The Babylonians remain known as the culture that started the New Year’s resolutions, which occurred over 4,000 years ago. In that time, the people of Babylon made resolutions to gods, setting them to pay back debts in the upcoming months. While the calendar started in March for them, modern day Americans warped this tradition into their own, promising the repayment of debts or the loss of weight, to oneself instead of a deity.

However popular this tradition remains, one word resolutions rise as a new trendy alternative, letting one promise to better oneself in many aspects as opposed to the traditional one.

Traditional resolutions remain hard to keep. As many as 45 percent of Americans say they usually make New Year’s resolutions, only 8 percent carry out their resolution according to a study conducted by Statistic Brain Research Institute. One-word resolutions juxtapose traditional single-faceted ones easily by creating an easier way to keep it. Traditional resolutions simply cause a cycle for Americans of never obtaining their goals, which becomes harmful if translated into the mindset of everyone.

One-word resolutions or yearly themes let people interpret anything the way they wish, like a poem. This way, people change over the upcoming year and hold the ability to choose how they wish to practice the resolution they made in the New Year. With this, people become more flexible and open to new possibilities which, overall, creates a more lenient and self-accepting society.

With one-word resolutions, people easily stay true to what they promised themselves in January. This way, people feel less ashamed of the goal they failed to accomplish and more mindful of the word that embodied their year, creating a healthier tradition. Conclusively, this healthier tradition creates a more self-sustaining culture around the concept of New Year’s resolutions that, instead of people boasting of their failed resolution, lets people improve upon themselves in many facets.