Why do we make New Year’s Resolutions?
The question of why we make New Year’s Resolutions can be looked at in two ways: firstly, where does the tradition stem from, and secondly, why on earth do we do it to ourselves – make promises to do this, or be that, then berate ourselves just weeks later when, once again, our resolve dissolved.
The history of the New Year’s Resolution
It’s believed that the first civilisation to make New Year’s Resolutions were the ancient Babylonians, who lived in what is now Iraq, over 4,000 years ago. As with all ancient civilisations there was a firm belief that their gods were engaged and interested in their lives, and required worship and obedience. At the culmination of their 12-day religious festival to welcome in the New Year, which actually took place in March, at the start of spring, the people would reaffirm their loyalty to their king, promise to pay any outstanding debts and return all items borrowed. While these might seem slight to us, it was a matter of faith to the ancient Babylonians that they kept these promises, as to break them would have them fall foul of their gods, and nobody wanted to risk that.
In 46 BC Julian Caesar, introduced a new calendar, with 12 months to the year, starting in January. He made the first month of the year January, named for their god Janus, the god of beginnings, symbolic of change. Janus had two heads, one facing forward and one looking back – the perfect choice for the month of looking forward while remembering past mistakes. The first of January was consecrated to Janus, and the way the day went was seen to be an omen for how the rest of your year you go – so gifts were placed on alters to Janus, people would gift each other dates, honey and even gold coins, most would do a little of their usual work on the day (and hope it went well!) and would act in the way they wanted their year to go – well. This consideration of the start of the new year setting the tone for how the rest of the year would proceed echoed down the ages, with early Christians using the day to look back at past mistakes and resolve to do better in the year ahead, praying for forgiveness and for God’s help in doing better,
Today, for the vast majority, the religious connection to New Year’s Resolutions has drifted away. We no longer make our promises to our gods, but to ourselves, and focus not on being a better person for those around us, but perhaps more selfishly focus largely on ourselves – exercise more, drink less, give up Friday night takeaways, etc. Perhaps this is why we find New Year’s Resolutions so easy to break – the only person we’re letting down is ourself, not someone we love and honour. Or are scared of…
Top New Year’s Resolutions of 2025
Last year YouGov did a bit of research about our plans for the upcoming new year, asking 513 adults what their planned New Year’s Resolutions would be. The top ten answers were:
- Save more/spend less
- Get fit/exercise more
- Lose weight
- Gain new skills and knowledge
- Better health
- Eat more healthily
- Be a better person, personality and attitude improvements
- Spend more time with/improve relationship with friends and family
- Start or increase investments
- Make more money
Interestingly, in 2021, YouGov did a study after the New Year, asking how many people had set and then kept resolutions. They found that only 28 per cent kept all their resolutions (they didn’t record how many this was, but it may of course have been only one), that 53 per cent kept come, and 17 per cent failed every one.
How to set and keep New Year’s Resolutions
It’s not too late. In fact, it’s probably healthier now, after the rush and gluttony of the festive season has passed and we’re all settling back into life as usual, to examine ourselves and consider what changes we should – and can – make and establish the process by which we shall make those changes.
- Start small
Don’t set yourself a huge target to achieve immediately. For example, if you want to ‘get fit’, look at the Couch to 5k challenge, which starts you off with a gentle walk and builds slowly to actual running. If you’re joining a gym, remember – baby steps. Don’t start with attempting 50 press ups and a three mile run. You’ll not be able to move for a week and the chances of heading back to the torture chamber will be low. Celebrate every small step, and add more by increments.
- Make it measurable
It’s hard to know how well you’re doing if you can’t measure it. For fitness and diet, use the health tracker on your phone. Set a goal of exercising a fixed number of times a week – and every week make sure you congratulate yourself on this. If it’s to lose weight, set small targets – on any diet there’s a period at first when weight just falls away, but then it plateaus, so set goals that flatten out this curve.
- Be realistic
The chances are if you’re setting a resolution, you’ve tried it before. And if it was easy you’d already be doing it. Again, baby steps are more likely to keep happening than great strides, so build self-knowledge into your resolution – if going to the gym after work is something you have failed at before, maybe look at an exercise app you can use at home, ten or 15 minutes a day is a lot easier to sign up to than trekking to the gym on a cold winter’s night… Here’s our guide to the best apps for exercising at home.
Whether you have made New Year’s Resolutions or not, we wish you a very happy 2025.
Eddie – 3rd January 2025. (Image used of The Albert Club in West Didsbury).