A week to make a year’s plan

New Year’s resolutions are a tradition and many set a life improving goal they plan to achieve from January 1 – 7, New Year’s Resolution Week. This week was created to remind us the importance of setting goals.

Since Gary Blair founded New Year’s Resolution Week in 2005, a week-long celebration has been an annual tradition for people all over the world to do. (http://tiny.cc/NYResolutionWeek)  However, celebrating over an extended time actually began 4,000 years ago. Ancient Babylonians were the first to hold recorded celebrations for New Year’s, although for them it started in mid-March rather than in early January. It lasted 12 days and was a massive festival known as Akitu in which they crowned a new king. Also, this included promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects borrowed.

The Romans also celebrated something similar to New Year’s. They worshiped a god named Janus, to whom they made promises for the following year. Janus is portrayed as a two-faced god, with one face looking at the past and another looking toward the future.

Today’s New Year’s resolutions are usually more profane traditions and there are many different goals you can make.

Some of the most popular traditions include

• Eat Healthier
• Pick up a new skill or hobby
• Exercise More
• Read more books
• Save more money and spend less
• Get organized
• Second, Practice self-care
• Quit smoking
• Spend more time with family
• Travel more
• Get more sleep
• Learn a new language
• Spend less time on social media

While many people make goals, few succeed due to lack of planning. To avoid this pitfall, you can use New Year’s Resolution Week to map out a plan of success. First, prepare yourself for the goal you want to achieve, maybe by writing it down and posting it in a prominent place. Next, don’t make huge goals or changes. Set goals that motivate you and only work on a few at a time. Sharing goals and reviewing them will help you stay on track all year.

Every year is a fresh start to achieving different goals and improving your life for the better you can do this!