New Year, New Me – When Did the New Year Become the Time For Resolutions?

Have you set your New Year’s resolutions? Do you ever wonder when the new year became the time for resolutions and resets? The idea of the new year as a time for fresh starts goes back much further than you might think.

Ancient New Year Customs
Around 4,000 years ago in ancient Babylon, they celebrated the new year at the start of the harvest season, which would be around late March by today’s calendar. The Babylonians made their version of new year’s resolutions at this time, planting crops, returning borrowed belongings, settle debts, and pledge allegiance to their ruler. They believed that the gods would then grant them a bountiful year. Sound familiar? These pledges weren’t called resolutions, but they carried the same spirit of accountability and renewal.

Centuries later, ancient Rome would continue the tradition. When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar in 46 BC, January 1 officially became the start of the year. The month was named after Janus, the two-faced Roman god who looked both backward to the past year and forward to the year ahead. Romans would offer sacrifices and make resolutions.

Medieval New Year’s Resolutions
In medieval times, knights would make a “Peacock Vow”, placing their hands on a live or roasted peacock to renew and maintain the values of their knighthood. We’re kind of glad we don’t do that anymore… the Sugarworld peacocks would live in fear! 

The First Recorded Use of “New Year’s Resolution”
As time went on, the new year continued to be a time for self-examination and repentance, encouraging people to reflect on their actions and commit to doing better. By the 19th and 20th centuries, resolutions had become more personal and secular, focusing on habits, health and self-improvement. In 1813, a newspaper in Boston in the USA printed the first recorded use of the phrase “New year resolutions” and claimed that people began the new year with “new behaviour… and wipe away all their former faults.” Sounds familiar! 

Today, the tradition of New Year’s resolutions endures because the calendar starting anew gives people a natural pause, like a psychological “clean slate” that makes change feel possible.

What are your New Year’s resolutions?