#272| Feeling Behind And Overwhelmed On Your 2026 Goals? Here's The Mid-Year Check-In That Gets You Back On Track Without Hustling

Are you halfway through the year wondering what happened to the goals you were so excited about in January?

If you've been busy checking off everyone else's priorities while your own goals have quietly slipped into the background, you're not alone. In this episode, Michelle shares a refreshing approach to a mid-year review that replaces guilt, hustle, and self-criticism with curiosity, bold thinking, and intentional action. You'll discover how to reconnect with your goals without adding more work to your already full plate.

By listening, you will:

•  Learn how to conduct a guilt-free mid-year goal review that builds momentum instead of shame. 
•  Discover why working harder isn't always the answer—and what to do when you're feeling stuck instead. 
•  Understand how curiosity, bold decisions, and taking aligned action can create unexpected opportunities and breakthrough results. 
  
  

Press play to learn how a simple mid-year reset can help you reconnect with your biggest goals and move forward with more confidence, clarity, and ease.

Wondering why you're overwhelmed? Take my "why am I overwhelmed" quiz to find out the source of your overwhelm, and what to do about it. 

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Work With Me - Interested in working with me 1-on-1, taking a class, or joining one of my coaching groups? Message me here to get the scoop.   

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Life can be overwhelming, but on this podcast, you'll discover practical strategies to overcome overwhelm, imposter syndrome, and negative self-talk, manage time effectively, set boundaries, and stay productive in high-stress jobs—all while learning how to say no and prioritize self-care on the Overwhelmed Worki...

Transcript

Midyear Goals Reality Check

Michelle Gauthier 0:00

When you listen today, you'll learn how to get back on track with your 2026 goals without hustling.

Michelle Gauthier 0:11

You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less. I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former Overwhelmed Working Woman and current life coach. On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's working woman experiences. And in each episode, you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease, and relaxation to your life.

Michelle Gauthier 0:37

Hello, friend. Do you know where your goals are? It's July, and here we are mid-year. How are you doing on the goals that you set for yourself this year? Or have you been too busy to think about or even remember what your goals are? Even though you're hustling your little booty off every day. Today I'll share with you part one of my approach for hitting a big goal, even if you're behind or forgot you had the goal in the first place. When you listen to this episode, you will learn how to do a mid-year check-in without feeling negative after what happened when I got really honest about a goal that I was behind on, and what I recommend that you do instead of the just work harder fix that we often hear. Let's

How To Run A Midyear Review

Michelle Gauthier 1:20

dive in. Every year in my group coaching program, we set a word of the year and specific goals. And then in July, we do a mid-year review. So back in January, everybody picked a word of the year. Mine was bold. Everybody sets between six and 12 goals for themselves. Every month we meet, we do reviews, we see where we are. But at July, we do a mid-year review and we look back on all the goals that we set at the beginning of the year. The process for doing this is to essentially go back to the monthly reviews that everybody does in the group. But if you don't have monthly reviews because you're not doing that, you can just look back at your calendar, you can look back at photos, et cetera, and look back at everything that is working this year and where you have met your goals, and then take a second look and see where you're behind or where you haven't started on a goal that you meant to start this year. We go through this whole process. I do it before the class. I always do the same thing as the people in the class so that I'm practicing what

When A Goal Is Way Behind

Michelle Gauthier 2:17

I preach. And I notice I was like feeling pretty good about myself because I'm really staying on track with six of my goals. And then I realize that there's one that I am totally behind on. And this goal was for me to create 30% of the income for my business this year from things other than one-on-one coaching. One-on-one coaching is the main thing that I do, but I really want to expand that. And when I checked in, I was at about 8% instead of 30%. Now, 8% is fine. It's a step in the right direction. There have been years where that number has been zero and I have made all of my money from one-on-one coaching. But here's what really kind of stopped me in my tracks is that it was surprising. I was like, oh shoot, I'm only at 8%. I don't know why I'd be further along than that, but more than the number, I realized that I wasn't taking action on it because I really didn't know what to do. I wasn't being bold, which is my word of the year on this particular goal, and I was playing it safe because to serve clients outside of one-on-one coaching, I need to speak to a wider audience, make some new offers, all those kinds of things. So here's what I knew I wouldn't do. I wouldn't decide to work more hours or add three more offers to my plate or hustle my way to 30%. Work harder for the default advice. And the way that I would have solved this problem in the past, I would have just been like, oh man, I have to devote more hours to this, put in more hustle. There are plenty of coaches who would give this advice, but that is not the kind of life I'm trying to create for myself, and not the way that I teach my clients to create their best life either. More effort on the same strategy will get you some incremental progress, but I wasn't looking for incremental. I was looking for something bigger, a different approach to take. But I didn't know what that approach

