We make our liquor cabinets as arid as deserts and begin our Dry January. We put out the last glowing embers of our cigarettes as fireworks light up the night sky. The candy and potato chips are hastily evicted from our kitchen cupboards.

Most of us want to start the new year on the right foot. I like to think about what I want to manifest in the 365 days ahead. For me, it’s a time to reset—a chance to begin again, throw out the script of the past, and write a new chapter. Those new chapters usually start with a table of contents known as resolutions.

I started to think about the word resolution. Most of us know what it means, and when you look it up, a few definitions pop up:

A firm decision to do or not to do something.

The quality of being determined or resolute.

Those two definitions pretty much sum it up. It’s the desire to change and the determination to follow through with action. Pretty straightforward, right?

However, as a graphic and motion designer by trade, one other definition of resolution came to mind, and it has stuck with me ever since. It’s a definition of how we see. The definition of resolution in that context goes like this: The level of detail in an image.

I would even go further and say it’s all about what we focus on and where we place our attention. And then it suddenly dawned on me. Whether we follow through with our resolutions or not, wouldn’t it be great to work on cultivating the attitude with which we approach all things?

Look, life is constantly in flux, and there will always be more to do. There will always be new goals and desires that arise within us. That’s the nature of the universe, and I hope it stays that way. After all, can you imagine a world in which we finally arrive and there’s nothing left to discover or sift through?

Don’t get me wrong, goals and desires are great. I, for one, have made a list of things I want to stop and start in this new year that is a mile long. I’ve created my own roadmap for 2025. But let’s face it, roadmaps like this have a tendency to kick the can of happiness further down the road.

In a way, we have been taught that we won’t be motivated if we’re happy. After all, why bother doing anything if you’re already content? But I think there’s a flaw there. If we believe in this, then we are constantly saying, “When I have or have THIS or have achieved THAT, I will be happy and fulfilled.” With that way of thinking, we are telling ourselves that we are, in our present state, somehow incomplete and not worthy of happiness.

So, this year, I’m going to try something new. I’m going to place connecting with the vibration of happiness, gratitude, and joy at the top of my long list—a vibration that isn’t dependent on anything having to happen in order to feel it. I could achieve all of my goals this year, but if my focus and point of view are off, how will those achievements feel in the end?

So, how do we attain this? Well, essentially, we already have it, and it’s always accessible to anyone. There is nothing to search for, nothing that is out there. Just being present and still can take us there.

I could meditate or do my favourite sport. Going out into nature always gives me great joy, too. I could also remember my good friends and family. But going simpler still, I can notice even smaller things, like how good it feels to get into those slightly cool sheets when I go to bed at night or how beautiful the sunshine is when I wake up in the morning. These things may seem small and insignificant, but the accumulation of all of these things, both big and small, contribute to experiencing life more joyfully more often.

So maybe we’ve had it all wrong. Our resolutions may be our GPS for this year stretching out before us, but are we roadworthy? Have we taken a moment to look under the hood? Maybe it’s time for us to re-calibrate and give ourselves an emotional tune-up.

I would even say that if we take the time to look inside once in a while, we’ll strengthen our internal guidance system—a guidance system that no person or circumstance can take away from us and one that will be with us far beyond the time when we start to pull the blinds down on 2025.

So yes, I’m going to keep my other resolutions. They set a path for me and a rough roadmap of where I want to go. But if I’m vibrating with love and gratitude, then who knows? At some point, I may even turn off the GPS and veer off the beaten track. But knowing that my decisions are more in tune with who I am, then those unforeseen detours are the right way to go. If my vibration is positive, strong, and truer to myself, then in a way, I’ve already arrived.

Happy New Year, everyone, and have a great trip!