By Charlotte Schnitger
We have all fallen victim to them: crazy New Year’s resolutions that are completely forgotten when April rolls around. This far into the new year, chances are you have already abandoned your own by now. But have you ever considered that it isn’t just a lack of discipline that causes the downfall? Many people have argued that January 1st is simply not the right time for performance-based resolutions, but instead should be used to focus on moral reflection that leads to self-renewal. Instead of cutting out sugar and forcing ourselves to the gym at 5:00 am, we should focus on acknowledging our natural rhythms and their alignment with the seasons. One thing those rhythms clearly state? Mid-winter is not the time for new beginnings.
The yearly tradition of setting New Year’s resolutions is rooted deeply in the history of our civilisation. The Babylonians were the first civilisation to adopt resolutions as a recurring tradition. In their calendar, the New Year would only commence in March, aligning the people to start their resolutions in Spring, a time that represents rebirth and new beginnings.
It was the Romans who later moved New Year’s Day to January 1st, which has remained unchanged in the Western society since. In their rituals, ‘new beginnings’ were marked with spiritual rebirth through sacrifice and communal celebration.
It was only in the Industrial Revolution, however, that resolutions took the shape they still have today. With the rise of factories and their ability to stabilise production levels throughout the year because of electricity, performance-based goals grew in importance. Factory owners found a way to defy Earth’s natural clock with artificial light, leading people to believe they could do the same to their own daily rhythms. However, a light bulb does not brighten human energy levels as the sun does.
The lack of sunlight during the winter months disrupts our bodily clocks by influencing our cortisol timing and decreasing our serotonin levels. Cortisol is the body’s activation hormone, which regulates when and by how much our energy spikes across the day. Following a strong circadian rhythm, cortisol peaks within the first hour after we wake, given there is a source of natural light. It then steadily decreases until nightfall, when our lower energy will signal it is time to sleep. Without morning light, the cortisol cycle is delayed, leading to harder, less alert mornings and more rumination at night. Our bodies, therefore, ask for more rest in their response to the shorter winter days, but we fail to give it. We run into the new year headfirst and hit a wall before the end of February when we realise our energy reserves are depleted.
For a better approach, we might want to critically reflect on the Babylonian way instead. During their 12-day New Year’s festival called Akitu, the people would gather to celebrate the victory of the sky god Marduk over the sea goddess Tiamat. After winter’s reflection, they emerged into the celebrations with vows of honesty and moral righteousness to Marduk, ready to enter the new year with a cleansed moral slate. When the celebrations came to an end and winter gave way to spring, the people were both spiritually and naturally prepared for a new season of productivity. Aligning resolutions with the season of rebirth and awakening is, even in 2026, the key to giving them the energy they require in order to last.
Still, winter or spring, resolutions are challenging to stick to. To start, a successful resolution must be sustained by two things: the opportunity to pursue it, and the idea that it can actually be achieved. The latter of these two, that your finish line must be within reach, is often overlooked despite its importance. Especially in times of political instability and climate anxiety, it is easy to feel powerless, even over your personal goals. A perceived lack of control, which is an increasingly popular narrative today, narrows future-oriented thinking capabilities, thereby taking its toll on your resolutions as well. After all, it’s hard to focus on getting two litres of water in every day if you feel like the world around you is on fire.
Your best chance of success in overcoming this sense of helplessness is to focus on the process instead of the outcome of your resolution. Formulating your goals in a way that feels more tangible will make each step towards them seem smaller, even if your future-oriented thinking is limited. Besides, studies have shown that process-focused goals outperform outcome-focused ones, as they have a built-in flexibility resistant to the unexpected turns life can take.
Luckily, you do not have to face this alone. Actually, it is much more beneficial if you don’t. Taking collective agency over resolutions has been found to significantly improve the success rate of achieving goals. Sharing both your resolutions, challenges, and successes with others allows you to keep each other accountable, lift one another up when motivation is scarce, and makes it more fun to celebrate when the time is finally there to do so.
So no, dramatic reinvention is not the key to a successful 2026. Instead, allow yourself to set tangible goals that focus more on the process than on the outcome. This way, you grant yourself the agency to succeed, and you don’t have to worry about life getting in your way. If it does, which it will, remember you do not have to face your challenges alone, and that sharing your goals with others will lighten their load. My final advice if you really want to put the odds of succeeding in your favour? Rest now and wait for the sun to shine, just like our ancestors would do.
Inspired to learn more? Check out the following sources!
The Herring 