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A New Year’s resolution is a secular tradition, most common in the West but found around the world, in which a person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement starting on New Year’s Day.^[1]

 

 

Religious origins[edit]

The ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts.^[2]

The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named.^[3]

In the Medieval era, the knights took the “peacock vow” at the end of the Christmas season each year to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry.^[2]

At watchnight services, many Christians prepare for the year ahead by praying and making these resolutions.^[4]

There are other religious parallels to this tradition. During Judaism’s New Year, Rosh Hashanah, through the High Holidays and culminating in Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), one is to reflect upon one’s wrongdoings over the year and both seek and offer forgiveness. People may act similarly during the Catholic fasting period of Lent, though the motive behind this holiday is more of sacrifice than of responsibility, in fact the practice of New Year’s resolutions partially came from the Lenten sacrifices.^[4] The concept, regardless of creed, is to reflect upon self-improvementannually.

Participation[edit]

At the end of the Great Depression, about a quarter of American adults formed New Year’s resolutions. At the start of the 21st century, about 40% did.^{[citation needed]}

Popular goals[edit]

Some examples include resolutions to donate to the poor more often, to become more assertive, or to become moreenvironmentally responsible.

Popular goals include resolutions to:^[5][6]

• Improve physical well-being: eat healthy food, lose weight, exercise more, eat better, drink less alcohol, quit smoking, stopbiting nails, get rid of old bad habits
• Improve mental well-being; think positive, laugh more often, enjoy life
• Improve finances: get out of debt, save money, make small investments
• Improve career: perform better at current job, get a better job, establish own business
• Improve education: improve grades, get a better education, learn something new (such as a foreign language or music), study often, read more books, improve talents
• Improve self: become more organized, reduce stress, be less grumpy, manage time, be more independent, perhaps watch less television, play fewer sitting-down video games
• Take a trip
• Volunteer to help others, practice life skills, use civic virtue, give to charity, volunteer to work part-time in a charity organization (NGO)
• Get along better with people, improve social skills, enhance social intelligence
• Make new friends
• Spend quality time with family members
• Settle down, get engaged/get married, have kids
• Try foreign foods, discovering new cultures
• Pray more, be closer to God, be more spiritual