We made it through the first six months of 2022. I say this in every goal check-in; it seems like the time is going by very quickly. We have had a mix of great and not-so-great experiences. There is so much that happens in our lives in only six months.
 
In this blog post, we will check in on our progress towards our goals in the first half-year, and I will share an update on my top goals. Check out my other "Her Plan" posts for additional tips and resources to help you accomplish your goals and live your best life.
 
Step 1: Reflect on H1 2022
This is a great point to reflect on the last six months. Remind yourself of your goals for the year and the actions you took towards accomplishing them. I have learned the importance of reflecting on the progress I am making multiple times during the year versus only once a year. 
 
Resource: Check out "10 questions to reflect on your year" for some tips
 
Questions to consider

• What is one word or phrase that would describe 2022 so far?   
• Have you taken care of yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually?   

 
Step 2: Celebrate your Accomplishments 
One of the critical activities that we neglect is reflecting on the good that has happened in our lives. There is a lot to be learned from the goals that you have accomplished. Make the time to evaluate the progress you have made towards the goals you set.
 
Resource: Check out "How to start celebrating your accomplishments" for some tips
 
Questions to consider

• Which of your goals have you made progress on?   
• What tools, resources, and routines helped you be successful? 
• What is one of your accomplishments so far in 2022? 
• How did you celebrate your accomplishments? 

 
Step 3: Reflect on Lowlights and lessons learned 
I am sure you can easily list the things that did not go as planned this year. As you reflect on those things, it is critical to think about the lessons you learned from the experiences. Some of the most valuable lessons that we learn come because we are intentional about reflecting on things that did not work out with the intent of improving ourselves
 
Resource: Check out "How to develop a Growth Mindset" 
for some tips
 
Questions to consider

• Which of your goals have you not made progress on?  
• What are three lessons that you learned? 

 
Step 4: Refresh your plan for H2 2022
Now that you have reflected on your accomplishments and lessons learned, it is time to start planning for the next six months of the year. Think about the goals that you want to accomplish and the actions you want to take to make 2022 your best year ever. 
 
Resource: Check out "How to make the next months count" for some tips
 
Questions to consider

• What do you want to do differently in H2 2022?  
• What are three things you want to accomplish next quarter or half-year? 

 
Step 5: Commit to taking action 
It is great to set goals and have aspirations for the future that you want to live. However, what brings the results you want are the actions that you take. You have the power and ability to work towards your goals - one step at a time. 
 
Resource: Check out "How to get things done in a very busy world" for some tips
 
Questions to consider

• How will you track your progress and ensure you are sticking to your goals?

 
 
MC's Journey: Progress update H1 2022
These past six months have been very intense for me. I have been doing a lot in my private and professional life. 

• Personal: Prioritize self-care and create sustainable routines
  • Highlight: While I was on vacation, I went shopping for myself to renew my summer wardrobe. It had been a while since I did that
  • Lowlight: I did not have enough time for myself. My time for rest, regeneration, and self-care was used for other things that I was responsible for. 
  • What am I planning to do differently?
    • I need to be more intentional about planning time for myself. To do things for me, I need to work on adding them to my calendar. 
• Family: Make memories and enjoy our time as a family
  • Highlight: Visiting family for the first time in four years (check out my blog post about how I spent my summer)
  • What am I planning to do next?
    • Over the next months, I am looking forward to introducing our son to more social activities that we could not do because of the pandemic
• Professional: Expand my sphere of influence and lead programs that reach more people
  • Highlight: Becoming a people manager again (check out my blog post about how I am navigating this professional milestone)
  • Lowlight: I have a lot on my plate at work and have been overworking.
  • What am I doing differently?
    • Over the past week, I have been trying to end work by a certain time every day and go to sleep
• Financial: Set the financial foundation for our next investment projects
  • Highlight: I have given myself the permission to spend some money on things that I enjoy
  • Lowlight: The basic needs in life have gotten very expensive. It is out of my control, so I am learning to accept it
  • What am I planning to do next?
    • There is a lot that I will be learning about our next investment to ensure we make the right decision 
• Business: Grow our community of women and create helpful content
  • Highlight: I am really proud that I have been able to publish a blog post every week this year. Some weeks were hard, but I did it
  • Lowlight: My YouTube channel is something I plan to restart this year. I have not yet found time to dedicate to it. I am telling myself that the time will come
  • What am I planning to do differently?
    • When the time is right, I want to strategize and plan for the relaunch of my YouTube channel 
• Learning: develop the skills needed for the next phase of my career 
  • Highlight: I attended my first training and enjoyed being in a learning environment
  • What am I planning to do next?
    • I have scheduled my next training that starts in August
• Bold Goal: Take the next step higher in my career
  • Current status: I have accomplished my first goal, and I am now envisioning my career long term

 
Final Thoughts
Taking time to reflect on your last six months and plan for the next months is crucial. I am very thankful for all that I have experienced in 2022, and I look forward to the next six months.
 
