My latest column in The Queensland Country Life.
The first New Year’s resolutions are thought to date back over 4,000 years ago to ancient Babylon. During the Akitu festival, the ancient Babylonians would plant crops, pledge their loyalty to the reigning king, and make promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any borrowed items.
They believed if they kept their word, the gods would look favourably on them but if they broke their promises, they would incur the wrath of their gods and bad things would happen.
Fast forward 4,000 years and New Year’s Resolutions have almost become a joke. Few people bother with them and if they do, lacking any fear of the ‘wrath of the gods’, within 2 weeks they’re all but forgotten.
As a younger bloke, I embraced the tradition. For me New Year’s was a renewal and reset, a promise to do better. I would enthusiastically set a resolution on the 31st December and whilst I did better than most, by the end of February I inevitably fell off the wagon.
Frustrated by my inability to stick to a resolution, about 15 years ago I abandoned the tradition, but I didn’t throw the baby out with the bath water. I tweaked the concept and decided to ‘name my year’ as sort of ‘theme’ to live the year by.
Naming my year became a ritual where I would reflect on the past years wins and losses and how I wanted to do better in life. I’d type it up, print it out and stick it to my bathroom mirror giving me a passive reminder every morning and night.
There was the year of “Say yes”, the year of “Sort yourself out, Ben”, the year of “More chillin”, and the hardest of all, the year of “Discipline”. 2022 was named the year of “Demanding more of yourself”, and it turned out to be one of my biggest years yet.
When it came to 2023, I have to admit I struggled. I am a recovering workaholic and I tend to work first and have fun when there is time for it. The problem is that there’s always more jobs to be done and family and fun are the first casualty. After a chat with my daughter, I eventually reprioritised my focus and settled on the year of “Fun first”.
So there on my bathroom mirror is 2023 The Year of “Fun First” and it will stare at me every morning and night reminding me to schedule fun with my daughter, family and friends upfront, so life will get a little more balanced.
Whilst some of you might say that naming my year is pretty similar to a resolution, I can say that the small adjustment to the tradition has become one of the most powerful tools in my life. So much so that the ritual has been adopted by a number of family and friends and they swear by it.
Being at the beginning of a new year briming with potential, why don’t you have a think about your life. What would make your life better? Maybe you need more simplicity, time with family, to improve financially, better relationships, better health, more focus or maybe just to chill out a little.
Whatever it is, work it out, write it down and display it somewhere obvious as your constant reminder to do better!
Cheers, Ben