Every year, I make a few September resolutions. For some reason, it makes more sense to me to make resolutions at the start of a new school year than in the depths of winter.
Late year, my resolutions were:
1. Continue to get outside every day. I’ve been doing the 1000 Hours Outside challenge for a couple of years with my kiddo and it really helps to encourage me to get us out and about as much as possible, come rain or shine! This is something I’m sticking to for the academic year 2023-24, although it’ll be a lot harder to get to 1000 hours now he’s at preschool 3 days a week. I find just tracking our outside time makes me think about it and focus on what activities we can do outside when we’re together, though, so I will definitely continue to do so.
2. Do one new thing each month to be more environmentally friendly. Some of the things I started doing last year were becoming vegetarian, buying an electric car, switching to Who Gives a Crap toilet paper and Cheeky Wipes, using Smol laundry and dishwasher tabs, really looking at a clothing company’s sustainability practices before purchasing new clothes (one of my absolute favourites is Rapanui), getting organic fruit and vegetables from Riverford, using refills for cleaning products, buying shower gel and hand wash in bulk to reduce packaging, and being much more mindful of packaging in general, including taking soft plastics to the supermarket for recycling. This is also something that I will continue to focus on forever, as one of my core values is sustainability.
3. Tuesday mornings are for me time and life admin. This one worked well until I got really ill at Christmas and then it all went a bit out the window as I was just trying to survive day-to-day. My husband and I have pledged to give each other one day a month where we can each do exactly what we want, on our own (or with friends) to help us relax and recharge. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s a good start, especially when we have a 3-year-old!
4. Do more online CPD and start to do some in-person CPD in schools and/or universities. I’ve don’t lots of online CPD and webinars over the past year and have a few more in the pipeline for 2023-34. I haven’t yet done any in-person CPD, but am doing some in October 2023 and am always open to do more!
This year, my resolutions are a bit more focused on my personal/family life and my health (which has been awful over the last year) but I do have one work-related resolution, too.
1. An income goal. I don’t feel comfortable sharing exactly what the number is, but I have been doing a lot of work on money mindset recently (thanks to the fabulous Denise Duffield Thomas whose books and podcast have completely changed my outlook on money) and have realised there is a certain income that is a huge barrier to me. It’s an amount that I never quite earnt as a teacher and have never earnt since I left teaching and I just need to break through this particular barrier this year!
2. Be more present with my son. I make this resolution all the time and it’s something I work on every day. I often catch myself on my phone and ignoring him when I should be playing with him, or even at the dinner table, and I really need to stop doing it! Or if I’m not on my phone, I zone out and think about work.
3. Movement. As I mentioned above, my health has been awful this year. I haven’t managed to do any exercise at all for months and I miss moving my body, getting a bit out of breath and feeling stronger. I shan’t be running any marathons but even a brisk walk or swim each day would be a lot better than what I’ve been doing recently!
Do you make September resolutions? If so, what are they this year? Get in touch on Facebook and Instagram (I’m @katelanguages on both) or email me through the contact form on this website!
