Make New Year’s resolutions if you want. But there may be a better way to get the year headed in the direction you want. A few years ago, I realized that a much more fun thing to do at New Year’s was to look back.

So the friends I spent that evening with and I all pulled out paper and pens and wrote down our favorite moments of the year we’d just had. From race PRs to relationship milestones to touch choices and “seeing the Phillies with Daddy” (my friend’s 6-year-old), it was an amazing look at what a few real people managed to do, think, feel and have an impact on in 365 too-short days.

Don’t worry about doing it in the next 24 hours. In Japan, New Year’s is more a state of mind — about cleansing and preparing — than a moment. So focus less on doing this before the clock strikes 12. Just sit down with your friends and celebrate what all of you have done, experienced, and been inspired by. Cheers!