Behind the Scenes: My Exact Mid-Year Reset Retreat

It's officially halfway through the year and I'm feeling like I need to hit the reset button on my business. Maybe you do too? Like you might be in this weird headspace, questioning everything – goals, direction, whether you’re even on the right track anymore. Well, instead of just wallowing in it, let’s do something about it. I'm taking you behind the scenes of my actual mid-year reset retreat and by the end of this, you'll have everything you need to do your own reset. Are you feeling ready to get back on track? Because honestly, I think we both need this…

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It’s half-way through the year which is the perfect opportunity to check in on your goals and reset your direction if you’ve gotten off course OR the year has thrown unexpected(?) surprises (negative and positive) your way.

I break my quarterly and mid-year planning retreats into 4 sections: Warm-Up, Wild Ideation, Structure and Celebration.

I also love the take the opportunity to get out of my regular space by booking a hotel or AirB&B for a couple of nights as often I can do my best thinking and strategizing out of reach of my normal distractions (hello, kindle)

For this one though, I’m doing something special(?) and staying put. So that I can take you behind the scenes as I do my mid-year reset retreat so you can maybe plan along.

Mid-Year Reset Task #1: Warm-Up

I shared this a little while ago and you’ll also find them inside of the Content Empire Planner but I have a set of questions that I use as a business alignment check. I use these at least once a quarter but also anytime I feel unsure or uncertain about my business and the direction I’m going in. 

Doubts are completely normal (actually, you might be abnormal if you never have any) but there are times when I’m questioning every little decision, any potential move or I’m dreaming up so many pivots that I end up feeling dizzy. This is especially true when I haven’t maintained a consistent connection to my vision or when I’ve gone too long without doing these journaling questions.

So this part of my planning retreat is for journaling, reviewing my numbers and completing my quarterly kaizen review. I’ve got my journal, daily CEO journal, the Content Empire Planner, all of my numbers and the review sheet printed out. 

I start by warming up with journaling on these questions:

• FIRST MOTIVATION: Journal about why you originally started your business? Has that motivation changed? 
• SECOND INVESTMENT: How much are you really working in your business right now? Where are you spending that time? Basically, what is your business costing you? 
• THEN RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI): What are you getting in return from your business? 
• NEXT ALIGNMENT: How is your business currently fitting into your life? What does your ideal daily lifestyle look like? And in this ideal lifestyle – what are you doing on a yearly, monthly, weekly and daily basis? 
• FINALLY, PIVOT: What needs to change in order for you to live the lifestyle you want? What changes do you need to make to your business (think: offers, ideal clients, marketing, sales systems, systems, team)?

Then I review my measurements from the previous quarter and complete my Kaizen review sheet. One of the big mistakes I see a lot of people do is collect their numbers, look at their numbers, but never translate those numbers into actions they take to improve their businesses. 

For each area – content, marketing (lead gen), sales, delivery and CEO role and strategy, I use the numbers and reflections to write down what’s working, then same thing for what’s not working in these areas, I write down my most important numbers from the quarter and then brainstorm things I can do to improve these numbers and areas. Finally I commit to 3 changes for each of these areas making sure that they’re a mix of small changes and up to one medium to large change. 

Some of my big takeaways from reviewing the year so far are that I’ve done a lot of work on rebuilding my business and rolling out that rebuild publicly. I’ve beta tested and launched a signature offer (Signature $50K Months), have rebuilt my signature funnels and added in some advanced funnel systems including an upsell (1-1 coaching, a downsell (the $10K Monthly Content system program for anyone whose goal it is to reach 10K per month) and created my micro offer stack as a taste test for people new to me as an alternative entry point into my funnel and onto my email list. Basically this quarter has been A LOT about execution. My weekly work schedule has ebbed and flowed a bit depending on different products and launches but has mostly stayed around 20 hours a week. The things that need some work are list building and team. I barely did any list building this quarter – I added 219 people to my email list and lost 264 and while I know that list building and paid ads weren’t the focus, I definitely want to focus on that for the second half of the year. Also, I really need to find a new virtual assistant. Mine that has been with me for the last 6 years went on maternity leave and accepted a full-time corporate job after coming back so there are some big shoes to fill. 

