If you’re a football fan, you’ll know Manchester United used to do it every season. These days, their English Premier League rivals Manchester City have turned it into an art form. It’s the secret of their success, and it could be yours too. It’s knowing how to finish the year strong – even if you had a slow start. 

Here’s your game plan: 

1. Reassess your resolutions 

Like many of us, you may have made New Year’s resolutions back in January and ditched them by February. But which of those goals are still worth pursuing? Some may still be important to you, others not. What’s prevented you from achieving your goals so far this year, and how can you change your approach to overcome those obstacles? 

Make a list of the things you’ve been working on and rate your progress. You’ll be surprised by what you’ve already achieved. Use this as inspiration to kick on in the second half of the year. 

2. Set new goals 

This is the fun part. Create a short, manageable list of the important things you want to get done by the end of the year. Use the tried-and-trusted SMART model, making your goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.  

Being specific is important, as it helps to make your goals achievable. For example, “Learn a new language” is vague and difficult, but “Complete a three-month online course in basic French” feels much more doable. Your list should cover all the important areas of your life, from fitness to relationships to career.  

3. Know what you don’t want  

Your goals are a “To Do” list. Great, but you can refine that by including a “To Don’t” list of things you want to eliminate from your life. This may sound negative, but it’s not. By identifying and eliminating the distractions you’ll be able to focus on the positives. And that’s very important: to achieve your long-term ambitions, you must streamline your shorter-term objectives and keep your eye on the stuff that really matters now. 

4. Pace yourself 

If some of your goals are likely to take longer than six months to complete, that’s fine. Just remember to be SMART, and to set realistic deadlines or milestones to make sure you stay on track.  

5. Use tech to help you 

A ton of mobile apps are available to help you make new goals and keep you focused for the second half of the year. Remember that “Learn a new language” goal? Duolingo, with the green owl that’ll never let you quit, will keep you on track to achieve that one. For general goals and goal setting, try something like Strides, which encourages without annoying, or Structured, which uses integrated AI to put all your tasks into a single, visual timeline.  

Following these guidelines will ensure that you have a strong and more realistic second half to the year. But to help you be more efficient, and use some of the online resources mentioned in this article, have a look at some of the reliable Vodacom home internet solutions.