Do this Mid-Year Reset: (The 5-Step Framework That Actually Works)

We're at the midpoint of the year — and if you're feeling like you've lost momentum, you're not showing up consistently, or you keep cycling through the same patterns no matter how many times you reset your schedule, this episode is for you.

Here's the thing: most mid-year resets fail because they address the symptoms without ever touching the source. A better schedule, a new plan, more time blocking — those things might offer temporary relief, but they won't change the underlying pattern that's creating the problem in the first place.

In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain and walking you through my own mid-year reset using the Five R Method — the same framework I use with clients to identify the real operating system running beneath the surface behaviors, so you can interrupt it before it collapses your progress.

I'm getting honest about my own high-functioning avoider pattern — why I mysteriously lose traction right when things start building — and walking through each step live so you can see exactly what this looks like in real life.

This isn't abstract. This is the work.

What we cover:

• Why productivity fixes don't fix productivity problems
• The Five R Method: Reveal, Reframe, Rewire, Realign, Reinforce
• What a "high-functioning avoider" pattern actually looks like (and why it has nothing to do with discipline)
• How to create nervous system safety around visibility and success
• The "good, better, best" approach to reinforcing change when life is unpredictable

Keywords: mid-year reset, productivity patterns, nervous system regulation, sustainable change, high-functioning women, identity patterns, self-sabotage, five R method, Clearing on Purpose, coaching framework

Episode Tags: mid-year reset, patterns, nervous system, productivity, self-trust, sustainable success, coaching, women entrepreneurs

If this episode resonated, there may be deeper hidden patterns shaping the way you operate, respond to pressure, and move through burnout, overthinking, or self-sabotage.

✨ Take the Hidden Patterns Quiz

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Connect with Christina
www.christinaslaback.com
Email: hello@christinaslaback.com
Instagram: @christinaslaback

