The energy of the New Year is intoxicating. It fills our hearts and minds with youthful possibility and ignites our desire to evolve. The accepted method for this evolution is the resolution, a firm decision to do or not do something in the coming year. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been making resolutions. Some stuck, most didn’t, but recently I had an epiphany that can simplify and supercharge your year-end resolutions.

While a period of reflection is still a must, I usually spend the last week of December and the first few days of January thinking about the lessons of the past year. Through this experience, I’ve been able to consolidate my year-end resolution process into one simple question:

AM I GETTING CLOSER TO MY IDEAL REALITY?

Your ideal reality is when what’s important to you—your priorities—are aligned with your existence, what you do every day. This alignment creates harmony, the result of which is fulfillment. When you’re growing closer to your ideal reality, whether it’s by 1 or 100 percent every year, you know you’re on the right path. Most of us either don’t take the time to reflect and pursue our ideal reality, or have such a misguided idea of what an ideal reality is that we never manifest a truly meaningful existence. But don’t worry; I won’t allow that to be you. There is a simple exercise you can do to determine whether you’re getting closer to your ideal reality.

First, write down the top five things you spend your time on, by percentage. Next to that, write down your priorities from one to five, also in list form. See the example below: 

Look at these lists side by side. If the way you spend your time (Work: 70 percent) isn’t aligned with what you’ve decided are your priorities (#1 Priority: Family), your life isn’t in harmony and you have an obstacle to manifesting your ideal reality.

The good news is that by completing this exercise, you have a clear understanding of how to manifest your ideal reality. All you need to do now is decide the actions you must take to grow closer to that reality in the coming year.

Voilà: your simplified path to fulfillment has arrived, just in time for 2017.

Happy New Year!