Do more exercise
Eat less chocolate
Keep in touch with family
Try and wear the colour purple
Travel
Cook more
Something about your job
Read more Mills & Boon books
Decorate the kitchen
Bring back roll-neck jumpers 

These are just some of the New Year’s resolutions that people around the globe will currently be compiling. It’s the time of year when inspiration runs high and wine glasses stay dry. Quality of life becomes the topic of the month (week) as people set themselves a plethora of life-enhancing goals for the year ahead. So what will you choose this year? How will you stick to them? And most importantly, how long do you really think they’ll last? A study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol in 2007 saw 88% of his 3,000 participants fail to keep their resolutions for the year. But before we all throw in the gym towel and give in to the power of statistics, remember that 100% of people who read romance books in 2014 are officially the best people in 2014. Straight from the honourable Department of Mills & Boon Statistics. Anyway, here are some good guys doing some good things at the turn of the year:

Did you know the ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts? The government of Babylonia was apparently run by a gang of troubled librarians…

At the end of each medieval year, the knights would take the ‘peacock vow’ to reaffirm their commitment to chivalry. We’ve no idea where the peacock comes in to all of this but this whole festive period is becoming worryingly bird-centric. Let’s just agree on ‘nice gifts for all maidens in 2014’ and we’ll leave the peacocks in peace.

And finally, these rugged athletes have a few motivating words. We might not all play professional American sports each week, maybe the occasional game of ‘jogging upstairs’, but the video alone might just suffice for a romance reader…

 

So what will be making your list this year? Tell us in the comments section below! 

By The Mills & Boon team