New Years Resolutions: 4000 Year Old Tradition Carries On

By Travis Bright

The Greek philosopher Seneca once said, “Every new beginning comes from another beginning’s end.” Over 2000 years ago and people still prove that statement to be true.

With the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 upon us, many RAL students have found themselves contemplating what new beginning they would like to start the year off with.

“My new year’s resolution is to stay committed to my new year’s resolution,” the deep thinking Alex Orozco 11, who is hoping for back to back successful resolutions said.

“Last year I said no drinking pop for the whole soccer season and I did it,” Orozco explained.

New Year’s Resolutions go all the way back to around 4,000 years ago to the ancient Babylonians, although their resolutions were primarily focused on farming.

Even the ancient Chinese had New Year’s resolutions;  their resolutions revolved around cleanliness. The Chinese New Year is very close to the start of spring so it was kind of like spring cleaning.

The Romans revised the New Year’s resolution to resemble our own by setting out to make the New Year better than the previous.

Our modern day resolutions are based on every aspect of our lives: losing weight, earning more money, and or quitting un-healthy habits. But if our resolutions are supposed to better our lives, why do we so often not stick to them?

Many scientists believe it is due to a lack of instant gratification. This means that if you don’t receive immediate reward, you are far less likely to accomplish your goal.

According to a study put on by Quirkology, 52% of people who make resolutions are confident they will keep them, while only 12% of them were able to actually keep their resolutions.

The scientists noticed that people who break their resolutions into week by week goals were more likely to keep them because they saw the payoff of their goals.

“No one remembers them past the end of January; no one even remembers they made them.” JJ Johnson 10 said.

While many make resolutions, just as many, if not more, do not. People do not make resolutions for various reasons. Some have always failed at them; others don’t need a resolution to accomplish their goals.

“If I want to get something done I’ll do it, I don’t need the incentive of the resolution to do it,” Garrett Wittrock 11 said.