Call to Action
What are three things that you have enjoyed in the last six months? 
What are you looking forward to over the next six months?

Welcoming a child to the world affected me in ways I did not expect. It has helped me discover what fatherhood means. I did not have the opportunity to grow up with a father, so I am learning everything I have learned about a father-child relationship from watching my husband and our son. There is a lot that is written about a Mother's love and little about the beauty of a Father's love.  
 
Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers and Caregivers taking the responsibility of raising the next generation very seriously !!!!
 
In this blog post, I will share some moments when I learned about a father's love from watching the relationship between my husband and our son.
 
#1: The birth of our son
If you speak to any parent that has witnessed the birth of a child, they would probably share the powerful emotions they had during the experience. We had our baby in October 2020 at the height of the Pandemic. My husband could not attend any of the doctor's appointments throughout my pregnancy, so the day of my c-section was the first time he was in that environment. As we prepared to meet our baby, I could see him feel all his emotions at once. When our son was born, his father went into full caring and protection mode. He wanted to ensure our little human was safe and had everything he needed.
 
#2: Our son's ongoing wellbeing 
When we hear about a child's wellbeing, it is often seen as a mother's responsibility. Growing up, I had mostly seen the moms cater to the physical needs of their children, and it was surprising to me. I have seen my husband be a father who cares deeply about our son's physical and emotional health. From birth, we were advised to give our son a massage multiple times a day, and my husband did them for multiple months without fail. Every single day, my husband cuts up our son's fruit and presses his orange juice.
 
#3: The lessons he teaches our son
Seeing my husband impart knowledge to our son and teach him things that I cannot teach him is beautiful. I silently watch their interactions and the pride my husband feels when our son remembers something he taught him. It takes a lot of time investment and love to teach children new skills.
 
#4: Hearing my husband talk about our son
The love with which my husband speaks about our son is immense. Sometimes even when we experience the same things, hearing my husband tell the stories fills my heart with renewed joy. He celebrates every milestone and exciting experience.
 
#5: The deep and lasting bond between a Father & Child
The moment when I see my husband melt because my son gave him a hug, looked for him, and smiled when he saw him, reminds me of the powerful bond they have. Every single morning, one of the first things our son does is look for his daddy. It warms my heart to see their love.
 
Final Thoughts
One lesson that I am learning is that you can experience whole and great relationships by watching others. People often asked me if I missed having a father. The answer is not really because you can't miss what you never had. However, what I can now say is that I have more of an appreciation for great fathers and caregivers.

Recently, I achieved a professional goal that I have been working towards for many years – I became a people manager again. I was a people manager in my last company and wanted to go back to managing a team. This huge accomplishment came with many mixed emotions for me. The first emotion I felt was excitement that my professional dream had come true, and then the feelings of self-doubt started to creep in. 
 
In this blog post, I will share the five tips that are helping me navigate and enjoy this phase of my professional life. I am writing this post as a reminder for myself and valuable tips for anyone out there who is working through similar experiences. 
 
#1: Celebrate your accomplishments  
When my manager sent the email to my team announcing that I was becoming a Manager, I had a smile on my face and was very happy. My journey to get here was a multi-year process that was not smooth or straightforward. I knew that I needed to celebrate this significant milestone. However, it felt easier to keep moving as if everything was normal. The good thing was that I got to spend some time with my family, and they celebrated my accomplishment with me.  
 
Why is this important? 

• Celebrating your accomplishment tells your mind that it is real  

 
#2: Accept the trust that people have in your abilities 
Self-doubt makes you think you don't deserve to be where you are or accomplish something big. It helps to get extra confirmation from people you trust. In my case, the people telling me that I will be great in my new role have worked with me for years and know my work. I have decided to listen to them and believe their kind words. It is very easy to brush off the positive things that people say about you because we think they don't mean it as a way to diminish our contributions.  
 
Why is this important? 

• Hearing other people's confidence in your abilities helps you believe in yourself even more 

 
#3: Acknowledge your emotions  
Over the past weeks, I have had multiple emotions – happiness, overwhelm, excitement, and more. Right now, the emotions I feel are mostly a sense of responsibility because I want to do right by my team. I want to be the best manager that they need to feel valued, respected, and that they can thrive professionally. Over my journey, I have learned that it is important to acknowledge when I am feeling self-doubt and causing myself not to enjoy a key milestone.  
 