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Transcript

 And so what it costs me is this loss of momentum and this erosion of self-trust because I have all these plans and I have all this stuff that I wanna do, and when I then find myself not being able to do it or not doing it at the level that I want to, I can get frustrated with myself and I can feel like I'm just not following through. But by shaming myself for that or by, you know, just trying to implement more, um, focus or more patterns or, uh, more focus or more time blocking in my calendar or scheduling things better, creating a better plan, those are things that might alleviate some of the surface issues, but it's not gonna alleviate the underlying pr- uh, the other underlying baseline, which is that my nervous system doesn't feel safe that it will be okay for me to be able to have that level of success. Welcome to Clear and on Purpose. I'm Christina, and around here, we slow down, get honest, and talk about the real-life moments that shape us. Each week, I share personal stories, perspective shifts, and simple truths to help you live with more intention and ease. I'm glad you're here. ​ Welcome back to Clearing on Purpose. Over the last couple of episodes, I've been trying to work through and communicate some of the things that I see from my clients and from my own life about how so often we get caught into improving and optimizing efficiency and productivity where we're really not solving the problem that is underlying, and then working on identifying what some of those baseline patterns and those operating systems can be. And in full transparency, I actually already recorded a podcast episode for this kind of walking through the method that I use and the framework that I use to be able to identify what's really going on, to be able to implement and interrupt those systems and that pattern, and then to be able to move that on. Um, and it was very put together an eloquent and walk through each of the, the items. But what I wanted to do is really just pull the curtain back a little bit. ​ And And today I'm gonna give you the framework that I actually use with myself and with the clients that I work with called the five R method. And in full transparency, I actually already recorded this podcast. It was put together and polished, and I deleted it because what I felt might be more useful than walking through the framework in the abstract was actually pulling the curtain back and showing you what it looks like when I use it on myself. So that's what we're doing today. We've hit the middle of the year, and I'm doing my midyear reset with you using my five R method. So come along and join me as I Instead of me just talking about it in abstract, is to actually show you what it looks like to implement a framework to be able to get at those underlying behaviors and to make sustainable change by me actually kind of walking you through this myself. Before I get into it, here's the structure. It's five steps, and each one starts with the letter R. I'm gonna walk through all five of these using my own personal things as examples, so you can see what this actually looks like in real life rather than just in an idea. And just so you know, you can enter at any step. This isn't a linear process where you have to start from scratch each time. It meets you wherever you are. Let's get into it So we have just hit the middle of the year, and I usually take this time to be able to look at and to be able to reflect back on how things are going, what things I might have want to adjust or change going into the remainder of the year, and to really kind of like just do that check-in. Because with all of these things, and you'll hear me say again and again, that this is not identifying and noticing and then moving on and never having to deal with these baselines ever again. They come up over and over and over, especially as life gets busy, especially as we start to, not be intentional and to just let life take over. And so I like to take the opportunity at the end of the month, at these midyear, at all these points. I think that's why I like resets so much, is because it gives me that chance to check in and to notice where maybe some of these have been sneaking back in. So during this midyear reset that I'm doing, I want to take it and break it down using my five R method framework Okay, so I'm gonna take you through my mid-year reset, utilizing my five R method, and as I'm doing it, It will have a step-by-step sequence to go through, but just know that it's meant to work in at any step, to be able to come in and meet you where you're at and with what's going on, so that you can quickly reset and be able to get yourself back into that intentional focused action rather than your busy every day-to-day kind of, unconscious patterns that you're in. Okay. So looking at, for my mid-year review, I really like to take a look at where I'm at- What's been going on, what my goals were for the year, for the last month, 'cause I usually break it down from a year into monthly goals, and then look at where I want to take it and what I wanna take forward in the next quarter, in the next month, in the next remainder of the year. So the first step of this five R framework, and it's a reveal, is the first step. So when you're looking at it from reveal, what you're doing is you're trying to look at what the symptoms are that are going on. So I'm too busy, I'm feeling overwhelmed, I'm feeling burnt out, I don't have enough time for this. Look at what those symptoms are that you might be looking at and saying, "Okay, well, I need to, get more disciplined. I need to be more motivated. I need a better system." And really take that and look at what is the driving baseline pattern underneath. So for instance, for me, one of the things that I feel like have been in kind of these cycles throughout the year is that I will be really creative, really, intentional, doing a lot of work, on outreach and getting clients and doing all these things, and then I'll just kinda dry up. And so then I feel like I'm not setting aside as much time, or when I am, I'm not as focused. So looking at it like I can't focus, I don't have enough time, I'm not showing up consistently. And when I look at that and I can say, "Okay, well, I'm just not setting aside the time," or, "I just need to be more disciplined and, you know, just have a better plan when I'm going into it." But if I take a step back and look at what would be the underlying pattern that I notice that I take part in over and over