Will you keep New Year's resolutions? Most people don't.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Shari Rudavsky

Remember that promise you made New Year's Eve?

Chances are you won't a few months from now. New Year's resolutions _ to lose weight, to spend less, to stop smoking _ seldom make it through the entire new year, experts say.

Six months after Jan. 1, only 46 percent of those who make New Year's resolutions have fulfilled them, says John C. Norcross, a professor of psychology at the University of Scranton who has conducted at least three studies on resolutions in recent years.

"What happens is their resolve becomes a dissolve," says Teddy Tarr, a psychologist with Baptist Health Systems.

If you believe making long-term promises is just too much, you're in the majority. Only about 40 percent of adults still bother making resolutions, Norcross found. …