Building the Year: April Assessment

April – Assessment

As we move into April, we have officially entered the second quarter of the year. No matter where you are with your goals, the first part of the year is over, and the first three months are behind us. With our plan, we are building the year, but more importantly, we are setting ourselves up for success each month. By building month to month, we are making sure that each month will help us put something in place that will help next month, and as we do that over the course of the year, we know that we will be further along.

One thing that breaking the year up into smaller parts is designed to do, aside from giving us smaller steps to focus on, is the allow for more adjustments and more places to assess. That is what April is all about: Assessment

This month, we are going to pause and assess.

Where are you now?

What steps have you taken?

What is working?

What is not working?

What challenges have you run into?

It doesn’t have to be too deep. It can be a simple look at your day, week, month and a chance to think about it: Am I doing what I set out to do? If so, keep going, but there is also value to acknowledging the steps that work, are working and will continue to work. Just as valuable: looking at the steps that don’t work or give you more challenges.

It’s ok to change course. It is ok to realize that something that looked like a perfect fit at one point, may not be the best fit now, or may not be the best fit next month. If we can’t change, we can’t improve. Isn’t that what we are after anyway? Any goal we set, we are seeking change. We are looking to go from where we are now to where we want to be. The only way to do that is to do something different. I’ll say that different way: The only way to get different results is to take different actions. And the only way to know if these current actions are taking us where we want to go is to step and look.

In other words, we need to assess our progress, our routine, in order to know how it is working. Is it working? We have to assess. What is working or not working? Again, we have to assess.

Assessment isn’t about judgment. It isn’t about giving up or throwing out old plans. Assessment is about awareness. It gives you a clear look at what’s actually happening instead of what you think should be happening.

One of the biggest differences between success and failure isn’t just sticking with something no matter what. It is about being able to see if something is working or not, and in which ways, and adjusting.

This is where support matters. On your own, it’s easy to miss patterns, overlook progress, or stay stuck in what isn’t working. The right support helps you see clearly, adjust intentionally, and keep moving forward without overcorrecting or starting over.

Most importantly, when someone else is asking you questions, you aren’t going to hear it as judgmental. More specifically, picture yourself asking the questions: Are you being nice to yourself? Are you being supportive or are you being judgmental? It’s ok either way, we are all human. But when you are assessing your routine, just ask yourself, am I objectively looking at my progress or am I beating myself up.

That’s one reason all my coaching programs begin with an assessment. Questions, answers, challenges, confidence levels, motivation and overall goals are all important steps, not just to get started, but to make sure we are getting started on the right foot.  

Since we are getting into the how of assessing, I will wrap it up here. The focus for April is simple: assess your progress. Even if we stay at step one and remember the importance of assessment by itself. Ask yourself the questions, and assess where you are now.