Why is this important? 

• Knowing what you are feeling gives you clarity and the ability to deal with your emotions 

 
#4: Set your goals and gain clarity of where you want to go 
One of the effects of self-doubt on me is that I get too scared to think about the future. Many people who talk about their imposter syndrome will tell you that it stops them from envisioning a time when they accomplish even bigger things. When something big happens, I worry about the increased responsibilities and my desire to over-achieve. Setting goals helps me plan for the future and get concrete about the steps I will be taking to accomplish them. 
 
Why is this important? 

• Writing down what you want to accomplish makes it seem achievable

 
#5: Believe in yourself and make bold moves on your journey 
As much as your mind might be telling you that you don't deserve to be here, the truth is that you have worked very hard to accomplish everything you have. It takes a lot of self-talk and continuous personal work to guard against self-doubt. You need to keep making bold moves and not let self-doubt stop you from accomplishing great things. 
 
Why is this important? 

• Believing in your skills and abilities will help you accomplish great things 

 
Final Thoughts 
If you feel overwhelmed by the great things happening in your life, you are not alone, and it is perfectly fine. Although I am very excited about my journey ahead, I am still actively walking through self-doubt. I'll keep you all posted on my progress in this new phase of my journey. ​

After everything we have been through over the last years, I wanted to share an experience that renewed my energy and gave me hope for the future. I got to spend time with some of our family members. Writing these words fills my heart with immense joy. The last time we saw our family, we thought we would get to meet them again in about a year. 
 
One of the lessons that I learned during the pandemic was to seize any opportunity to spend time with people that we love. Our trip was very spontaneous. I was running up on the maximum vacation time that I could accrue before I started losing vacation days, and my husband was also able to take time off. So we took the plunge and embarked on a three-week family trip. 
 
This was the first time we had seen our family members in the UK in four years. We had planned a family reunion in June 2020, which we canceled due to the pandemic. It was heartbreaking to miss time with our family. In May 2022, we get to enjoy some amazing family time. 
 
In this blog post, I will share five things that I was reminded of on this trip. 
 
#1: Family is precious 
As a result of living in different countries, I have been physically away from my family. I have not lived in the same location as my mother for 21 years and from my twin sister for over 16 years. We have had the opportunity to see each other for a very limited time during that time. We have mostly stayed connected virtually. However, holding my new nephew, hugging my niece, and connecting with our extended family was a priceless experience. 
 
#2: Don't compromise on things that are important to you 
In the past, when I had been on vacation, I compromised on things that were important to me. I was trying to save money and adjust to other people's needs or did not even know what was important to me. This trip was different; I knew that I really cared about comfortable places to stay, great food, and taking my time to enjoy the experience. I took my time and planned the things that were important to me and did them. Our trip was much more fun because my basic desires were met.  
 
#3: Don't let fear stop you  
This trip was the first flight with our 19-month-old son, and we decided to embark on a 10-hour flight from San Francisco to London. Those of you who have kids know the feelings that arise when you think of a long flight with a toddler. I had played all the horror scenarios in my mind of things that could go wrong on our flight. I am very fortunate to have such an amazing husband and a toddler who adapted very quickly to the new circumstances. I am glad that I did not let fear rule me. 
 
#4: Enjoy the moments  
I have always tried to capture beautiful moments and memories. There were so many beautiful moments on this trip that I wished I was recording all the time so I did not miss anything. All the laughter, our son playing with his cousins, and the beautiful sights and new places I visited are memories I will never forget. I made it a priority to enjoy every moment to the fullest.  
 
#5: Enjoy the fruit of your labor 
Over my vacation, I reflected on one of the things that I have struggled with for the past years. Due to my experiences with financial difficulty growing up, it is hard for me to spend money on things that I want. I have been hyper-focused on building a solid financial foundation and spending on my needs. The thought of splurging on things because they improve my experience makes me uncomfortable. One of my colleagues shared that she tells herself that she can do nice things for herself because she works hard. That simple thought made me open to doing things for myself, even if they cost me more than normal. It was worth it, and I am glad that I chose to invest in my well-being. 
 
Final Thoughts 
This trip was memorable on many levels. I am very thankful for the privilege we had to travel, spend time with family, and enjoy new experiences. Sometimes it feels like work and all the responsibilities have taken over our lives. It is time for us to prioritize enjoying our lives. 
 
Call To Action 
What is one thing you have wanted to do? 
When will you take the bold step and do something you want?