New Year’s resolutions rarely stick

A New Year's resolution is usually a spur-of-the-moment thing for me. Somebody asks what I'm giving up or changing for the New Year, and I'll just blurt something out like, "Cut back on coffee" or "Take a cooking class." The truth is, that 2012 will find me making toast to dip in my cappuccino, just like last year. I have no intention of cutting out coffee. And though I'd love to know how to roast a chicken without dehydrating it, cooking lessons are just another random idea that springs out of my mouth, unbidden. In the moment, I feel obligated to come up with something -- and to make it virtuous. I couldn't possibly admit that the first thing on my list is to download those three "Mentalist" episodes I missed.As for work, well, there are always those obligatory throw-backs we can blurt out: "Keep in better contact with the database. Sell more homes. Be more organized"But here's the problem. According to the experts, even if you meant to make th...