How to best keep New Year’s resolutions

Here are three traits of resolutions that rarely work — along with some expert insight into what does.

As the New Year approaches, many of us will be sitting down to reflect on 2013 and create resolutions for 2014. Of course, many of us also have gotten cynical about setting goals. We’ve read the stories about failure rates. And we probably have first-hand experience of our personal resolutions not working out.But there’s usually a good reason — several of them, in fact — behind unsuccessful resolutions. And it’s not because you lack willpower, self-control or discipline.