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====Early History====[[File:Janus-coin-416x419.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Figure 2. Coin depicting Janus, who is the god of the New Year and the first month of the year. ]]The oldest recorded New Year resolution dates to about 2000 BC from ancient southern Mesopotamia, in today's southern Iraq, where the New Year, which occurred at about March 20th in their calendar, would be celebrated in the so-called <i>Akitu</i> festival(Figure 1). The festival was about renewal and looking forward to the New Year. People made oaths to their king as part of this ritual; however, there were also more personal resolutions made. If people borrowed goods from their neighbours neighbors or others, they were pledged to return those goods as part of their resolution. Debts were also to be repaid in the New Year , and people were suppose supposed to make oaths to the gods related to thisto help them keep their resolution. Individuals would also likely sacrifice to their gods and would hope by keeping their word to fulfill their obligations , then the gods would return favour the favor upon them for a successful year. Rosh Hashanah, which literally means the head of the year, symbolizes not only the New Year but also the escape of the Hebrews from Egypt. The holiday is celebrated in the early autumn, already in ancient periods, as the New Year was seen as the beginning of the harvest period. It was also seen as a time of reflection and renewal, as it seen today. The Achaemenids and Persian cultures would give each other eggs on New Year to wish each other good luck and to reflect on the New Year. Similarly, the Romans, after Julius Caesar reformed the calendar in 45 BC and made January (or the god Janus) the official start of the year, celebrated the New Year by making resolutions. What was different about the Julian Calendar is it marked the first time January 1 was the official start of the year and later became the basis for the Western calendar. In fact, the god Janus was a god who looked backward and forward and occupied doorways, which reflected the entry of a new beginning symbolically for Romans. The New Year was seen as a time of reflection and promises by Romans to lead a better life. Sacrifices and offerings to the gods, and Janus in particular, would be made. It was also seen as a time of forgiveness and mistakes one perhaps made with others would be reconciled during the Near Year, making it a time of renewal.

In Rosh Hashanah, which means the head of the early Medieval periodyear, celebrating symbolizes not only the New Year was not as common and, but also the escape of the Hebrews from Egypt. The holiday is celebrated in fact, celebrations were probably subdued. However, by the late Medieval period and early Modern periodautumn, the clergy did ask their congregation to use which was often viewed as the New Year because it was the beginning of the harvest period. It was also considered as a time of reflection and to correct mistakes of the past to live a betterrenewal, less sinful lifeas is seen today. Knights The Persian cultures would also renew promises by making vows to live a chivalrous life. The Methodists, in the 18th century under John Wesley, made a special service for give each other eggs on New Year, called the Covenant Renewal. This included prayer and hymns where congregants would renew their commitment to God and wish each other. However, secular celebrations of New Year did become increasingly common in the 18th century. In fact, it was the secular celebrations of New Year that prompted the Methodists good luck and other Protestant churches to commit to New Year services as a way to start reflect on the New Year. This tradition still continues in many Protestant and non-Protestant denominations todayEggs symbolized a new beginning.

The use of the term "resolution" in discussing the New Year may first appear in the magazine <i>Walker’s Hibernian Magazine</i>, where it encourages people to pledge and make resolutions for the New Year. It also gave was seen as a list time of resolutions that could be taken reflection and promises by different people and professions. In 1813, a Boston newspaper used the phrase "New Year resolution." The newspaper encouraged people Romans to live lead a less sinful better life after the indulgences of the holiday period . Sacrifices and one should focus on living a good, sinless life in offerings to the New Yeargods, the newspaper encouraged. In the Victorian period and Janus in Britainparticular, upper class individuals would be made it . It was also seen as a custom to make more secular New Year resolutions. This began the trend time of making resolutions to become slimmer or look better at least in Western traditions. Others forgiveness and mistook one perhaps made resolutions to have more children or achieve certain status in society. Arguably, this began with others would be reconciled during the trend of more secular New Near Year resolutions. In other parts of the world, New Year resolutions were making it a mix time of secular and religious, often wishing luck and fortune in the New Yearrenewal. In many cultures, eating a special type of food <ref>For more on early New Year's day is common, which is intended to bring luck in the New Year celebrations and help resolutions in achieving one's goals in the New Year. Eating sweet foodsancient societies, symbolizing successsee: Aveni, is commonAnthony F. 2003. The Dutch, for instance, eat a dough fritter called <i>olie bollenThe Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays</i>, which symbolizes success and luck in the New Year. While champagne is common in Western countries to toast to, other cultures also have sweet or alcoholic drinks used to wish each other well in the Oxford ; New YearYork: Oxford University Press.</ref>

==Modern History==When were New Years's Resolutions revived in Western Europe?====In the early Medieval period, celebrating the New Year was not as common, and celebrations were subdued. However, by the late Medieval period and the first Modern period, the clergy did ask their congregation to use the New Year is a time of reflection and to correct mistakes of the past to live a better, less sinful life. Knights would also renew promises by making vows to live a chivalrous life.

