Looking back over the past six months, it is clear that so much has changed in the world. The standout moment for many will have been the historic North Korean-US summit, which saw “former” enemies President Donald Trump and Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un come to the negotiation table in a move that wouldn’t have seemed possible as recently as the start of the year. But this is just the tip of the iceberg when we consider the changes over the last six months, with elections in Italy, Russia and Turkey, as well as the implementation of MiFID II marking some of the other major events that have drawn the attention of markets and investors over the first half of the year.

Amongst these developments, the halfway mark of the year can provide a much-needed moment of reflection, both personally and professionally. Italian philosopher George Santayana proclaimed at the beginning of the 20th century: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Indeed, in such a fast paced and forward-looking sector such as communications, this isn’t always easy, but as we stand in the middle of 2018, we must now ask: “What have I achieved so far this year, and how can I improve?” Through asking this question, and critically evaluating where we are, we can in turn prepare for the next six months that lie ahead.

Now also represents the time to set goals. There are 183 days between 1 July and 31 December: what can be achieved in this time? Implementing pre-identified targets over a set time will help to bring further structure into work processes in coming months, while also preventing you from becoming sucked into the busy day-to-day nature of the current work environment. Given how the modern world can appear near chaotic, the case for goal setting could be seen to be as important as ever.

However, it should be noted that the summer no longer represents a ‘lull’ in the financial year, and this moment of reflection must not be taken as an opportunity to take one’s foot off the gas. In this era of technology and digitalisation where news flow is seemingly endless, the increased opportunities to implement communications strategies over the summer period are great, as opposed to simply planning or preparing them, which was the case many years ago.

The world is unpredictable, and nobody truly knows what we may see over the next six months. So take a moment to reflect, set goals and then embark on what will hopefully be a successful six months.