Life Tech
Picture a city street at night, lit by streetlights. Instinctively, you probably picture a road lit up by hazy pools of yellowish light, splashing and reflecting off asphalt, puddles, or wet pavement.
Indeed, that glow has long been a characteristic trait of urban nightscapes, making our night vision seem surreal, almost like looking through a vintage filter. However, our nights are shifting away from this particular hue, and our cities are beginning to tell a different color story.
“How to Do A Mid-Year Review” by Author S. R. Crawford, author and advocate
There is no mid-year review without accountability. This isn’t about blame or beating yourself up for what you may have fallen short on. This is about taking responsibility and saying (kindly but honestly) that this didn’t work, this did, I could do better with XYZ.
What have you been reading this week? Let us know in the responses!
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“What We’re Reading” is a weekly roundup of insightful stories and perspectives from across Medium. Browse previous editions here.
