Alarice's Authentic Journeys

At the beginning of each year, millions (maybe billions?) set their New Year’s resolutions, shutting the door to last year, and opening a brand new door. We often reflect on our successes or failures from last year and embark on setting new ambitious goals for the brand new year. But are we too ambitious? Are we setting our sights too high and thus preparing us for ultimate failure before we are even a month into this new year?

Origin of the New Year’s Resolution

As I started thinking about my own resolutions, I wondered, how did this tradition of making resolutions arise?

Well, it turns out, that the origination is as old as time. Candida Moss, a historian and professor of theology at the University of Birmingham, says annual attempts at self-improvement are as old as the celebrating of New Year’s itself. If we want to get technical about it, in 46 B.C., Julius Caesar created a new Roman calendar that started the New Year on the first day of January. January was named for the Roman god Janus, whose two faces look both forward and back¹. This is quite symbolic of course, representing looking forward to new new year ahead and looking back reminiscing on the past. It is a chance for us to start something new or stop doing something bad.

What Makes a Good Resolution?

Now that we know the origin, one must ask, what makes a good resolution?

As you may (or may not) know over 80% of resolutions fail². So to prevent that this year for yourself (and me), here are 3 tips.

1. We must understand the ‘why’ behind our resolutions. ‘Start with Why’ as our friend Simon Sinek would say! The only way for us to successfully keep to the resolution is to identify the problem or challenge resulting in our ‘why.’ Then, we need to agree that it is a problem or challenge that we want to address. Aye here is the rub!
2. We need to have the proper accountability structure in place. This could be your partner or your friend. This is often why people share their resolutions, so they can create a sense of accountability.
3. We need to embrace change. This might be the hardest part. You must believe that you are deserving of success. It’s up to you to define what success looks like for yourself and don’t hold yourself back.

So, no pressure, but let’s get this one right this year!

At this point, I know you are wondering what the number one resolution for 2024 is? Drum roll please….The top resolution is to save more money, though exercising and eating healthy are still favorites for 2024³.

Wondering what my New Year’s resolution is? It’s to write and read more often. I started with my problem statement, which believe it or not evolved from writing this blog entry. My problem statement: “I miss writing and expressing my thoughts.” So, here’s what I am going to do about it. I set my Goodreads goal for 25 books last year and beat it by reading 27. So this year, I am setting my sights on 30 books (book recommendations and insights are for another entry, so you will have to stay tuned). As for the writing part, you’re reading my first blog entry. I can commit to 1 per month, and if I surpass that, hooray! It’s about tiny habits that are ambitious enough but also doable.

Sources:

1. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-we-keep-making-and-failing-at-new-years-resolutions/; ↩︎
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2019/12/21/the-top-3-reasons-new-years-resolutions-fail-and-how-yours-can-succeed/?sh=3974bccd6992 ↩︎
3. https://www.statista.com/chart/29019/most-common-new-years-resolutions-us/#:~:text=Planning%20to%20save%20more%20money,commonly%20cited%20resolution%20this%20year. ↩︎