by Zoë Pollock
Apparently the tradition of New Year's resolutions goes all the way back to *Roman times:
It’s said that Julius Caesar started the tradition of making resolutions on January 1st as a way to honor the Roman mythical god Janus, whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past year and forward to the new year.
*(Updated Jan. 2, from the original article which mentions that resolutions go back to Babylonian times, but doesn't provide the proof. Thanks trusty Dish readers! - Z.P.)