New Year’s Resolutions For TEFL Teachers – How To Make Them Stick

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-me for January but then you go right back to same-old same-old you in February. 

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

What are New Year’s resolutions?

A New Year’s resolution is a decision or committment a person makes to themselves to better themselves or a particular behaviour, change or break a bad habit, or achieve a personal goal. They are commonly made at the beginning of the new year.

In 2024, the most popular New Year’s resolutions were to:

• improve fitness,
• be better with money,
• improve mental health,
• lose weight, and
• eat better.

Sadly, studies have shown that around 80% of New Year’s resolutions have been given up by mid-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…

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 2025.

• 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. You can even listen to a TEFL podcast once in a while.
• Build your brand. Be more active on LinkedIn. Connect with other TEFL professionals.

But remember, New Year’s is not the only time we can make a change! Why not start today!