What are New Year’s Resolutions? Thanks for asking!

Well here we are in 2021. Many are glad to see the back of 2020, now looking forward optimistically to the future thanks to global developments like the arrival of Covid-19 vaccines and Joe Biden entering the White House. 

The turn of the year also means it’s time to come up with New Year’s resolutions. Setting ourselves objectives for the whole year is always a big ask, and not everyone is able to keep theirs for various reasons. 

When were New Year’s resolutions actually invented?

Nowadays, New Year’s resolutions are primarily a Western custom, but their origins actually go back to Mesopotamia in the 3rd century BC. The Babylonians would celebrate the twelve-day Akitu festival to commemorate the New Year. They would pledge their loyalty to the king and promise to pay back any debts they owed. The idea was that the gods would look favourably on them in the year ahead.

In Roman times, new year’s resolutions were linked to two-faced god Janus, who was believed to look both backwards at the previous year and forward into the future. The Romans made sacrifices to Janus and promised their good behaviour for the new year.

In this day and age however, New Year’s resolutions are mostly secular and tend to focus on self-improvement. 

What are the most popular New Year’s resolutions? And does anyone actually keep their resolutions? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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