again. And one of the things that I can get stuck in is this high-functioning avoider, and that's where you can sometimes feel like you are cons- like consistently self-sabotaging, where you can start really strong, you can get momentum, and then mysteriously you kinda just drop out or you disappear or you start to lose traction. And it's not contrary to like our popular belief, it's not about being undisciplined or inconsistent, but it's a nervous system pattern. So sometimes for me, that growth, that visibility, or that pressure can trigger a protection mode. And what that means is that my nervous system just can't quite it's not accustomed to being at a certain level, and it feels like if I start to get too many clients, if I start to get too much momentum, if I start to get too much visibility, that I will run into the same patterns that led to burnout in my corporate job, where I am just over-functioning and overworking, and everything is kind of revolving around that. And so unconsciously, I will actually start to pull back when I feel that momentum building, when I feel that visibility, when I start to get, you know, really get some really good traction going because my nervous system is saying, "It's not safe. It's not safe for us to be out there at that level because-" You don't want to get into those patterns of burnout. And so what it costs me is this loss of momentum and this erosion of self-trust because I have all these plans and I have all this stuff that I wanna do, and when I then find myself not being able to do it or not doing it at the level that I want to, I can get frustrated with myself and I can feel like I'm just not following through. But by shaming myself for that or by, you know, just trying to implement more, focus or more patterns or, uh, more focus or more time blocking in my calendar or scheduling things better, creating a better plan, those are things that might alleviate some of the surface issues, but it's not gonna alleviate the underlying pr- the other underlying baseline, which is that my nervous system doesn't feel safe that it will be okay for me to be able to have that level of success. And what I need to do then is I need to create safety around that consistency. I need to create safety around that visibility and that level of success and allow my nervous system to know that it's okay, that I can trust myself, and that I can move forward in a way that's sustainable. That I can have both my ambition, my success, and my drive, and my ease, and my joy, and my free time, and my adventure, and I can have both of those things, and they don't have to be mutually exclusive. And that I can do that in a way that's sustainable. So when I move on to that revealing, noticing what that pattern is, so that high functioning avoider, that's revealing. That's noticing what my pattern is, and there are patterns that I see over and over again. I have like five of them, and you can kind of take a little quiz, and it'll tell you what your typical pattern is or what's showing up for you in that certain area of life and give you what it actually means. So revealing and noticing that it is not going to be alleviated by just making a better schedule or making a better plan, that I need to regulate my nervous system and be able to allow it to feel safe enough for me to continue to show up consistently. And then I move on to the second step is... which is reframing it. So that is where I'm looking at and saying, "No, this is... I can have both." I'm questioning what I'm making it mean. So I'm saying high visibility, high clients. Business success in my mind equals hustle, it equals grind, it equals burnout, and that's what my nervous system is fighting against. But if I reframe that and say that visibility, consistency, and high clients, what else can I make that mean? I don't think that you have to hustle hard and grind to be able to be successful. I don't think that success and burnout are equal, that, they always coexist. So I can question those beliefs, and I can start to, to give myself a reframe and notice ways where that is not the case. For most of my business, that has not been the case. For people that I look up to and admire, that is not the case. For clients that I work with, when they get more visibility, when they get those higher opportunities coming in, it does not have to come at a cost of being burnt out. That's exactly the things that I teach against, and how to be able to sustainably do that, and I have to keep doing that to myself. So looking at and redefining what it means for me, because success for me means visibility, growth, clients, all of these things at the same time that I have freedom, that I have joy, that I have more ease because I can implement in systems and automations and bring in assistance and accept help and allow myself to receive without feeling like I have to work for every single bit of it. So I look at it and I reframe it and I redefine what that means. Actually, by showing up consistently, by getting that visibility, by doing all of those things, I won't have to work as hard because I will be building on that momentum that I've already created, and so I can show up in impactful smaller ways instead of constantly behind the scenes And then I can move from that reframe to start to rewire, and that's where you're looking at shifting the patterns of the source, and that's addressing the identity and the nervous system patterns that are keeping us in the cycles. So you wanna do this to interrupt those systems and that operating pattern before it's collapsing your progress. So by doing this and noticing as I'm getting a few weeks into like, "Oh, I'm feeling like I'm not able to focus as much. I'm feeling like I'm not putting as much in. I'm feeling these things," because I'm doing this work now, and because I do this on a monthly basis, and because I do this on a weekly basis, I can start to... And because I've been doing this work for so long, I can start to notice them before they get to a point where they have created these boom and bust cycles, which is what used to happen in the past, where it was consistent, consistent, consistent, and I would drop off and not do anything for a couple of months, and then have to build it all back up again. So by doing this, I can shift those patterns at the source of them. I can notice them sooner, and then be able to give my nervous system space to be able to actually sit with those feelings. So just telling myself, "Oh, I can't have both of these things," is not necessarily going to make my