Given everything that is known about human nature, it wouldn’t be a leap to assume that the first time a New Year resolution was broken was almost immediately after the Babylonians are said to have invented the concept 4,000 years ago. Over time, the ritualistic forming and inevitable breaking of resolutions has become a bit of a joke and as 2024 draws to an end, it is tempting to be cynical about the whole “new year, new me” enterprise: With less than 10 per cent of those making resolutions managing to stick to them through the year, is it even worth the trouble to think them up?
Around the world, as what seemed like an interminable year finally picks up its feet to race to the end, booksellers rub their hands in anticipation of the seasonal spike in self-help book sales and gyms begin crafting their January 1 special packages. Yet, the business of resolutions is about more than just, well, business: It is about what is referred to in psychology as “fresh start syndrome”. One might dismiss that notion as a mirage, but if hope resides anywhere, it is in the yawning gap between aspiration and ability. Hope is the thread that binds the ancient Babylonian solemnly swearing to pay the debts owed to the gods, to the 21st century citizen promising to work out more, eat better and doomscroll less.
The average new year resolution may not amount to much in the long term, but there’s a reason why the first month of the year is named for Janus, the two-faced Roman god: If looking back at the year gone by is coloured with regret, looking forward to the new year offers yet another opportunity to do better by oneself and inch closer to the impossible ideals of perfection and happiness.
