Never in my life had I felt as motivated as I did on New Year's Eve 2005. At midnight, a chorus of cheers rang out the in air, glasses of champagne were sloppily clinked together, and in that moment, I decided that 2006 would bring a new me. I was more motivated than I had ever been to follow through on my New Year's resolutions.

During the week leading up to New Year's Eve I had painstakingly made a list of everything that I needed to change about myself, and I swore that I would stick to it. Topping the list: spend less money, be more disciplined and the ever-popular lose 20 pounds.

For the first week of 2006, I was more financially savvy, disciplined and healthier than my last year's self, but like millions of Americans, the resolutions didn't last.

I've never understood New Year's resolutions in the first place. Why should I wait for that one time each year to be inspired and make all of my self-improvements? Now I'll admit, I'm a little too poor, a little too chubby and a little too lazy, but if I truly want to change myself, why don't I start immediately instead of waiting for a ball to drop in Times Square?

The truth is that regardless of how hard we try, we can't resist getting caught up in the romantic idea of "a new year, a new you." Advertisers understand this and pay good money every January to ensure that we do, in fact, get caught up in this ridiculous idea.

Every time I've turned on the television or radio this past week, advertisements have been wooing me to "join a gym!," "start a weight loss program!" and "stop smoking!"

We listen to these advertisements and spend millions of dollars to stay on track with their resolutions. Predictably, very few people I know, and probably most Americans, actually stick to their resolutions.

Many people know that they probably won't follow through. So why make the resolution at all?

For a lot of us, making that promise to ourselves lets us go crazy during the holidays. It gives us the mentality of "It's alright, I can have another beer/cigarette/cookie because my New Year's resolutions are starting soon."

Essentially, the promise of an upcoming free pass erases all guilt about overindulging.

New Year's resolutions haven't always been about weight loss and discipline, and the tradition of these resolutions has actually been in place for more than 4,000 years.

The tradition originated on the Babylonian New Year, which fell around the spring equinox. On New Year's Day, Babylonians would resolve to return things they had borrowed from their friends throughout the previous year.

Ancient Romans also made New Year's resolutions, the most common being to ask forgiveness from their enemies.

America's most popular resolutions involve neither returning borrowed items nor asking forgiveness. According to a recent article in The Washington Post, the most common resolutions for 2007 are to lose weight, pay off debt, get a better job, drink less and stop smoking.

The signs of some of these popular resolutions are already apparent, with a large jump in new gym memberships. Last week, Wal-Mart also reported a huge increase in the sale of Slim-Fast diet shakes and grapefruit, which is believed to aid in weight loss.

So in 2007 eat it up, drink it up and live it up. If you want. But if you're looking to make a change to yourself or your way of life, do it because you truly have the desire to better yourself and your lifestyle, not because a colorful ball just dropped.

Reach columnist Sara Wilson at sarawilson@thedaily.washington.edu