New Year’s Resolutions For TEFL Teachers – How To Make Them Stick
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January 1 is, for many, a day of new beginnings. A fresh start, a time to turn over a new leaf. The problem is, more often than not you’re a new-year-new-year for January but then you go right back to same-old same-old you in February.
What do New Year’s resolutions fail?
What is it about New Year’s resolutions that are made in the hopes of bettering ourselves that ultimately end up making us feel worse about ourselves?
We did a deep dive into the psychology behind New Year’s resolutions. Are New Year’s resolutions healthy? When’s the best time to make New Year’s resolutions? Why do New Year’s resolutions fail?
Let’s just say it may explain a few things…
The origins of New Year’s Day
The new year hasn’t always been celebrated on the first day of January. March 25th, September 21s, and December 21st are all days which were previously believed to herald the beginning of the year.
Even now, some countries and cultures which follow a different calendar consider different dates to be New Year’s Day. Here are just a few:
- Chinese New Year is in late January or early February.
- Thais celebrate New Year in March or April.
- New Year in India is in mid-October or mid-November
- New Year for Koreans is on February 5
The most common New Year’s resolutions
Nevertheless, there are still many of us who celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1. And on our New Year’s to-do list is to make New Year’s resolutions. If you’re that kind of person, you’re probably going to make one of these most popular New Year’s resolutions for 2024:
- Get fit
- Save money
- Lose weight
- Stop smoking
- Travel more
But we hate to say it, a huge proportion of us won’t see our resolutions through to the end of the month. In fact, the second Friday in January is known as Quitter’s Day because this is the day motivation for our resolutions falter, and even fail.
Why do New Year’s resolutions fail?
New Year’s resolutions often fail because they are too ambitious, too broad, or too vague. If you have too many resolutions, it’s difficult to focus on all of them, so you’re more likely to fail. If you don’t consider your time constraints and your reality, it’s likely you won’t have the time needed to focus on your goals.
How to make New Year’s resolutions stick
But we’re optimistic people! We believe we can make a change for the better! So let’s look at how we can make our New Year’s resolutions stick.
- Go small rather than big.
- Think gradual rather than sudden.
- Focus on a few rather than many.
- Think about actions rather than avoidance behaviours.
- Be realistic.
- Be specific.
- Write it down.
- Share it with your friends for accountability.
New Year’s resolutions for teachers
Now let’s get personal. Your New Year’s resolutions for your health or finances are your own business. We’re teachers, so let’s talk about New Year’s resolutions for teachers!
We’re not going to tell you to re-invent yourself, but there are a few small things we can focus on in 2024.
- Upgrade your qualification. Do a Top-Up course to add a specialisation to your CV.
- Take part in professional development activities. Make a plan to attend a TEFL conference or professional event sometime in the year (even virtually).
- Upskill yourself. Commit to watching one TEFL-related webinar each month or read one blog post a week.
- Build your brand. Be more active on LinkedIn. Connect with other TEFL professionals.
- Get comfy with tech. Choose one or two teach-related programs or apps and commit to making use of it in your lessons.
But remember, New Year’s is not the only time we can make a change! Why not start today!
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