Why do we make New Year resolutions, and fail to keep them?

The ancient history of New year, new me

While the concept may seem like a new-age fad, many sources point to the Babylonian people, who belonged to present-day Iraq, for getting on the trend quite early on. The website Almanac states, “In 2000 B.C., the Babylonians celebrated the New Year during a 12-day festival called Akitu… the start of the farming season to plant crops, crown their king, and make promises to pay their debts. One common resolution was the returning of borrowed farm equipment (which makes sense for an agriculturally based society).”

The Merriam Webster Dictionary’s website gives another example: “A 1671 entry from the diaries of Anne Halkett, a writer and member of the Scottish gentry, contains a number of pledges, typically taken from biblical verses such as ‘I will not offend any more’”. Halkett titled this page “Resolutions”, and wrote them on January 2nd, which would possibly indicate that the practice was in use at the time even if people did not refer to it as a New Year’s resolution.

The all-too-human tendency to give up

It says that the idea became widespread over time, and was common enough by the beginning of the 19th century, such that people would joke about the tendency to give up on them, as we do now.

An article from Walker’s Hibernian Magazine in 1802 states that “the following personages have begun the year with a strong of resolutions, which they all solemnly pledged to keep”, before listing some satirical resolutions: “Statesmen have resolved to have no other object in view than the good of their country…the physicians have determined to follow nature in her operations, and to prescribe no more than is necessary, and to be very moderate in their fees.”

Almanac also quotes a US newspaper article from 1813 that had the first recorded use of the phrase “New Year resolution.” The article states: “And yet, I believe there are multitudes of people, accustomed to receive injunctions of new year resolutions, who will sin all the month of December, with a serious determination of beginning the new year with new resolutions and new behavior, and with the full belief that they shall thus expiate and wipe away all their former faults.”

So why are we not able to keep new year’s resolutions?

Studies point to both success and failure in sticking to resolutions, but the abundance of people’s disappointed reactions at not following through with them tells us that it clearly hits a nerve for most. So why does it happen?

Well, keeping people’s individual commitment to the ability to commit aside, and how complicated their particular resolution may be to follow, this whole endeavour is similar to how students plan elaborate, complicated timetable schedules for exam season. The excitement and high motivation when picturing the end result – a fitter self, leading a more wholesome life – keeps us going initially, but after a while, the daily practice becomes hard.

We often get bogged down by failure, early on. If the first week seems to have gotten off badly, we give up. In general, the temptation to give up is strong, but it is important to remember even then that the resolution was made to counter this exact situation. And though the goals may be challenging, it is ultimately rewarding to get on the path of achieving them.

Psychologists suggest a number of methods to do so. First, resolutions are often made with a focus on the self – I will do thing X, or change thing Y about my life. But such ideas remain in our heads and may not become follow-worthy, because we are not creating any system of accountability. Perhaps telling family or friends can help, like two people agreeing to keep each other in the loop about whether they are staying true to their goals, or even achieving common objectives, such as daily walks, together.

Blanket statements like “I will give back to society” can become easy to ignore, as they are too broad to be really implemented. They can be changed to particular actions, like “I will donate a particular amount to this organisation every two months.” A popular acronym here is making resolutions that are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound, making the attempt more promising.