Welcome to January!

Ok, so I’m a tad late on the welcome wagon but before it’s over I want to check in with everyone on their New Year goals (ahem, resolutions). Have you dropped the unwanted 20 pounds, rearranged your filing system, spent more time with family or ate healthier meals?

Did you know that approximately 45% of people make resolutions, only 10% of them fully commit and one in three people ditch their vows by the end of January.  The same study indicated that the top resolutions involve weight loss, finances and exercise?

Ok, but did you know that 67% of people who have gym memberships never use them? Or that $750 Million dollars in gift cards went unused in 2014? I know, I want all of the Starbucks ones too. Seriously, maybe we can trade.

A friend recently lamented to me that they felt their membership should be refunded because they simply don’t use it. After I inquired if they cancelled it, they replied no. It wasn’t until it renewed that they realized they didn’t have the interest in putting forth effort to make it worth while.

Basically, they are part of the 67% of people who sign up and don’t commit, yet expect a refund because they weren’t willing to give it the ole’ college try; And hitting a yoga class once a month doesn’t qualify.

Gym memberships, like other types of memberships don’t do the work for you. In fact, you have to get your butt to the gym, sweat it out on the treadmill and put some skin in the game. Just having a membership will not drop the pounds, tone the abs or build muscle mass.

Try it out this year and put your memberships to work for you. Invest in them if you want them to work, don’t expect miracles without pixie dust and if all else fails, cancel them before they renew. The ball is in your racket ball court.

Stats from Harris Interactive, [research in the Journal of Clinical Psychology](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11920693), FranklinCovey, Bodybuilding.com,University of Scranton, and Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Health-Care Poll.