Origins of New Year’s Resolutions

According to Sarah Pruitt, writer, editor, and regular contributor to History.com (and a bunch of people that appear to have copied her), the first record of New Year’s resolutions were found among the Ancient Babylonians over 4,000 years ago. Specifically, the Babylonians held an annual festival at the vernal equinox and start of the planting season to honor and show their loyalty to the ruling king. This important celebration was marked by commitments to repay debts and return borrowed items. Celebrants of this practice were thought to believe that they would be favored by their gods if they fulfilled these obligations.  More recently but still a long time ago, the ancient Romans also celebrated the new year by looking back at the prior year and making pledges of good behavior for the new year and sacrifices to the gods. This annual practice eventually became part of the early Christian religious tradition which added readings on morality from the scriptures and the singing of hymns. 

Temperance and The Pledge

In the US, resolutions took on a religious and moralistic tone, where goals were related to issues of moral character or abstinence and a strong work ethic. In particular, the evils of alcohol were of growing concern during the 1800s, when various organizations began to promote a commitment to a life free of alcohol, often referred to a temperance pledge. As you may know, in 1920, the US constitution was actually amended (the 18th Amendment) to prohibit the “manufacture, transportation, and sale” of intoxicating liquors. This prohibition was overturned in 1933 by the 21st Amendment due largely to the realization that criminalizing alcohol was directly related to an increase in power by organized crime. The pledge or resolution to give up alcohol remains a top choice to this date, although many now consider such a commitment more for health reasons than to combat moral turpitude.

My Take on New Year’s Resolutions

Okay, there is no particular magic around setting a goal at the New Year. However, this time of year is perceived by some as a symbolic time of renewal, and anchoring a goal to a time of importance may make your chances of success a bit better. For those of us who celebrate the major holidays at the end of December, the gifts, food, and alcohol can get a bit extravagant, so perhaps people may be more receptive to making some personal changes. I consider making a commitment to greater health, personal growth, and finding ways to enjoy what life has to offer worthwhile goals.

Current Times

In more recent times, resolutions are more secular and often relate to physical health such as pledges to lose weight, eat more vegetables, or stop smoking or drinking. A cursory review of recent online news articles tend to focus on setting “achievable goals” and offer tips for increasing the chances of a positive result. Some of my tips include:

Make goals realistic:

Don’t set a goal that you are going to lose 50 pounds in 3 months.  It doesn’t sound realistic or even necessarily safe.

Dedicate some time to your goals:

Set aside some time each day, week or whatever frequency makes the most sense to consider and monitor your progress towards your goals.

Get an accountability buddy:

It can be easy to let your commitments for self-improvement slide, as many of us prioritize ourselves last. For those of us who live alone or regularly work from home, find someone to partner with. Both of the partners would ideally set some goals and stay in touch regarding your respective progress. Such a buddy may be able to offer support when the goal seems unachievable.

Celebrate the small wins

One reason some of us fail to achieve our goals are that they are too “waterfall”, with nothing to show for a long time and then a huge, finished product at the end. Too nerdy? Oh well. Well, many people are more successful with some positive reinforcement along the way. Find ways to mark your small victories along the path and allow yourself to feel a real sense of accomplishment. Remember that feeling a sense of accomplishment does not make you a braggart or egomaniac - it might just make you happy.

Vision boarding

Have you heard of this?  A vision board is a slightly updated way to consider setting goals for the new year by creating an visual/artistic depiction of your goals by drawing, painting or cutting photos and words out of magazines. Sometimes, a vision board consists of a review of the prior year as well as a view forward into the next year.  Making a vision board, in my opinion, is a more creative and visual way to think about past accomplishments and future goals, and lends it self to an easy review of your thoughts at a prior point in time. 

Questions?

References

Sarah Pruitt,  The History of New Year’s Resolutions, History.com.  Updated: December 21, 2020, Orioginal: December 30, 2015.  https://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-new-years-resolutions

Catherine Boeckmann, How Did the Tradition of New Year's Resolutions Start?, Farmer’s Almanac, December 13, 2023.  https://www.almanac.com/history-of-new-years-resolutions

History of Alcohol Prohibition. National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse; Derived from paper prepared for the Commission by Jane Lang McGrew, an attorney from Washington, D.C. https://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/nc/nc2a_3.htm

Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Temperance Movement and Prohibition Timeline." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/temperance-movement-prohibition-timeline-3530548.