New Year – a perfect time to have a think about some resolutions for the rest of the academic year! Here are three useful ways to inspire and motivate yourself at the start of the year!
- Reflect on Last Year
It’s been and gone, but there are important lessons we can take from the past year to make our present and future even better. What goals did you set for yourself last year? What events happened that you would want to change or improve if you faced them again? What events happened that made you proud or feel successful last year? This is about identifying what went well in the previous year and what would have made it even better – enabling you to apply this to the New Year too!
- Look Ahead
What important events are on their way in 2019? How far away are they? What do you want to achieve when those events come round? Having a clear focus on what’s to come and when gives you essentially SMART targets for yourself. This should give you something specific to work towards, making your resolutions much more likely to be kept to as the year moves on. Don’t forget that these goals should be a mix of work and home so that you are striving to get that appropriate balance for work and play.
- Be Realistic
Your reflections might lead to some changes to help you achieve your goals. These shouldn’t be massive changes – lots of people say they want to go the gym five times a week, but if this is a considerable change or isn’t manageable for your schedule, you won’t succeed. It is much better to make smaller changes, such as taking the stairs instead of lifts where possible, getting up ten minutes earlier to give you time to make a nutritious lunch or setting yourself a challenge of drinking a certain amount of water throughout the day. These little changes could make a big a difference!
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook in January for hints and tips about improving your wellbeing in 2021 and some useful resources to save you time for some you-time!
Don’t forget to subscribe to Beyond for access to thousands of secondary teaching resources. You can sign up for a free account here and take a look around at our free resources before you subscribe too.