It's not the New Years resolutions that are the problem, it's that what we think we're resolving is not really what needs to be resolved.  Reflection of self has to happen first before anything can be resolved.  Will power has nothing to do with it.  In fact, using will power to push through something you really don't want to do is not only unhealthy, it can be potentially damaging to the physical body. 

It distracts us from something deeper that's calling out to us for attention.  When we ignore this call, resistance is created and then failure of not following through comes next.  This could be why so many people only make it a few weeks.