London, Jan ary 2: Just one in 11 people manage to keep their New Year's resolutions for at least six months while just under half break their resolutions within a fortnight blaming a lack of will power for it, researchers say.

The poll of 4,000 adults by Cancer Research UK found that 55 percent have made New Year's resolutions in the past, and 23 percent have made a resolution for 2013.

When asked how long previous New Year's resolutions had lasted, nine percent said they stuck to them for at least six months. However, 39 percent had given up within two weeks.

Of those that plan to or are thinking about giving something up for 2013, 19 percent said they would cut down on alcohol.

Other popular New Year's resolutions were to spend less money, cut down on chocolate and go to the gym, the Daily Mail reported.

Experts have even outlined five tips on how to keep your New Year's resolve.

It starts with choosing one thing - to start, pick one habit that will have the biggest impact on your life if changed and focus on it. Planning to hit the gym, give up Facebook and eat better all at once is taking on too much.

Make it easy - don't start by planning to train for an hour every day or eat nothing but meat and vegetables if that's a huge change in your habits because it won't happen.

Ignore the negatives - focusing on what you're not going to do can lead to a behavioural ironic rebound or, more simply, if you resolve to stop eating cake, you'll eat more cake. You should focus on positives rather than negatives like resolving to eat more veggies and protein.

Use if/then patterns - programme your brain as you would a computer and you won't need to wrestle with temptation all the time.

Lastly, get help - joining forces with a partner boosts your chances of sticking to your resolutions. When groups were told to make if/then plans with and without the help of friends, those who used a support group saw vastly increased chances of success. And besides, you'll need someone to spot you on the bench. (ANI)