Two months ago, 2013 disappeared into the night sky in a display of fireworks and “top videos of the year” segments. The clock struck midnight and the confetti in Times Square settled into a thick layer of street detritus. Enter 2014.

We are now officially one year away from travelling by hover boards and cars (if you didn’t get that reference, then I suggest you go Back to the Future to find out where it’s from).

But just as soon as we put away the sparklers and images of holiday cheer, we found ourselves facing yet another tell-tale sign of January’s coming: New Year’s resolutions.

Personally speaking, I reject the notion of New Year’s resolutions. In fact, I find it ridiculous that “New Year” is automatically corrected into a proper noun, when it really is just a recurring measurement of time. While it’s quite understandable that ‘resolutions’ were initially offerings made by people to some omnipresent being to avoid having their villages decimated, I think that today’s standard of a New Year’s resolution is a social farce.

Each year, millions of Americans wait anxiously for the turning of the year to carry out promises of “sleep more” or “get rid of Netflix*.”But the uncomfortable truth is that these resolutions seldom make it past being written on paper and are often image-based. People tailor their resolutions in order to settle into societal niches, whether they are aware of it or not.

Instead of setting far-fetched goals and consequently becoming discouraged so early in the year, I think that we should try to accomplish smaller, less materialistic goals throughout the year. They can be as simple as “smile at at least one person every day” or “donate unwanted clothes to charity once a month.” That way, we can focus more on living a better quality life. And by the time 2014 rolls away at the end of December, you won’t reflect over almost-forgotten goals or ‘failures’; instead, you’ll look back at what a great year you had and what a better person you are after it.

*-impossible. Believe me, I’ve tried