Well, friends, it's already July and within a blink of an eye, August will soon be coming to a close. With fall festivities and shorter days soon creeping upon us. Now I'm not trying to scare you, so bear with me. Just think for a moment, how many summers have you let fly by without actually soaking up the sun? How many of the coveted "summer bucket list" items have remained unchecked? For an even scarier question, how many times have you realized it's the end of December and all those New Year's resolutions you so desperately wanted, maybe even needed to complete, are now just a faint memory forgotten somewhere around February? Like I said, I promise I'm not trying to scare you, but rather motivate you.

If hearing that it's mid-way through 2018 makes you think to yourself "Well there's always next year" then I have a wake-up call for you. Listen closely, bask in my next words, and take what I say to heart. You have half of 2018 gone, but that also means you have half of 2018 to make your life exactly as you've wanted. Think back to the blissfully blurry night of New Year's Eve. Picture the champagne toasts, the New York ball dropping, maybe even how cozy your bed was because by midnight you were fast tucked away just thankful the year had come to a close. Regardless of how you celebrated one thing remains the same: you had hope for something more in the new year.

That hope and motivation you mustered up for 2018 doesn't have to be lost among the many promises you've made to yourself in the past years. It seems daunting that you have to make up for all the months that have passed but that's not the case. Those months have come and gone and are in the past so let them lay there without holding you back. You have six sparkling new, untouched months of 2018. Don't be stuck in the mindset that it has to be January 1st, the first of any month, the start of a new week, or even the never to arrive "tomorrow", for you to want to see growth and change in your life. All you need is today.

Even with choosing that today is the day to go after your goals, what's to say that by next week they won't have been forgotten? Well here's the thing, it doesn't matter. When you have something you deeply want, you'll find a way to make it happen even if it takes 1,000 tries. Don't let that stop you from continuing on with your resolutions because every time you wake up, there is a brand new day waiting for you.

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Now that you know when you're going to start to utilize all this year has in store, do you actually know how to? Its okay if you don't, I'm hoping I can help. To start, ask yourself, "Is what I wanted at the beginning of the year still what I want now?" We are ever changing so allow yourself to change your goals to match. Next ask yourself, "Why do I want this?" If your goal is to lose weight and get stronger, does that come from a place of you wanting to be healthier for yourself or from a place of trying to look better for someone else or even society? Goals that bloom and grow from within are more likely to stick and be accomplished since the reward will be directly for you, not someone else. Following that ask yourself, "What little steps a day can I do make sure I'm working for what I want?" If your goal is to save more money, ditch the $4 coffee shop run and make your coffee at home. Skip eating out that week and make your favorite takeout food yourself. When you put in an effort every day to be even the tiniest bit closer to your goals, soon it'll become a habit and then it'll become your lifestyle.

It can be intimidating if your goals are much larger or if you have multiple goals to accomplish the rest of this year. My advice would be to stick to the basics that we may be slacking on. Make sure you're getting enough sleep at night so that you have enough energy to crush the day with. Make sure you're drinking enough water because I secretly think a lot of our problems can be solved if we all drank our recommended water amounts. Make sure you're holding yourself accountable by not blaming other factors in your life (or people). Lastly, make sure you're not being too hard on yourself. Give yourself space to breathe and actually accomplish your goals without the immense amounts of pressure we place on them to get done in a set amount of time. If you're trying your best efforts then when they are meant to happen, they will happen.

My hopes are that even one person who reads this decides to actually take charge and make this year the year of "doing" not "wanting". You know how to accomplish your goals so stop holding yourself back and just go for it since there really is nothing you're going to lose by putting in a little extra effort. Now go outside, soak in some of that humid summer sun, and use this little mid-year motivation to get yourself to be where you want in life.