nervous system feel safer. It is by allowing myself to sit in those feelings that it's too much, that it's too much pressure, that it's... People are going to... If I get too visible, people are gonna judge me. People are gonna have comments. I might have, family or friends that disagree with the way that I'm doing it or that are looking at me in certain ways because of the work that I do, and having their opinions projected on me And by looking at it and rewiring it and so sitting with that and saying, you know, like, "It's safe. It is safe for me to grow. It is safe for me to be seen. It is safe for me to know." Journaling on this, being able to sit in those feelings and not just try to automatically switch them, doing breathwork or meditations Looking at and noticing those times. This is something that has also come up a ton with me with allowing space for people to help. Allowing myself to accept support and to receive has always been something that I struggle with because I feel like I am the over-functioning, the over-giver. And it has taken a lot for me to just sit and have that discomfort of not automatically offering the solution and the support and the help if I think that someone is struggling, if I'm at capacity. It used to be that I would just go ahead and offer, and it didn't matter if I was at capacity, and I was just stressed out and exhausted and burnt out and all of these things, but it was so uncomfortable for me not to step in and to consider myself and my needs first. So being able to find practices, tapping, you know, practices that can help you to be able to sit with those underlying feelings and make your s- nervous system feel safe with it. Because what I could do is I could say, "Oh, yes, there's time, and I, I have... I can just push through, and I'll just, I'll just keep cranking out content, and I'll keep doing a bunch of outreach, and I'll keep signing on new clients and, and filling up my calendar." And that would lead to that burnout that I am avoiding because I'm pushing through instead of allowing for my nervous system to catch up and moving from a place of self-trust, of moving from a place of looking at and noticing what is really going on so that I can move from a very aligned space and take that next aligned action rather than just hustling and just trying to push through the resistance without questioning it and getting more clear on what that is first. And that's the work of rewiring. It's not telling yourself a better story, it's letting your nervous system actually sit in the discomfort long enough to learn that it's safe. And that takes time, and it takes repetition. And when it starts to hold, that's when you're ready to actually build the structures, which is when we move into step four And that's where we move into the fourth step, which is realign, and this is to build practical structures, decisions, routines, boundaries. These are the systems that you're consciously creating that are fitting your actual life, so your capacity, your values, your areas of strength. And this isn't a template that you're getting from someone else. This isn't something that you're just copying and pasting and trying to make work. This needs to come from you. You can take pieces of other people's systems and be able to use it, but it has to work for you. So wor- looking at and determining what your actual real life looks like and how you can bring in that strategy so that it has somewhere stable to land because you've done- The work of identifying what the real problem is because you have allowed your nervous system to stabilize. So this is where you're creating systems, where you're creating that structure behind it. So this is where you would start taking action. This is where I look at changing the rhythm of how I'm showing up. This is where I start to look at my plan, and see what feels good and what feels like maybe I need to adjust or change. This is where I actually take the actions that will work for me. So this typically means planning better mornings to ground myself, get myself really centered into the impact that I wanna make, into the feelings that I want to embody so that I am coming from a place where I am authentically able to show up and give from. Where I am noticing and- Identifying the factors that feed me and bring me energy and joy so that I can then give that energy out and not feel like I'm depleting myself. This is where I look at things like, how much time am I spending on social media? How am I spending my evenings? Am I staying up too late? Am I needing to set better boundaries around the times that I'm working and what that looks like? Do I need to bring in more things that bring me joy and excitement so I can get my creati- my creativity going and be able to show up in a way that I feel like I'm adding value? So that's where I look at and I create those systems and I say, "Okay, so I need to make sure that I am feeding myself regularly," because energy crashes are, are a real thing. I need to be looking at my sleep habits. I need to be looking at how I'm structuring my days. Now that we're in full summer mode, our days look different, and my rhythms have not caught up all the way. So I need to take more time to be able to look at that with intention now that we know what our schedules are gonna look like a bit more, and be able to plug in those spaces, to be able to block off my calendar for when I actually am available or not with clients. Those are the structures, and that's where you're realigning. So for me, some of these actions look like taking an honest look at my calendar over the next coming months and actually going in and blocking off that time specifically. It looks like planning in those morning activities and looking at my night routines. It looks like setting aside specified time to focus on my planning for the week so that I can come forward with an action plan of exactly what I'm doing, and I have the time laid out ahead of time so that when things come up as they inevitably do, that I am ready for it because I've already kind of prepped exactly what's happening. It brings that power and control back to me because I'm taking initiative in how I want my schedule to look rather than riding the waves of whatever may come during the day. And then the last step is that reinforcement, and this is where we stabilize so that the change actually holds. We want to be able to create a solid, stable structure so that when life gets hard, it gets busy, when it's uncertain, that the changes are durable through all that reli- real