Mid-Year Reset Task #2: Ideation

Once I’ve done my review warm-up (which also helped tease out some necessary focuses for the second half of the year), I move into ideation and brainstorming. 

For this I have my notes from the previous phase, a pack of post-its and a white board. 

I start by dividing up my whiteboard into 4 quadrants: Plans, Priorities, Projects and Promotions.

• For Plans – I write down anything I know is going on this coming quarter like a vacation, traveling for business etc. I put these down because I want to know when my no-fly zones are in my calendar and what I maybe want to plan content coverage for.
• For Priorities – this is where I add post-its with goal ideas for the quarter. 
• For Projects – I write down projects and actions for the quarters. Some of these I pull from my review notes, others I take from my overall yearly plan and anything else just comes to me as I’m going through this process.
• For Promotions – I put down any launches, campaigns or promos I want to run. I want to make sure that these are spaced enough apart and that I’m not overloading myself. The majority of my sales and Signature $50K Month inquiries come from evergreen so these are for big injections and momentum – so max I’m planning is 1 big one per quarter and then up to 2 smaller pop-up campaigns.

So here’s a rundown of my coming quarter – for plans, there isn’t too too much going on besides my wedding anniversary and school starting up again so I’ll have a jarring transition away from a kind of breezy summer schedule. My goals this quarter are to add 1500 people to the email list and sign 3 new clients. For projects – I’m working on the 2026 Content Empire Planner, launching $10K Monthly Content Systems and getting our ads funnel dialed in. I also have a list of 10 small tweaks to make that came up during the review process that I’ll tackle too (my goal is 1 per week so I’ve ranked these in order of priority). Finally for promotions, I just have the $10K Monthly Content System launch in October and everything else is evergreen.

Mid-Year Reset Task #3: Structure

Wild (and not so wild) ideas on the board, the next phase is Structure. This is where I organize my ideas and put them on the calendar so I know my exact priorities for every month in the coming quarter. 

First, I draft the plan including content plan in my Content Empire Planner. Then I create a digital version in Notion that I use as my working version. Finally, I keep my priorities top of mind by adding them to my “command centre” board. 

To draft my plan, I pull out my Content Empire Planner:

• I start with the quarterly goals sheet – write down my projects here and then assign no more than 3 priorities per week in the coming quarter.
• Then for each month – I draft my calendar with important dates and launches. My revenue plan. Then I brainstorm topics (or grab them from my ideas database) and finally build out my monthly content maps. 
• My approach is to make this step as messy as I need to. It’s fine if I need to cross something out and move it. I like to do this with pen and paper, because there’s less digital distractions and that helps me think more creatively. Once I’m happy with how it looks, I create my working version in Notion. 
• For each week, I put down what’s happening on the calendar, my marketing calendar (things I’m launching, promoting or long-form content I’m putting out), YCE priorities and personal priorities.

Finally, and this might be overkill but I add a post-it for each of my projects and goals for the quarter and put it on what I call my command center wall. I like to have it somewhere visual so I can check it off or just look at it to organize my thoughts.

Mid-Year Reset Task #4: Celebration

The final step after my planning is complete, is to celebrate. 

First thing, I follow the Profit First system and on a quarterly basis I take a draw from our profit account and buy myself and the business a present. We’re in the middle of a kitchen reno, so I’m definitely eyeing something that’s going to look in the finished space. For the business, I’m booking an intensive with a coach I’ve been wanting to work with FOREVER. 

The last thing I usually do is pick a restaurant I’ve been eyeing up and enjoy a solo or husband date night to unwind and give my brain a little break after a long day of planning.

Let me know if you want me to do more of these behind-the-scenes style videos – I got lots of ideas!