Name: 為什麼新年到就要許新希望？一起來看看背後的歷史由來吧！ (The history of New Year's resolutions)
Uploaded: 2026-01-02T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 5 min 47 s

Every day, I am gonna do one thing I have never done before.

每天，我都要做一件我從來沒做過的事。

That, my friends, is my New Year's resolution.

各位朋友，那就是我的新年新希望。

我的目標是駕駛一架商用噴射客機。

Now all you have to do is find a plane load of people whose resolution is to plummet to their deaths.

現在你只差找到一整飛機、決心要墜機喪命的人了。

Every New Year offers the promise of a new you,

每一個新年，都帶來一個嶄新的你的承諾，

the person you'd become if only you could just stick to those. All too easy to make New Year's resolutions.

如果你真的能夠堅持那些新年新希望，你就會成為的那個人。立下新年新希望很容易。

正如我們的莫・羅卡再清楚不過。

The clock is ticking down once again to a new year.

時鐘再次倒數，迎向新的一年。

And millions of Americans are right now making promises they probably won't keep.

此刻，數百萬美國人正在許下他們可能無法實現的承諾。

Once again, getting into shape was the number one New Year's resolution.

再次地，「鍛鍊身體」成為排名第一的新年新希望。

Well, if you haven't already given up on your New Year's resolution to try to eat healthier.

如果你還沒放棄想吃得更健康的新年新希望，

聽著，我對螢幕前的你有信心。

And if your New Year's resolution was to become rich, well, it's not too late.

如果你的新年新希望是變有錢，那麼，現在還不算太晚。

Studies show most New Year's resolutions are bound to fail.

研究顯示，大多數新年新希望注定會失敗。

But did you know that we've been failing at them for thousands of years?

但你知道嗎？我們已經失敗了好幾千年。

we can find people trying to kind of orchestrate a fresh start at the New Year's through resolutions.

也能找到人們試圖在新年透過立下新希望，來安排一個全新的開始。

Candida Moss is a historian and professor of theology at the University of Birmingham.

坎蒂達・莫斯是伯明罕大學的歷史學家與神學教授。

She says annual attempts at self-improvement are about as old as the celebrating of New Year's itself.

她表示，每年嘗試自我改進的行為，幾乎和慶祝新年的歷史一樣久遠。

The ancient Babylonians had a big celebration almost two weeks long

古巴比倫人會舉行將近兩週的大型慶典，

where they celebrated the New Year around springtime in March or April and would make resolutions.

在三、四月的春天慶祝新年，並立下新希望。

And they were small, so pay off, like, small debts.

而且那些目標都很小，例如償還一些小債務。

They would make sort of small vows about better behavior.

他們會許下一些關於改善行為的小誓言。

In 46 B.C, Julius Caesar created a new Roman calendar that started the new year on the first day of January.

西元前 46 年，凱撒大帝制定了新的羅馬曆法，將新年訂在一月一日。

January was named for the Roman God Janus, whose two faces look forward and back.

一月是以羅馬神祇雅努斯命名，他有兩張臉，一張看向前，一張看向後。

That's really important for how we think about New Year's as a kind of taking stock and starting again.

這對我們如何看待新年作為一種盤點過去、重新開始的時刻非常重要。

Were these kind of traditions about making the people happy or making the gods happy?

這些傳統主要是為了讓人們開心，還是讓神明開心呢？

These are primarily about making the gods happy.

And that's really what New Year's is about.

It's a kind of supernatural spring cleaning.

它是一種超自然的年度大掃除。

隨著世紀更迭，傳統也改變了。

For many in the West, New Year's lost much of its religious significance.

對許多西方人來說，新年逐漸失去了宗教意義。

The advent of electricity helped to turned the celebration into a nighttime affair,

電力的出現，讓慶祝活動轉為夜間進行，

complete with champagne toasts and midnight kisses.

But through it all, the ritual of the New Year's resolution remains.

但無論如何，新年新希望這個儀式始終存在。

In only a few days now, this year will be over and a new one will begin.

再過幾天，這一年就要結束，新的一年即將開始。

Mo Rocca and Nancy Giles share some New Year's resolutions.

莫・羅卡與南希・賈爾斯分享了一些新年新希望。

And back in 2008, my friend and colleague Nancy Giles and I publicly acknowledged our own resolutions.

早在 2008 年，我和朋友兼同事南希・賈爾斯就曾公開談論我們的新年新希望。

How much do I love New Year's resolutions?

I've had the same three for the last nine years.

We got together 15 years later to see how they held up.

十五年後，我們再度聚在一起，看看這些目標進展如何。

Number one, learn to speak Spanish fluently.

第一，學會流利地說西班牙文。

Number two, read the Bible cover to cover.

And three, complete a back handspring unassisted.

It is weird to look back at this stuff, and

I did have the same resolutions over and over and over again.

因為我一再、一再地立下同樣的目標。

Those are such noble resolutions and that you stick to it.

那些目標真的很高尚，而且你還一直堅持。

And I have not been to unkimnacio for a long time, so the back handspring.

而且我已經很久沒去體操館了，所以那個後空翻……

I don't know that it's ever gonna happen now.

我不確定現在是不是還會發生。

Wouldn't it be better to approach our New Year's hopes very, very quietly

我們是不是應該更低調地面對新年的期待，

so that we're all less humiliated when we don't get there?

這樣當沒做到時，也比較不會那麼丟臉？

I try to make my resolutions more specific, realistic, doable.

我會讓我的新年新希望更具體、更現實、更可行。

I was sure I was gonna say a lot of things that down the line I hadn't done.

我很確定自己會說很多最後沒做到的事。

But kind of being cool and being content with one's life and living quietly

但保持自在、滿足於生活、安靜地過日子，

這些我做得到，而且我現在也仍然做得到。

What grade would you give yourself on those resolutions?

你會給自己的這些新希望打幾分？

我想，大概 B 吧，也許是 B−。

What kinds of resolutions are more likely to succeed?

什麼樣的新年新希望比較容易成功？

And a psychologist will tell you small baby steps.

心理學家會告訴你，要一步一步來。

Don't revolutionize your life just overnight.

不要試圖一夜之間徹底改變人生。

New Year's is arguably the most optimistic holiday, and

New Year's resolutions, succeed or fail, have a lot to do with that.

而新年新希望的成功或失敗，正與這種樂觀密切相關。

After all, there's no chance you'll achieve a goal if you never set one in the first place.

畢竟，如果你一開始就沒有立下目標，就完全沒有成功的可能。

I think everyone struggles with, you know, just the problem of not living up to the person they want to be.

我想每個人都在掙扎，無法成為自己想成為的那個人。

And funnily enough, the whole system is based on the idea that you'll inevitably fail.

有趣的是，整個制度本來就建立在你終將失敗的前提上。

But it doesn't matter because there's always next year.

但這沒關係，因為明年還有一次機會。