[MUSIC: Warm Memories by Romarecord1973 PLAYS]
There’s a reason the second Friday of January is often called Quitter’s Day.
According to a recent survey done by YouGov, around 31% of Americans say they planned to make a resolution for 2026. But many fail to follow through.
Resolving to go to the gym every day or read more books never seems like a better idea than on January 1st, the start of a new year. But why does this day carry so much significance?
The history of New Year’s celebrations goes back thousands of years.
ECKART FRAHM: We do in fact know a lot about the New Year’s celebrations in the ancient Near East, in ancient Babylonia, especially from the first millennium BCE.
We have some very detailed descriptions of rituals performed during the New Year festival, especially in Babylon.
That’s Eckart Frahm, a Professor of Assyriology at Yale University. While he agrees that the roots of New Year’s celebrations can be traced back thousands of years ago, he also says there are some misconceptions about the role of ancient Babylonians in the invention of resolutions.
FRAHM: I know that this is a kind of internet meme and that you can find all sorts of internet sites that claim that the Babylonians in a way invented New Year’s resolutions and that people would make vows about paying back that debt on the occasion of New Year’s celebrations in ancient Babylonia and things like that. And in this specific way, I would say it’s not quite correct.
Frahm says New Year’s resolutions were not a significant part of the celebrations. Instead, the festival, known as Akitu, featured confessions from kings.
FRAHM: The Babylonian king was supposed to articulate a kind of negative confession of sin. He would say to the god Marduk, I have not sinned, I have not neglected your divinity, I have not ruined Babylon, nor ordered its dissolution. I’ve not struck the cheek of those privileged citizens of Babylon, nor brought about the humiliation of taking care of Babylon. I did not destroy its outer walls.
He’s virtually humiliated in this context. On the 5th day of the ritual, the high priest leads him, in front of the divine statue of the god Marduk, of the main deity, strips him of his regalia, so takes off his crown and takes his scepter and so on, and then actually even slaps him on the cheek, and the king is supposed to cry. If he doesn’t cry, it’s a really bad sign, it’s a bad omen and everything goes wrong in the next year, so you better cry.
And this is actually the background of this internet meme about the Babylonian tradition being the earliest where we can see something akin to New Year’s resolutions.
Though they didn’t make resolutions, the onlookers of the procession of statues — the common people of Ancient Babylon — did consider their own futures during the event.
FRAHM: One thing we know is that these people would interpret the movements of the divine statues that were carried along in this procession as signs that would tell them something about the next year and about their own future. So, in that sense they certainly thought about their individual fortune as well.
So if some of the earliest New Year’s celebrations didn’t focus on individual introspection and resolution-making, when did that tradition start?
Alexis McCrossen is a Professor of History at Southern Methodist University. She is currently writing a book on the history of New Year’s observances.
ALEXIS MCCROSSEN: January 1st probably became an important or prominent date for Americans by the 1840s or so.
Prior to the industrial revolution, the first day of the month carried little weight. Once wages and bills began to operate on a weekly or monthly cycle, the start of the year became more significant.
MCCROSSEN: It was an important day, because it was the beginning of the civil year and there was a sense that it was a kind of moment to look backward, to take account of what had happened in the previous year and also to look forward, you know, and maybe predict or plan for what might happen.
By the 1840s, more and more Americans were doing that and the day was a holiday in American cities. In cities, it was, you know, a day to visit, a day for entertainment, a day to party.
But the day’s significance is complex, she says.
MCCROSSEN: January 1st was a day in which contracts began, like annual contracts. So for example, in the South, where we had a system of slavery, many enslavers hired out their enslaved people. Oftentimes there were even auctions on January 1st, where enslaved people would be bid upon. And so it was really known as kind of a, they called it Heartbreak Day actually amongst the enslaved people because it was a day when many families were torn apart, because they would be hired out and sent away.
So you have, you know, there are a lot of factors that are pushing New Year’s into the forefront.
In terms of resolution-making, McCrossen points to religion.
MCCROSSEN: With evangelical religion, which really takes root in the US in the middle of the 18th century and then really becomes a dominant, cultural and religious form in the 1820s. Evangelical religion sort of was predicated on this, on ideas about sort of turning over a new leaf.
She also speculates that resolutions took root in popular culture after World War II.
MCCROSSEN: We don’t really see communities making resolutions. I think they’re kind of very individualistic. I think they’re kind of narcissistic. And we see the development, you know, the kind of, like, intensification of narcissism as a cultural style and of individualism as a cultural style beginning in the 50s. Probably has a lot to do with, like, the development of a celebrity culture and a consumer culture, and a kind of obsession with, like, appearance and the self.
