Well, you blinked and 2015 came and left. Maybe you made a resolution that’s become a new lifestyle. Maybe you stopped going to the gym when chocolate went on sale after Valentine’s Day in February. Maybe you’re fluent in a new language. Maybe you can’t remember the last time you used Rosetta Stone. There are so many different changes that we can make in different aspects of our lives, and it’s up to us to decide how wild and challenging or how typical and easy we want them to be.

Instead of picking one glorified New Year’s Resolution, I’m going to try something different this year. I’m going to look at the broad pieces of my life and write down where I’d like to see myself when I open my eyes and find that it’s 2017. I’ll look at where I am intellectually, physically, socially, and mentally. If I’m content with one aspect in particular, that’s great – but how do I become enthralled? How do I become so enthusiastic and thrilled about those four aspects in my life that I become a role model and a motivator for others to reach their own state of unequivocal happiness?

While your resolution doesn’t have to be world peace or curing humankind of disease, think about what you want out of your life. If you find yourself falling from your resolution throughout the year, nothing’s stopping you from starting a new one. The only thing that sets a New Year’s resolution apart from making a lifestyle change any other day of the year is that you don’t get to wear a plastic hat with four digits on it and watch a metal ball right before your resolution becomes a reality.