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New beginnings are coinciding with the New Year, are you in?

Many Americans seize the opportunity to make commitments to healthier, more mindful living in the dawn of a new year, according to Pew Research Center, which found 3 in 10 Americans reported making at least one resolution in 2024.

And, too, there are those who bypass custom for a more pragmatic approach to the changing calendar.

We can actually thank the agricultural, bartering society of the Babylonians for the tradition of making resolutions. Yeah, really.

As the society prepared for planting with the change in seasons, so too would they make fresh starts in their daily lives. New commitments. New routines.

When the Romans adopted the Julian calendar, January – named for the Roman god Janus – became the first month. Known for his two faces, one reflecting on the past while the other looks to the future, Janus symbolized introspection, new beginnings – Resolutions, if you will. With the adoption came the tradition of making resolutions at the first of each year.

Suffice to say, 'when in Rome...' and, with time, the tradition became firmly planted in the continued evolution of Western culture and burgeoning others throughout the globe.

However, it should be noted that it wasn't until 1813 that the first instance of the actual phrase "New Years Resolution" appeared in print in a Boston newspaper. 

So, in the spirit of a nearly 4,000-year-old tradition, we here at HSJ Online took some time to reflect on resolutions... 

We simply asked everyone if they were making resolutions this year and, if so, what? What is the secret to keeping resolutions? And for those who don't make them, why not? 

Here's a sampling of the responses we received. Enjoy!

“Yes, each year end I try to reflect on the year just past and pick 3 areas that I should focus on in the year ahead. Last year one of my resolutions was to read the Bible each day. I had gotten out of the habit. On track to finish.  New Year’s Resolutions are not just challenges but an opportunity to reflect on our past and make a commitment to improve what we feel is important.” – Pastor Warren Kirk, HSJ Online board member

“I’ve always been one to make resolutions. Have I kept them all? Of course, not; many experience a lifespan more fleeting than that of a housefly, or a stray thought at best. However, 2024 presented challenges, to which I said, 'Challenge accepted.' This year, I’m taking the idea of resolutions as a serious opportunity for real change. I am resolving to be more mindful, to take each day one at a time and honor it for the gift it is. To be more present and a better human than I was yesterday.  I also resolve to eat less sweets… and do more yoga!” – Jenn Guthrie, HSJ Online content coordinator

“I have not made New Year's Resolutions in a long time. When I think back, my few attempts at this were goals that I was not committed to and destined for failure. Lasting changes in my life have been driven by an impactful need, and not a holiday calendar.” – Michael Dean, HSJ Online board member

“At my age I’m a bit of a fence straddler. I spend too much time weighing out my options to decide firmly what I will or will not do. Now I do have beliefs I stand up for. I’ve been known to lean against the fence with feet securely planted in a field of peace on earth and family and God. That’s fertile land. My wife is much the same with one exception. Each New Years or anniversary she lets me know if she has resolved to give me one more year to get it right. If she hops the fence and lands beside me again, we will celebrate five decades together in 2025. She’s a forgiving saint.” – Larry Perkinson, HSJ Online contributor

“I do not typically make New Year's resolutions but may make a resolution throughout the year. One of the best resolutions several years ago was to stop drinking pop which has helped me understand addictions and helped our family budget. My 2025 New Year's resolution will be to improve at noticing the little things.” – David Webster, HSJ Online board member and contributor

“I also do not make New Year’s resolutions; I just try to live a good moral life throughout the year.” – Howard “Zach” Zachariah, HSJ Online board member

“I have a younger sister who once, in a moment of incandescent emotion, cried:
‘I rebuke you! I rebuke you!’

To which I replied:
‘You can’t rebuke me; I’ve never been buked in the first place!’

It occurs to me that resolutions for the New Year are decisions that are rendered, positions established or directions that are compassed after careful consideration of things that we already know the solutions for, but have been unsuccessful in, following or attaining in the past: hence, re-solutions.

It should come as a surprise to no one that most New Year resolutions are forgotten in the first few hours after they are made, resurfacing each year as reruns, like the unnamed crewman in Star Trek who dies after one episode. So, what’s the point?

Rather that set my New Year resolutions as things that I’m going to do differently than last year, I always like to establish the things I will not do in the coming year, to wit:

· I will not order the coconut Cream pie at Willow Leaves if I’m having the Beef Manhattan, but if I do, it will be to go

· The same re-solution applies to the chicken noodles on mashed potatoes; it’s just too much to eat

· I will not jump out of perfectly good airplanes (i.e., skydive)

· I will not bungy jump in the nude

· I will not fly in a perfectly good airplane to Africa to bungy jump, in the nude, off of Victoria Falls

· I will not return to Madagascar; I’ve been there twice already, and it’s nothing like the Disney movie

· I will not travel to Madagascar without lawyers because with lawyers you fly First Class, stay in five-star hotels, eat at the best restaurants, and you can usually outrun them if you get into trouble

· I will not stick my arm out the window of the lorry at the Lion Park in South Africa (again)

· I will not tell stupid animal jokes to Australian tourists while in a lorry at the Lion Park in South Africa (“What do you get when you cross and elephant with a rhino? Hell if I know.”)” – Mike Harding, HSJ Online contributor

“I do not like to make New Year's resolutions because I feel that I am setting myself up for failure by doing this. I like to set goals rather than resolutions. I find I am better at following through with anything in my life when it has a purpose. A goal I set for myself last year was to spend more time with my family. I accomplished this throughout the year with a surprise 80^th birthday for my Dad, and a trip with our kids to see the Oregon coast! This year my goal is to be kinder to myself both physically and emotionally. I tend to beat myself up for the silliest of reasons. So, I say don't go towards failed resolutions instead move to small goal-oriented accomplishments!” – Shelly Bishop, HSJ Online contributor