During the early Roman period, a mythical god named Janus had two faces: one being forward and the other backwards. These two faces allowed the mythical god to be able to look forward into the future and back into the past. The first month of the Roman calendar, January, was named after this god. Every January, Romans would make resolutions to administer good conduct for the year; a tradition we continue today.

Resolutions are ways that we change something about ourselves, build goals for the year, make promises, and have a positive attitude. A resolution can come in many forms: changing bad habits, or goals you want to accomplish. A resolution doesn’t necessarily have to reflect something you are changing about yourself. A resolution can be anything you want to do or change.

Today, people make resolutions to better themselves, their behavior, or even to change themselves entirely.

But why do we make them? We make them because, as people, we always hope for positive change. Being the same each year, and never progressing or changing, is really unpleasant. At the end of each year, people form their goals for the next year with the hopes that they will change.

In order to make a real, lasting resolution, you must be determined to be sure your goal will be fulfilled. It takes hard work to make a resolution, and it won’t matter if you continue to make mistakes. So, if you haven’t already made your resolutions for the year, what are you waiting for?  Time waits for nobody.