“Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits.” – Anonymous

The tradition of New Year’s Resolutions goes back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of Rome who had two faces and could look back on past events and forward to the future, was placed at the head of the calendar. Janus became a symbol for resolution and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.

It makes sense that a tradition of resolutions came from such beginnings. Men have made New Year’s Resolutions since time immemorial, and how many have kept to them, well that remains to be seen.

M catches up with a few men and got their thoughts about the subject.

Meet the men

Pawlu Borġ Bonaċi – 33 years old

Singer of Fakawi

Optimist and his year was full of ups and down, but still exciting and thrilling.

Does not make resolutions, prefers an “I’ll do it on Monday” philosophy.

Pawlu thinks we don’t stick to our resolutions, because if we did, we’d all be driving our dream cars and sipping piña coladas on the beach. He says that we all know this inside, but do them anyway because it’s good to dream. Pawlu said he’s different that way; for example, he knows he will never get organised so he simply doesn’t bother to resolve to.

Pawlu thinks women make more resolutions than men do, and also keep to them more than men do, but then he can not fathom why women who are in perfect shape resolve to lose weight every year.

What New Year’s recommendations would you advise for music lovers?

“Don’t wait for bands to come to Malta, the good ones never come, so get out there and go to festivals and concerts abroad. I love festivals; you get to see lots of good bands in a weekend, and it’s really cheap.”

What would be the best and worst new Year’s resolution a musician can make?

“The best ones would be wanting to learn, improve, discover, and wanting to play more, have fun and make music. The worst one is probably to want to be famous.”

Off the top of your head, could you rhyme a short New Year’s Resolutions funny song to be sung to a famous tune?

To be sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne

For all the ladies who feel fat

and for all the guys who are broke

for all the boys who say i need a chick

and for the chicks who need a bloke.

Stop wasting time my dears

resolutions are a waste of time

if you need a chick or a hunk

just make sure they’re very very DRUNK!

Toni Sant – 42 years old

Lecturer in Performance & Creative Technologies at the University of Hull, Creative Director at MT Media Productions Ltd, producer of Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast.

Optimist, and has had a half full year.

Does not make resolutions because he doesn’t see the point, but also because most popular resolutions don’t apply to him. He doesn’t smoke, he loves his job, doesn’t drink too much and is happily married, so none of those apply.

“I did make resolutions in the past, but never really kept one long enough to remember. Resolutions are just like promises; if you can’t keep them, don’t make them.”

What New Year’s recommendations would you advise for academics?

“Enjoy your holidays. We sure don’t get enough of them!”

What would be the best and worst new Year’s resolution an academic can make?

“To do more research which is both the best and the worst resolution for any academic.”

Off the top of your head, what are your favourite songs or albums with a New Year’s theme or feel to them?

U2 – New Year’s Day.

Karl Agius – 29 years old

Software Developer

Realist, veering on pessimism. Has had a run of the mill year.

Karl not made resolutions for a long time, because if he really wants to do something, he gets down to it immediately. According to him, anything that stays at the “I will … ” stage for more than a few days will probably never get done.

“The worst resolutions I ever heard were made four hours into the new year. Not the best of times for lucid thought.”

“One resolution I will not consider is to give up smoking. In fact, when told that I should make that my resolution, I get this sudden urge to light up.”

What New Year’s recommendations would you advise software developers?

“Have you ever tried to advise a group of developers? It’s like trying to herd cats.”

What would be the best and worst new Year’s resolution a software developer can make?

“The worst is “Go without internet access for a day”, which never, ever, ever works, and is possibly the one thing every software developer has in common.”

Off the top of your head, could you write a program that assesses what kind of life you lead and recommends attainable New Year’s Resolutions?

“Sure I can! Tell you what, writing that will be my resolution for next year!”

Lino Spiteri – 72 years old

Former Member of Parliament and Minister of Finance. Economist, writer and regular columnist.

Optimist, has had a good year.

Lino feels he is past the resolution stage in life, however, he does promise himself to go for a brisk walk daily. He does feel, however, that resolutions are made to be broken, and true to his word, he says he usually starts off keeping his, then falling off.

According to Lino, men and women both fail to stick to their resolutions, similarly to those who resolve to quit smoking.

What New Year’s recommendations would you advise to our politicians?

“Try to be serious and honest and sincere, some of the time.”

What would be the best and worst new Year’s resolution a politician can make?

“To be serious and honest and sincere most of the time.”

Is there anything similar to Joe Public’s New Year’s resolution habits in the political arena?

“Yes. Politicians, current and former, such as myself, resolve to do better, like everybody else. We’d be better off just trying to be good.”

Wayne Flask – 28 years old

Music journalist, DJ, blogger for footballxs.com and www.wayneflask.com

Realist with slight shades of wishful thinking. Has had a quiet year, but won’t complain.

Wayne doesn’t make New Year’s Resolutions, and doesn’t think that people keep to them either. In his opinion, if we did, “we’d be a country of incorruptible non-smoking top models, and we’d make our greengrocers very wealthy indeed.”

He chose not to comment when asked who made most resolutions between men and women, and who kept them longest. He did say, however, that all those who want to cut down on chocolate should simply give up.

What New Year’s recommendations would you advise for music lovers?

“Kill MTV for good because all the good stuff is on internet nowadays. There’s a lot of excellent alternative and folk material coming out of Malta right now too. Get out of the box, listen to different stuff, like African music.

What would be the best and worst new Year’s resolution a music fan can make?

I’m not very hot on the anti-piracy battle so I won’t propose it as a resolution. I do think that  more quality acts should be brought to Malta. Malta. We’re becoming a destination for shoddy shows featuring stars who have fallen off their crest, and passing everything off as talent is unfair to the public’s intelligence. And no more pub bands posing as tributes please.

Off the top of your head, could you tell me which particular groups of music fans need to make new year’s resolutions, and why?

Yes, emo fans should change their dressing habits. There’s loads of online stores that offer decent clothing which gets you through a metal detector without any hassles. Or maybe it would be easier to eradicate emo altogether.

Karl Camenzuli – 37 years old

Marketer

Both a pessimist and optimist, depending on the situation. Has had a positively transformative year.

Karl makes New Year’s Resolutions because he sees the changing of the year as a clean slate. He normally makes resolutions that have to do with organisation.

Karl thinks that women keep to their resolutions more than men do, partly because they make more, while men will make one or two at the most. As to why we don’t stick to them, he thinks that it’s generally because January is such a bad month, so we need the comforts we have just relinquished. The worst New Year’s Resolution that Karl has ever heard was to give up masturbation.

What New Year¹s recommendations would you advise to a marketer?

“On the Web, content may be king but remember that the customer is the dictator.”

What would be the best and worst new Year¹s resolution a marketer can make?

“To think it’s all about the design”

Is there anything similar to Joe Public¹s New Year¹s resolution habits in the marketing world?

“Yeah! Get a better job…oops looks like I’m a pessimist after all.”

This article originally appeared on M Magazine on Saturday 4th December 2010 under the name: Viva La Resolution. Click on the images below to view in full size: