New Year resolutions are something that is talked about more than acted upon in the UK. The trend of making new year resolutions is up from last year. According to data released by Yougov earlier this month, when polled 16% of Britons said they would make a New Year’s resolution. Up 5% from last year’s figure of 11%.
These are not high numbers, possibly not as high as you would expect. The history of making a new years resolution goes back as far as 4000 years to the Babylonian civilisation. The Babylonians are likely to have been amongst the first civilisations to celebrate the New year. However for them the celebrations were not held on the 31st of december but later in our calendar in march. This was to coincide with the crop planting season in Babylonia. It was an important cultural event in their calendar. Called Akitu the celebrations each year included either the coronation of a new king or a repledging of allegiance to the existing monarch. Promises were made to the gods to repay debts and keep their affairs in order. These promises made to Pagan gods may be considered the first New year resolutions.
The History Of New Year Resolutions
The 1800s saw the emergence of a Christian tradition to make new year resolutions. In 1740, the founder of the modern methodist church John Wesley put into place Covenant Renewal Services held in late December or early January. They provided a focus for the beginning of the new year for Christians where celebrations of the passing of a year and the promise of intent to make the coming year better through prayer.
New Year Resolutions Today
Modern New Year Resolutions tend to be made without a religious bias, now part of a wider culture they are seen not as promises to a god, but more so promises to ourselves that we hope will help us to achieve a better year to come.
New year resolutions tend to be fundamental changes implemented with immediacy. This goes a long way to explaining why they are so hard to keep. If you do decide to make new year resolutions, consider how realistic they are. Try not to make resolutions that you know will likely fail. But instead try and make realistic goals that you can achieve. This will help keep the positive intent and personal reward offered by achieving your goals.