Brush your teeth twice a day, every day, for one whole year. There was once a point in my life when I felt it appropriate, or even worse, necessary, to make this a New Year's Resolution. Perhaps I was feeling really good about how the previous year went and believed this was the only way I could truly improve my life. Maybe I lacked creativity (the past tends to be composed of simpler times, after all). It was one of those resolutions I kept on the down low because telling people my New Year's Resolution was to brush my teeth twice a day could lead to some concerned questions.

Yikes...does she not brush her teeth?

No, I'm not that extreme.

Does she only brush her teeth on occasion?

No, I always brushed them at least once a day.

Is her hygiene regimen lacking?

As someone with a detailed morning and evening bathroom routine, I'm offended that you even thought up such a monstrosity.

So then...what exactly is the point of this resolution?

If the point seems to have escaped you, we're in the same boat…in retrospect, there was no direct point. I did, in fact, brush my teeth twice a day every day for an entire year, but I have failed to mention that there were days when I brushed my teeth twice in a row. Brush, brush, brush. Spit. Gargle. Apply fresh toothpaste. Repeat.

What an idiot! you cry. Literally. I cannot refute you this time. Yet another reason for me to keep to myself all these years what I'm sure you have considered from the beginning of this article to be a true feat. There was absolutely no point to this resolution; the health benefits my teeth gained are still highly questionable considering my methods.

My point in making this resolution was 1% improving dental habits (no more skimping at sleepovers or falling asleep with unclean teeth!), 99% being able to say I carried out a New Year's Resolution to full term. I am impressed with my willpower but realize now that I ought to harness it in a more practical way.

Do I, in my humble opinion, think you ought to conjure up a New Year's Resolution for yourself? Absolutely. Goals are the spice of life. But should that resolution have a purpose? To an extent.

In other words, sometimes we learn just as much from something random or spontaneous we decide to do on a whim. Sometimes your purpose might be that your actions have no direct point. You are merely living, finding a purpose in the life before you rather than creating life’s purpose.

We seem to get ourselves in a tizzy over all of our actions having meaning and depth and purpose; if it doesn't have a point, we don't have time for it because we've got 23 other precisely scheduled events and reminders to which we must first attend. Imagine a life where you gave yourself a break that was actually a break, or you performed an action that's purpose wasn't the evasion or procrastination of another action.

For example, how many times have you told yourself that you're going to exercise every day? What is your real purpose of doing this? That's the kicker. Maybe it's a beach bod you desire or maybe it's just a healthier lifestyle. As soon as you pin down a purpose, you've got a whole new motivation with plans geared toward your purpose.

How are you going to fit exercise into your daily schedule? How are you going to exercise? Little goals such as running 2 miles everyday produce bigger goals of training for a half marathon. All of a sudden, you've got a reason to train every day. Something as overwhelming as "exercising every day" comes with the stress of figuring out the when, where and how. Find the why and the rest will fall into place.

The old tooth-brushing resolution didn't start out with much of a purpose, that's for sure. Yet here I am writing an entire article about what started out as a stupid game of will. Clean teeth have helped me realize, in the most seemingly insignificant way, that my personality thrives with task-oriented goals and sticking with what I set my mind to do. Whatever I do will be from start to finish.

It was never really about brushing my teeth. My real resolution was to complete a resolution. But I achieved it by taking one simple action of toothbrushing and set out to hit that doable goal. Things might have a bigger purpose than they ever appear to have initially, but you cannot discover any of those connections if you don't seek them out and start them, like starting your exercise resolution with daily 2-mile runs.

Make a resolution for yourself this new year and make some plans for how you will carry it out; sometimes the motivation is as simple as bragging rights to completing a resolution (not that I would know this from experience...). Then, let the resolution do the rest. It might just bring you a little more than you ever thought it would.