Phew! 2007 is over and here comes 2008! With 2007 behind us, we can start 2008 fresh and sparkling. This is the sentiment that inspires people all over the world to make New Year resolutions. What is a resolution and how did New Year resolutions come about? And how do you make some of your own?

 

What is a New Year Resolution?

The dictionary says that making New Year resolutions is ‘ setting goals for the New Year ' . As to where or how they originated, we only know that resolutions were already recorded by the Babylonians as far back as four thousand years ago!

 

The New Year is a great time to look at the changes we would like to make in our lives and how to accomplish them. A resolution is like a promise to ourselves to improve our lives and to make the New Year a better one for ourselves and others. So, let's get started.

 

Tips for Making New Year Resolutions

1. Keep it simple. Setting goals that are too difficult or unrealistic will make you lose your interest and motivation. You will feel defeated even before you get started!

2. But don't make it too easy. While you should not set goals that are too difficult, you should not make it too easy as well (e.g. increasing your test results by only one mark) as you won't really make any changes to your life.

3. The Babylonians believed that whatever a person did on the first day of the year had an effect all year long. Hence, make resolutions with sincere intentions.

My New Year resolution(s) for 2008 is/are:

 

Fun Fact

The most popular New Year resolution for the Babylonians was to return borrowed farm equipment