The first people to have made new year’s resolutions were the ancient Babylonians which was about 4,000 years ago. The Babylonians were also the first ones to hold celebrations for the new year. They had a massive 12-day religious festival that was called Akitu. During this celebration, they would crown a new king and make promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed which could be considered their New Year’s Resolutions.
In ancient Rome after the emperor Julius Caesar tinkered with the calendar, he established January 1st as the beginning of the new year. January had a special significance since they believed January, which they called Janus looked back into the previous year. They offered sacrifices to the deity and made promises of good conduct for the upcoming year.
For Christian's the first day of the year became their traditional occasion to think about their mistakes. In 1740 John Wesley created Covenant Renewal Service which was held on New Year's Eve.
Today, new year’s resolutions are a mostly secular practice. People tend to make resolutions to focus on self-improvement.
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