So, should we be bringing resolution-making into next year?
Wendi Gardner, an Associate Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, suggests that goal-making can improve two types of psychological wellbeing — eudaimonic and hedonic.
WENDI GARDNER: Usually we choose goals that are meaningful for us, and goals give us a sense that we’re progressing or growing, preferably towards sort of more ideal versions of ourselves. So those are both pretty related to eudaimonic well-being. And the thing is, when we achieve goals, and even when we’re sort of pursuing goals successfully, that feels really good. You know, people talk about dopamine hits when they check things off of their to do lists, right? So we really like achieving our goals.
People feeling like they’re making progress on their goals is a stronger predictor of psychological well-being than, for example, something like increasing financial wealth. Getting more money is not as good as feeling like we’re making progress on our goals.
Specifically, setting goals on January 1st has the added benefit of being a collective practice.
GARDNER: Having the close others in our lives support us towards our goals is often good for us and also really good for the relationship. So setting goals on a day when lots and lots and lots of other people are also setting goals, which gives you an opening to talk about those goals with friends and family, can be a really good thing psychologically.
Professor Gardner acknowledges that failing to meet our resolutions can cause disappointment and frustration. But, she says, there are some strategies to stay on the right track.
GARDNER: If your goals are making you anxious, think about the way you’re thinking about your goals. If you’re like, I have to get, you know, all A’s, I have to, right? Do you have to, or do you want to? Just sort of interrogate yourself gently and be like, is there a way I can take this away from a “should” goal and make it a “want” or an “ideal” goal.
Some strategies are surprising.
GARDNER: What’s really useful is to get yourself sort of feeling all motivated. And then immediately turn and be like, what are all the ways I’m going to mess this up? And that’s a process called mental contrasting and implementation intentions. You luxuriate in how awesome it’s going to feel when you achieve the goal. You immediately turn to like, so I’m going to get in my own way in all of these ways, and then you plan for each of the ways you’re going to mess up and what you’re going to do instead. People who do this are a gajillion times more likely to actually achieve their goal.
While Gardner regularly makes resolutions for herself, not everyone partakes in the tradition.
Professor Frahm doesn’t make resolutions, but suggests they can be beneficial.
FRAHM: It’s always a good idea to have some milestones that you want to reach and where you want to go, but I do not.
He cautions making overly ambitious resolutions.
FRAHM: I read a few years ago that British scholars established the worst day of the year is, I think around January 21st. And they say it’s the worst day of the year because among other things, at this point you’ve already realized that you will not be able to really keep your New Year’s resolutions. So when you think about that, then maybe it isn’t such a good idea to do it because you, you figure out early enough that you’re not going to make it. And then of course, you will be feeling bad.
Professor McCrossen has similarly mixed feelings about the practice.
MCCROSSEN: It’s kind of a performance piece, right? You know, how cool is your New Year’s resolution.
I’ve certainly made New Year’s resolutions, but in my own life, I try to follow a practice where I treat every day like the beginning of a new year. So I’m not gonna put it off till the New Year if I need to make a change.
I mean, I do think it is an excellent time cause we have to have appointed times to take account. So I do, I do think the New Year is a good time to think about yourself, but also about the world.
The history of New Year’s Day comes with its own lessons. For McCrossen, learning about Heartbreak Day has shifted her perspective.
MCCROSSEN: I just, I found all of that just so interesting and worthwhile and fascinating and heartbreaking, to think about what, what I take for granted in my life. I take for granted continuity. New Year’s Day has never brought any real change in my life. In terms of my circumstances, I’ve never had, you know, I’ve never had to anticipate New Year’s Day and wondering if I would be separated from my family or thrown out of my home. So, thinking about it as Heartbreak Day has been really a profound, surprising experience.
Professor Frahm says we can gain some wisdom from the celebrations of the Ancient Babylonians.
FRAHM: I think in general it’s a good idea to mark transitions. I mean, certainly the Babylonians did that extensively. I mean 12 days, that’s a lot. They still certainly spent, spent a lot of time and energy and money if you wish, on this.
I also think a nice aspect of the New Year’s festival in Babylonia is that it’s really a community thing, so you come together. And that’s a little bit the idea, of course, today that, well, on New Year’s Eve, you are with friends and, you sing with them Auld Lang Syne or whatever you do and so this is a ritual as well.
It’s not a mistake, I think, to occasionally get out of your routine and to consider the possibility of change. And that’s certainly something that you do find in some of these ancient traditions.
So whether you keep up with your 2026 resolutions or not, try to enjoy the opportunity of this new year and all it may bring.
For WNUR News, I’m Supriya Akella.
