Mark Parisi, who does the comic “off the mark,” has a cartoon where a man is sitting at his desk, looking at a computer. He tells a co-worker “There’s a computer virus that’s going around called ‘New Year’s Resolution.’ Luckily, it only lasts a few days.”

Setting New Year’s resolutions is a tradition that goes back to the days of the Babylonians. Romans got in the act as well. Jews do some resolutions during Yom Kippur, while Christians often use Lent to set some new ones.

These days, everyone seems to want to provide some help so we can accomplish our New Year’s resolutions. Gossip columns and even some mainstream newspapers tell us what celebrities plan to do. For example, the San Jose Mercury News reported that Britney Spears’ resolution is “… to stop worrying so much because I worry all the time. And to learn how to be happier, just in general. And to stop biting my nails!”

Even the government gets in the act. If you go to http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/ Topics/New_Years_Resolutions.shtml, there’s a list of 13 popular resolutions, as well as links to sites that will help you accomplish those. These goals vary, from quitting smoking and drinking, to taking a trip and losing weight. And you thought your taxpayer dollars weren’t at work for you!

Sadly, our track record for accomplishing New Year’s resolutions isn’t so great. According to Richard Wiseman’s survey at “quirkology.com,” 52 percent of people studied were confident of success, yet only 12 percent actually achieved their goals. Men did better when they set small, measurable goals, while women improved when they made their goals public and got friends involved, but the boosts were marginal at best.

Perhaps there’s a source for success most of us (and yours truly) may forget. On Dec. 30, 2008, the New York Times interviewed Michael McCullough, a University of Miami scholar whose research (along with Brian Willoughby) was published in the Psychological Bulletin. They found that those with stronger religious beliefs had better self-control. Such folks did better in school, had happier marriages, and lived longer.

I know what you’re thinking: McCullough is some religious nut trying to promote his pet theory. But he admits in his interview that he’s not a churchgoing Christian. He was also able to reject arguments that say only self-controlled individuals are more likely to go to church. He and Willoughby found that this self-control didn’t come from rules forced on people, or social support from fellow worshippers. Prayer itself tended to stimulate both sides of the brain, producing “a kind of anaerobic workout for self-control.”

So should your resolution to be just to show up to church more often? McCullough warns that those who go to services for “other” reasons, like impressing people or making social connections don’t have that self-control. Those true believers seem to be the only ones who make the prayer and worship translate into improving one’s life. So when thinking about how to have better discipline in your life this year, don’t leave religion out of it!