July 2026 Planning Tips and Resources

I've been thinking a lot this week about this subtitle from the July Community Events announcement: “Mid-Year Review, Refocus, Recommit.” It reminds me of the “reduce, reuse, recycle” trilogy from the US Environmental Protection Agency, created in the 1970s as a hierarchy for waste management.

The three Rs for mid-year also represent a sort of “hierarchy” — or at least a three-step process — for evaluating objectives and projects at this halfway point of the year.

Much the same way we benefit from a quarterly review at the end of Q1, a similar review at the end of Q2 can serve us, too. Added benefit: we've got another quarter of work under our belts, so we have more data with which to make changes or adjustments to our plans and projects to set ourselves up for a successful back half of the year.

Once the review step is complete, we have a better understanding of which projects we'll keep, which we'll adjust, and which we'll jettison altogether, based on our current objectives, team or individual capacity, capabilities, readiness, and the like. We'll enter the second half of the year with a tighter focus on those projects we believe will best move the needle on our objectives, and that we have the best chance to complete with the time and resources we have available.

This last step is one that is often overlooked, but is as important as the other two. It's particularly true in team settings, but is also important for our individual projects as well. Here's where we recommit to the projects we've chosen to move forward, and where we energetically let go of those we know we will not get to. For leaders, this is an example of making the obvious explicit: acknowledging what we did and didn't accomplish in the first half of the year, and making sure everyone is clear on the new priorities and projects we're moving forward. For individuals, recommitting to our project load is a way to avoid ghost projects that clog our energetic pathways and planning systems.

These three steps are a useful structure for addressing the age-old challenge: if you're planning effectively, you'll always be changing your plans.

~Steve

Mark your calendars for our July events, open to our paid subscribers:

• Leadership Strategy Session (LSS): Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at 11:00 am PDT
  July's Focus: The Mid-Year Inventory Your Annual Plan Needs
  The annual plan you built in January was based on what you knew then. Six months in, some of that picture has held. Some of it hasn't. July is a good moment to look at what's actually on your team's plate against what the annual plan says should be there, and make some deliberate decisions before September makes them for you.

• Monthly Momentum Call (MMC): Wednesday, July 15, 2026, at 11:00 am PDT
  July's Focus: The Mid-Year Gut Check Your Projects Need

  At the start of the year you made commitments. Some are moving. Some have quietly become something else along the way. July is the window to look at what you're actually carrying and decide, deliberately, what comes with you into the back half. Because in September, with the pace back and the pressure on, those decisions will get a lot harder.

The Momentum Planners were built to keep your most important work front and center. Download the free version of our July planners to help you determine what projects you want to accomplish in the new year.

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