The tradition of Methodists, in the 18th century under John Wesley, did a special service for New Years resolutions continued to be religious for someYear, particularly Protestantscalled the Covenant Renewal. This included prayer and hymns, who often where congregants would write down renew their resolutions commitment to God and periodically check to see they fulfilled them during the yeareach other. More recent studies have shown that countries tend to have different types However, secular celebrations of focus when it comes to making resolutions. In India, it is more New Year did become increasingly common to wish for a prosperous future or better career prospectsin the 18th century. In It was the United States and Egypt, health was secular celebrations of New Year that prompted the most common resolution, where both countries struggle with obesity. Australia Methodists and Japan focused on love or finding other Protestant churches to commit to New Year services as a soulmate. In Russia, it was common for individuals way to wish for a successful education for their children or othersstart the New Year. For many others, having good finances were the most common, This tradition continues in many ways similar to the first Protestant and non-Protestant denominations today.<ref>For more on New Year resolution known to us from Babyloniaresolutions in the Medieval and Early Modern period, see: Cole, which emphasized getting out Jennifer. 2007.<i> Ceremonies of debts. A more recent study using Twitter showed that the top online resolutions wereSeasons: diet Exploring and exercise, reading more, learning something new, saving money, be nicer, get a better job, giving to charity, drinking less, sleeping more, Celebrating Nature’s Eternal Cycle</i>. London; New York: Duncan Baird ; Distributed in the USA and making new friendsCanada by Sterling.</ref>

==Summary==Later Developments====The use of the term "resolution" in discussing the New Year may first appear in the magazine <i>Walker’s Hibernian Magazine</i>, where it encourages people to pledge and make resolutions for the New Year. It also gave a list of resolutions that could be taken by different people and professions. In 1813, a Boston newspaper used the phrase "New Year resolution." The newspaper encouraged people to live a less sinful life after the indulgences of the holiday period, and one should focus on living a good, sinless life in the New Year, the newspaper encouraged.

In the Victorian period in Britain, upper-class individuals made it a custom to make more secular New Year resolutions seem . This custom may have begun or led to be very ancient and most the trend of recorded history associates it with religious behaviour or trying making resolutions to become a slimmer or look better person, invoking God at least in Western traditions. Others made resolutions to have more children or the gods achieve a certain status in helping one achieve their goalssociety. By the 19th centuryArguably, increasingly New Year resolutions that in the mid to late 19th century were not just religious but also secular became increasingly common, with familiar ones, such as losing weight, as being one people began to make various promises to themselves. In other parts of the goals. Throughout historyworld, it was common for people to struggle to keep their New Year's resolutionswere a mix of secular and religious, with people often sliding back into their old habitswishing luck and fortune in the New Year.

In many cultures, eating a special type of food on New Year's day is common, which is intended to bring luck in the New Year and help in achieving one's goals in the New Year. Eating sweet foods, symbolizing success, is common. The Dutch, for instance, eat a dough fritter called <i>olie bollen</i>, which symbolizes success and luck in the New Year. While champagne is common in Western countries to toast the New Year, other cultures also have sweet or alcoholic drinks used to wish each other well in the New Year.<ref>For more on how New Year resolutions developed in the 19th century and the association of resolution with New Year, see: Standage, Tom. 2018. <i>Seriously Curious: 109 Facts and Figures to Turn Your World Upside Down</i>. London: Profile Books Ltd. </ref> ====Modern History====The tradition of New Year's resolutions continued to be religious for some, particularly Protestant denominations in Western societies, who often would write down their resolutions and periodically check to see they fulfilled them during the year. More recent studies have shown that countries tend to have different types of focus when it comes to making resolutions. In India, it is more common to wish for a prosperous future or better career prospects.  In the United States and Egypt, health was the most common resolution, where both countries struggle with obesity. Australia and Japan focused on love or finding a soulmate. In Russia, it was common for individuals to wish for successful education for their children or others. For many others, having good finances was the most common, in many ways similar to the first New Year resolution known to us from Babylonia, which emphasized getting out of debts. A more recent study using Twitter showed that the top online resolutions were: diet and exercise, reading more, learning something new, saving money, be nicer, get a better job, giving to charity, drinking less, sleeping more, and making new friends.<ref>For a recent study on using social media to know what resolutions people make, see: Zhu, Dandan, Yusuke Fukazawa, Eleftherios Karapetsas, and Jun Ota. 2012. “Long-Term Goal Discovery in the Twitter Posts through the Word-Pair LDA Model.” In <i>Advances in Natural Language Processing</i>, edited by Hitoshi Isahara and Kyoko Kanzaki, 7614:262–67. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33983-7_26.</ref> ====Summary====New Year's resolutions appear to be very ancient and most of the recorded history associates it with religious behavior or trying to become a better person, invoking God or the gods in helping one achieve their goals. By the 19th century, New Year resolutions that were secular became increasingly common, with familiar ones, such as losing weight, as being one of the goals. Throughout history, it was common for people to struggle to keep their resolutions, with people often sliding back into their old habits. Nevertheless, New Year's resolutions have been remarkably consistent, often focusing on behavior and trying to improve oneself. Reflection but looking forward, as symbolized by Janus, is also true in many cultures and has persisted until today. ====References====<references/> [[Category:Wikis]] [[Category:Holiday History]][[Category:European History]] [[Category:Ancient History]]