Black-eyed peas, hog jowls, collard greens and champagne are my favorite aspects of the New Year. It’s basically a time to eat, drink and be merry because who knows how long we’ll all be around to enjoy it, right?

While, of course, food and drinks are my favorite delights, abiding by a set of rules like they’re a part of the Ten Commandments isn’t something I particularly care about sacrificing myself to. Which brings me to the point, why do we binge on setting goals for ourselves on one specific time of the year? Of course the tradition reigns hard, but why can’t we continuously set goals for ourselves throughout the year?

First, let’s think of the top New Year’s resolutions in the United States. The number one resolution in America is to lose weight. I find it amusing how a flux of people inhabit fitness gyms for $1 membership fees and $10 monthly fees only to end up spending exactly $11 on fitness for the year. The number two resolution is volunteering to help others. Wonderful. Because needy people only need help around Christmas and New Year’s. On down the list, eating healthy food is a goal of the American people. Well, I hate to break it to the American population, but healthy foods from crops are produced year-round all over the world, especially in the United States. The New Year doesn’t bring an influx of fruits and vegetables that are gobbled up in two days — you can buy them at any time.

Last but not least, Americans aspire to drink less alcohol. Again, I don’t think the alcohol fairy only brings a select amount of booze to Americans per year. Alcohol is made and produced regularly. It will always be around. If you wanted to stop drinking alcohol, you wouldn’t binge drink all night New Year’s Eve and call it quits for 364 days.

Bottom line, setting goals whenever the creativity strikes is a goal you should set for yourself for the New Year. Why plan all year long about what your New Years resolutions are going to be when you could set them for yourself right then and there? New Years resolutions are unrealistic plans to abide wholeheartedly by something, ultimately setting yourself up for failure.

Sometimes I believe New Year’s resolutions were created by the media to nudge the line of privacy to an inevitably deeper threshold of invasion. Nonetheless, we Americans gobble it up. So, if you’re going to have a New Year’s resolution, my suggestion would be to set a resolution to not have resolutions. Simply set goals that fit your needs whenever the moment arises. The world is full of conformity. I challenge you to be different.