By Jennifer Theurer

Ancient Babylonians didn’t make resolutions to whittle their waistlines, they resolved to return the farm equipment they had borrowed from medieval knights. Babylon in 2000 B.C. was an agriculturally based society so that would have been a fairly common resolution to make when ringing in a new year. A recent article by Executive Digital Editor Catherine Boeckmann in The Old Farmer’s Almanac explored the history of resolutions and how they have changed over the years.

An 1813 newspaper in Boston featured the first recorded use of the “New Year resolution” stating that those who sin all the month of December begin the new year by making resolutions they fully believed would wipe away all their faults.

Faults were the focus of resolutions in the early 1900s as people aspired to develop a stronger work ethic and “more restraint in the face of earthly pleasures.”

A Gallup Poll about resolutions in the 1940s noted a subtle shift from denying indulgences to general self-improvement. Responders were less worried about returning borrowed farm equipment like the Babylonians and concentrated on smoking and drinking less and being more understanding and living a better life.

It is almost a given that modern resolutions are made to be broken, but Boeckmann included some tips for making them easier to keep.

Keep it simple. Don’t make a list of resolutions that fill a whole page. Focus on one or two things and make the goal specific and measurable. Saying, “I want to help others,” is vague, while “I want to donate to the local food pantry once a month,” is measurable.

Phrasing resolutions in a positive way rather than using words like “stop” and “quit” can make them easier to maintain as well.