According to a US News article from 2013, more than 12 percent of gym members join in January, compared to 8.3 percent in other months (International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association).
Of course, this goes without saying. We don't need a news source to tell us this. We hear our friends and family — during the holidays and New Years — tell us, repeatedly, about their big plans to get healthier in the new year: to go to the gym, eat better, sleep more or less, and maintain an overall healthier lifestyle.
So what does it mean? New Year's Resolutions, though mocked and set and failed and tried and sought after — I feel — actually say a lot about people. They say a lot about the individuals we aspire to become, even if we know (and even laugh at the fact) that we may not adhere to them.
What your New Year's Resolution says about you is that you would like to improve some aspect of yourself — your health, your mindset, or your habits. And there is nothing wrong with that.
There is nothing wrong with people joining gyms in January and then dropping in February. And there is nothing wrong with giving up junk food on January 1, even if it only lasts until January 5.
Because, regardless, you tried. The thought was there — even if you only did it because you were entranced and carried away in the holiday spirit of it all.
2016, if I may say, escaped many of us. It was a whirlwind, and in some instances, a rather confusing one. I'd imagine, for some, it inadvertently set a higher bar for 2017— the "it will be a better year" mindset, "I will be better too." On the other hand, according to a meme I recently saw on Facebook, "No one is saying 2017 will be my year — 2016 humbled everyone."
Some of us are set and raring to go. My roommate, for example, put a list of goals on the large January calendar in our apartment. They include flossing more, procrastinating less, and not being on her phone so much.
Others, myself included, let 2016 get away to quickly. I didn't make a list.
I suppose I'd like to eat healthier. But I worry I cannot commit to it.
I wonder if I will be part of that 12 percent of members to join a gym, as opposed to the 8 percent that joins at other times.
For now, I suppose, the new year goals are simply floating in my mind — considered sometimes, and other times not at all.
If anything, I'd like to uphold a better mindset.
I need to be more positive and I need to aspire to more. I need to not be so assuming all the time and just enjoy what is.
I'd like to think, seeing as it doesn't involve abstaining from peanut butter or chocolate consumption, that I'll be able to handle that— that it won't be a problem and I will be part of the small percentage that adheres to new year goals.
Time will tell, I suppose.
But if joining a gym in January, and perhaps not being as consistent with it in February, is what it takes someone to improve their life or mindset in general, then by all means, I applaud them.
The New Year is an opportunity not only to change one's habits and health, but one's outlook. It's a chance to reflect and acknowledge, even if it does not involve any big lifestyle changes.
It's a fresh start.
It's a chance at a new perspective, a new voice, a new manner of thinking.
Even the cynics—myself at times—can benefit from that.