New Year’s resolutions — you make them and then you break them. It’s an annual tradition for many of us.

“I resolve to (fill in the blank)” is a phrase that gets a workout as a new year dawns. Even the U.S. government gets into the act, with a list of the most popular resolutions on its Web site at www.usa.gov.

Of course, along with that list of popular resolutions (to lose weight is the No. 1), there are tips for keeping them. Making New Year’s resolutions is the easy part. Keeping them ... well, we all know that good intentions often get lost in the hustle and bustle of living in the real world.

Paula Gilreath and Kevin Gilreath of Gallatin, Mo., don’t make New Year’s resolutions any more. And their reason is one that people cite again and again.

“I couldn’t keep them if I did,” Kevin Gilreath says.

It’s a sentiment that Paula Gilreath echoes when she says, “I can’t stick to them.”

And they’re not alone.

Alice Deatherage, owner of AEC Family Fitness in St. Joseph, sees the same scenario played out year after year. People resolving to lose weight and get fit start out with good intentions, but then something happens.

“Something is more important to them at that time,” she says. “Something happens because we all live in the real world.”

But if we don’t keep the New Year’s resolutions, then why do we feel compelled to make them?

Human nature is one answer. We hope for a better tomorrow, with a better us living in a better world.

“I think that we make New Year’s resolutions because we all dream of starting with a blank slate and re-creating ourselves,” says Dr. Paulette Kouffman Sherman, a licensed psychologist, dating coach and author of “Dating From The Inside Out: How to Use The Law of Attraction in Matters of the Heart.” “The new year represents a time when we can reprioritize and recommit to our deepest dreams and desires.”

Dr. Kouffman Sherman adds that as much as we hope to make changes to make those dreams and desires a reality, we often fail because we lose sight of those dreams in the midst of our daily responsibilities,

Frank Farley, Temple University psychologist and a past president of the American Psychological Association, has a different view. He says that since we construct our lives extensively around the calendar, Dec. 31 becomes a significant date for many of us. As the last day of the year, it is a time to look back at the past, a chance to make a change before we greet a new year.

“I don’t think it is trivial this time of year to take psychological stock or personal stock of ourselves, and try to decide, ‘OK, I’m going to work on this, I’m going to do that,’” he says. “The taking stock, whether you make resolutions or not, is very helpful at the end of the year.”

But whether it’s our hopes and dreams or a date on a calendar that causes us to reflect and then resolve to do something differently, we often engineer our own defeat, experts say.

We make promises that we can’t keep, says M.J. Ryan, author of “This Year I Will... How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution or Make a Dream Come True.”

Ms. Ryan even offers a Top 10 list of the reasons why we fail at keeping our resolutions. That list includes being too vague, not making a serious commitment, turning goof-ups into give-ups, trying to go it alone, not having a back-up plan and procrastinating.

“No time, wrong time or dog ate my homework,” Ms. Ryan says.

It takes commitment and hard work to make resolutions a reality, she adds. First, start small by picking an attainable goal, both Ms. Ryan and Ms. Deatherage advise. If your resolution is to lose weight, break it down into small, realistic goals, such as “I’m going to try to lose five pounds this month.” And, realize that you’re going to hit some rough patches.

“As long as you’re on the path,” Ms. Deatherage says. “Get up and take off again.”

And if you resolve to get back on that path, no matter how many times you fall, you will eventually reach your goal, experts say.

“It becomes part of your lifestyle,” Ms. Deatherage says.

Lifestyles reporter Cathy Woolridge can be reached at cathyw@npgco.com