The practice of making New Year's resolutions can be traced back to ancient Babylon. Back then it was all about appeasing the gods with promises of good behaviour in return for their favour. Over time, different cultures created their own legends around what became a well-established tradition; Romans made promises to a two-faced god called Janus, then knights lay hands on peacocks at the turn of the year. Now in the 21^st century, like so much of life, it has evolved into a very individual practice. People look back at the ups and downs of the previous year and set lofty goals with the intent of becoming a better version of themselves. All too often, resolutions are set too high and within weeks reality overpowers the best of intentions. It’s estimated that 80% of resolutions are abandoned by the first week of February.

Does this mean resolutions are no longer relevant? Has goal setting become futile in the age that we are now living in? It certainly feels like that way when the world has spent the last two years making plans, only for them to be delayed or cancelled by the arrival of a virus.

And yet, at Home we carry a resolution into the new year that has been with us for the last 10 years - the goal of ending homelessness. This is in fact our ‘everyday resolution’, but as we stepped into 2022, we intentionally paused, spent time reflecting on our kaupapa and resolved to keep working towards our goal – to build homes for people.

Like any industry, perhaps more than most, the construction industry is impacted by numerous factors that are out of its control: weather, inflation, resources, available workforce, global pandemics. Looking back on the previous year and looking ahead to the new, we know these won’t be going away and we’ll have to face challenges every week. Therefore, we resolve to stay true to our vision.

May 2022 be a year of solving problems together.