Asking For A Quantum Leap

Michelle Gauthier 3:58

should be. So one night, my gratitude practice before bed, where I list out everything I'm thankful for, like a little thankfulness prayer. I added one more line and I said, I'm ready for a quantum leap in my business. Just show me what to do next. I'm ready. Show me what to do next. This is essentially casting a future vision, saying, I am ready for the next adventure. I don't know what it is exactly, but I am open to it. This is manifesting. And funny, I said the word quantum leap, but I didn't know what it actually meant. I had to look it up. A quantum leap in physics is when an electron jumps instantly from one energy level to another with no gradual path in between, no easing in, it's just suddenly there. And that's what I was asking for, but I didn't know what that meant or how to do it. So I just started paying attention and looking for signs. If this is you and you're thinking, I have this goal, I have no idea how to accomplish it. For example, maybe you're thinking, I don't love my career anymore. I want to do something else, but I have no idea what that else is. Put it out to the universe, whether for you that is God or the universe or source or whatever it is, put it out there and say, I don't know the answer, but I'm looking for signs. That's the first step to take. And then start looking for signs. Maybe you'll meet someone who has a really cool job that you'd never heard of that you're super interested in, but just put that intention out there so that you can start manifesting information to come your way. After I said that, the next day, a book called Bending Reality showed up in my feed, and I bought it immediately and listened to most of it while I was weeding my flower beds over the next couple days, and I kept my eyes open for signs.

Signs Show Up Fast

Michelle Gauthier 5:33

Way back in January, I had purchased a ticket to a business event in Lexington, Kentucky called Hell Yes Live. Isn't that a great name? With a business coach I admire named Becca Pike. A few months after I had registered, a friend asked me to speak at a retreat that conflicted with that event. And the retreat really sounded like a perfect chance for me to meet a whole bunch of female business owners and teach them about how to feel less overwhelmed. So I said yes to that and forgot about the business event, thinking I can go another time or another year or whatever. Then the week comes for this retreat where I'm gonna be a speaker and I got my presentation all ready to go. And the Monday of that week, we had been having some really bad rains in Missouri and St. Louis, where I live. And the place that was supposed to host the retreat got flooded, had no power, and had to cancel the whole retreat. And that was obviously shocking. And I wanted to make sure everyone was okay who was involved, and everything was as good as it could be, considering that Mother Nature is always the boss. So there I sat at my desk on Monday morning thinking, I still have this ticket to this hell yes live event. And it's Monday, and the event starts tomorrow on Tuesday. And here was the really weird part. I had an empty schedule. Normally I have a fully booked schedule with clients, but I had already moved all my clients for the week. I hesitated for one second, I journaled about it for a minute, and then I decided, oh, this is the guidance I was looking for. I got in the car the next morning and I drove to Kentucky. I had called the place where I previously had a hotel room, but had canceled it, and they said they were fully booked. And I was like, whatever, I'm going anyway. I found somewhere else to stay. I'll figure it out when I get there. And when I was about 20 minutes away from Lexington, Kentucky, where I was going, I called the hotel and said, Hey, I was just checking to see if you maybe had a room open up. And they're like, Oh, yes, indeed we did. I said, Great, I would love to have it. So I booked the room, and when I got to this beautiful hotel and I went to my newly found room, all the lights on were in there. You know how sometimes in a hotel room they turn on all the lights, but there was one light that was flashing and it was just flickering. And to me, I always take that as a sign that my energy is vibing so high that the lights are flickering. So I thought, yep, this is the place. This event was just everything I needed. It was like a plus 11 out of 10 content, people, everything. I hired Becca to be my business coach, and I really look forward to finding out what my quantum leap is. As I continue to be open, take steps in the right direction.

Manifesting Requires Real Action

Michelle Gauthier 7:55

That's a big part of manifesting that I think people who say manifesting is crazy. I think it would be crazy for me to sit on my couch and say, hey, I want to make this big change in my business. Bring it to me on my couch. No, you have to say it. You have to look for signs, you have to take action, you have to get in your car and drive to Kentucky, even if you don't have a hotel room, because you have a feeling that this could be the next best thing for

Your No Shame Goals Check In

Michelle Gauthier 8:14

you. So here's what I recommend that you do this week. Pull out your goals, pull out your goals from January. Not to judge yourself for where you are, but to be curious. First look at what you have done really well. And then look at places where you might be behind or a goal that you haven't started on yet. And instead of asking, how do I work harder to catch up, ask instead, what are my options here? If I am open to this, show me a way to get to this goal. Say it out loud or write it down or whatever prayer gratitude practice you already have. And then just wait and see and look for signs. Maybe listening to this podcast is your sign. I'll keep you posted on what happens with my goal in a future quantum leap update. But for now, just know I'm not there yet, but I said the thing, the universe started talking back, and then I took action. Okay, so in summary, a mid-year check-in is something that I recommend that you do, but it's not about beating yourself up. If you are behind on anything, it's about getting honest, getting bold, and then paying attention to what shows up next

Group Coaching Invite And Goodbye

Michelle Gauthier 9:12

for you. And by the way, if you like the idea of being in a year-long group where we're checking in on our progress and our overwhelm every single month, making sure that we never fall too far behind and we celebrate where we're really kicking butt in life. DM me on Instagram and I will put you on the wait list for next year's group. Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast. If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at MichelleGauthier.com. See you next week.