My late father-in-law made the same resolution every New Year and it was the same thing that he gave up for Lent for every year:  he gave up eating watermelon seeds. In other words, his resolutions didn't have any meaning to hm at all, and it was all just a joke.  He was a good man, and we would have been hard pressed to find a way for him to improve himself.

Our New Year's Eve tradition, with all the family gathered here at my house, is to write down our resolutions for the year, fold up the piece of paper, put our name on it, put into a cigar box, to be opened the following New Year's Eve to see how we did in keeping our resolutions.  They all seem to be rather etheral, "to be a better person,"  "to read 100 books,"  or "to lose 10 pounds."  

Do you have any traditions regarding resolutions, and I'd love to know if you actually strive through the year to keep them.    Is this a meaningless ritual, or does this really mean something to you?