life, the growth, the setbacks, the expansion. And those lasting results are gonna require more than just those moments of clarity. Those moments of clarity when we reveal what's actually going on are great, but if we're not taking action from that space, if we're not moving in intentional alignment with that, it's just gonna be that. It's gonna just be those sparks and those aha moments. If you wanna create lasting, grounded change, then you need to be able to look at and reinforce. So this is where you are identifying what has been blocking you before. Some of these changes I have made before. So what's stopping me from making them now? In June, I wanted to be able to get up earlier and do the sunrise. What's blocking me from doing that? One, my nighttime routines have been terrible. Two, we've been spending a lot more time in activities, and fun, and friends, so it's not always realistic for me to expect to be going to bed early. And frankly, it's the longest days of the year and the suns- sunrise is quite early. And our weather has not been great, so my enticement of being able to see a beautiful sunrise is not always even there when the clouds are scray- gray and stormy, and I have to get up before 5:00 in the morning to get out there and do that So I have to look at what is realistic, what actually meets me where I'm at, and sometimes that works. I, I do love to be able to go out and be able to see the sunrises, and when I'm able to do that, that's amazing. But what can give me that same grounding, that same inspiration, that same creativity when the weather doesn't work, when my sleep schedule wasn't great, when all of these other factors are happening? So how can I look at this in terms of the bigger whole and say, like, this is where I do my good, better, best. Good, I do five minutes of, of journaling or meditation, and I just take a couple breaths to center myself before I start my day. Better is that I take that time to be able to do a longer meditation or a journaling session or to be able to go out and get outside and walk around and get some sunlight on my eyes for a good few minutes before my day starts. And best is if I can get up, do my sunrise, do my full meditation and journaling session, and have that outdoor time and have that extra time and space where I can really start to, like, write and get creative and plan and create content. So that even on my worst days, I can still do that five minutes. I can still take that breath. I can still center myself and ground myself. And if I'm moving towards getting more of that better or best in there, that's gonna do so much more for it and grounding them in the reasons why. Not just that I wanna do this, but the reasons why. Because when I do that, I feel energized. When I do that, I feel creative, I feel inspired, I feel like I'm able to start off on such a positive mindset that I bring into the rest of my day. And then the sibling squabbles or the house being messy, those things don't bother me nearly as much when I am set up in this really grounded, energized space. And I have some extra time if I'm able to do it early enough, then I can get a good chunk of work done right away in the morning when my creativity is at its peak before I get pulled into all of the normal day-to-day stuff. By looking at and looking at my long-term calendar and marking off vacation days, marking off times when I want to clock out, and not allowing appointments to build into those times. This is where you go back and you reflect and you say, "What has been working and what isn't working?" So you keep coming back to it. These are the actions that I was taking. It's been a week. How has it been going? What do I need to adjust? What's no longer realistic, or what actually fills those needs in other ways? And by taking this framework and being able to allow it to meet you where you're at, so that when you get inevitably pulled into the cycles again, and it's not always the same one. I have multiple patterns that'll show up in my life over and over again. And being able to identify, to be able to have language for it so that you notice it and can stop it and be able to realign faster, that is the work. That is the sustainable change. That is what takes you into the place where you want to be. Because it's not about this steady high baseline all the time once you got it all figured out. It is about embracing the ups and the downs, but being able to realign yourself and ground yourself throughout all of it. And if you want to be able to go through and identify your patterns or to go through this framework, I have a hidden patterns quiz available on my website where you can look at and identify what your patterns are. Or you can book a reveal session, and we will talk about and look at what are the symptoms that are going on and look at what that deeper pattern is underneath, so you can change it at the source. And you can book that on my website. Thank you so much for being here, and I wish you a great rest of your year If any of this resonated, if you heard yourself in the high functioning avoider pattern or something else started surfacing as I was talking, that recognition is a starting point. So if you wanna dive more into patterns and try to identify what might be underlying your life, you can download my Hidden Patterns quiz on my website, and it'll tell you what pattern is showing up for you and what it actually means. Or if you want to actually take the time to make the change and use this time of year to really start to create sustainable change and get out of the patterns that have been controlling your life, contact me for a reveal session and we can talk about my recalibrate program where we dive into identifying your patterns in real time, doing this work of this five-hour fr- uh, framework as you're living your real life. Creating and adjusting and pivoting so that you come up with something that is tailor-made for you. Working through tiny experiments that are just specifically working with your nervous system and your patterns so you can break free, and you can create the life that you desire. You don't have to wait till next year. Now is the time for you to take control and decide what your summer's gonna look like Thank you for tuning in to Clear and on Purpose. If this conversation resonated, the best way to support the show is to rate, review, or send it to someone who'd love it too. And if you wanna be the first to hear about new offerings or coaching spots, you can join the wait list at christinaslayback.com. Until next time