Several years ago, I wrote about how my husband and I choose “fun” resolutions each January, rather than focusing on goals that we feel like we should be doing. For us, it encourages a sense of learning and wonder that works. (For more on that, check out this blog or this one to see my year-end reflection). Changing the emphasis from what society or other people think is a good idea (like walking 10,000 steps a day or eating Paleo, for example) to what I am invested in trying (remembering to lotion my hands each night before bed) was a powerful shift that centered my feelings and experiences in my resolution.
I’ve decided to focus 2025 on trying some different wellness practices to see what feels manageable and additive. While it may not feel “fun” in the same way that choosing to cook 52 new recipes in a year did, it’s allowing me to prioritize what helps me feel my best, which I could use a little help with right now. So, for instance, I’ll spend a month focusing on moving my snacking habits from delightfully salty to consistently fruity to see how that change makes me feel. I’ll spend a different month focusing on a daily meditative practice, and another one trying to practice gratitude regularly. My goal isn’t to leave each month with something I feel like I must do moving forward—rather, it’ll be an attempt to find what gives me the most contentment and feels like I don’t have to think about it all the time or re-work something else in my schedule to get it done.

I think this is an important piece of trying to incorporate something new into your life, regardless of the time of year: It must be somewhat easy and absolutely worthwhile or else it won’t stick. In the past, I’ve set goals for myself that were overly ambitious, and after struggling with them had to finally accept that it was too much too quickly or more than I had bandwidth for. The other piece of this that feels appealing is that it allows me a fresh start each month. If January doesn’t go so well, there’s always a new thing that I can try for February (and honestly, if a month doesn’t go well, that’s good feedback for me that it likely wouldn’t work long-term).
What’s more, I believe this approach can also help school staff who are trying to think about how to develop areas of their practice (like deepening their relationships). When we think about having to do something bigger or maintain one thing for the entire year, it can be daunting. But when we instead focus on shorter segments, like a month, our openness to trying something expands. It’s easier to imagine sticking with a practice for just a month, and surely four weeks gives us a snapshot of both what a change in practice yields as well as how it feels.
Here are some suggestions of monthly practices you could try:
-Sending one email a week about a student success to their family
-Being in the hallway during a passing period or at the beginning of the day to warmly greet students
-Stopping by a colleague’s room or office once a week to share a win from the week
-Saying thank you to a different member of the school staff who might not get as much public recognition (like a custodian or someone in the front office) each week
-Going to see one student a week at an extracurricular activity, just for the sake of supporting them in a different context
-Checking with a colleague on your way to the office or the faculty room to see if they need anything since you’re already going there
Trying one thing to see what it does for your teaching or your students is a great experiment to engage in, and knowing that you only need to keep up with it for a month can keep expectations manageable and set yourself up for success.
If you try one of these or a different shift in practice, we’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below.
Image courtesy of Wix.com.
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