Each January, about 40% of the country make New Year's resolutions, and setting a goal at the start of the year is as much a part of the festivities.
But when you think about it, New Year's resolutions don't make a lot of sense. You can decide to get heathy anytime during the year, so why has January 1st become a de facto goal-setting holiday? Why not a birthday, the start of your new year? Or the first week of a new school year?

The tradition of making New Year's resolutions goes back over 4,000 years, to the ancient Babylonian festival of Akitu . During this 12-day celebration, the Babylonians would celebrate the "rebirth of the natural world." They would plant crops, crown a new king (or reaffirm the power of the reigning king), make promises to their gods, and pay back their debts.
Here's where the New Year's resolutions come in: the Babylonians believed if they kept their promises to the gods, they would stay on the gods' good side, and if not, they would fall out of favor.

In 153 B.C., the Roman Senate declared that January 1st would signal the start of the new year, honoring the god Janus, according to the Washington Post. Because Janus was said to have two faces, he could look forwards and backwards at the same time, symbolizing the end of the previous year and the start of the new year ahead.

However, it took over 100 years for this to take effect — Julius Caesar made it official around 46 B.C.E. Romans, similar to the Babylonians, would make promises to Janus about their behavior for the next year.
During the Middle Ages, knights would renew their vows to chivalry by placing their hand on a live or roasted peacock, Slate reports. The "Peacock Vow" was an annual contract taken at the end of each year, AKA a resolution to uphold the values of knighthood. Things have come a long way since then.

Modern new year's resolutions became *a thing* in the 19th century. The first recorded use of the phrase "new year resolution" appeared in a Boston newspaper in 1813.
Still, while over a third of the population make New Year's resolutions every year, only 8% follow through on them.

The best way to make sure you achieve your resolution is to treat it like a regular goal: make it specific and tangible, so you can track your progress.

The only way to measure your success is by developing an action plan and following it.

Twitter @jude_jae.