It may only be the second week of 2014, but for some the grip on their new year's resolutions may already be starting to slip a little with most giving up entirely by Canada Day.
But for some business owners linked to those vows it's one of the busiest times on the calendar.
So, why the disconnect? "The problem is that people tend to be overly ambitious and set unrealistic goals. Essentially, what they do is set themselves up for failure," says Dr. Joti Samra, a clinical psychologist and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Simon Fraser University.
Samra adds that according to research, come July, an estimated 94 per of people who make new year's resolutions have either forgotten, or failed to keep them.
And that means some, within days of clinking Champagne glasses together to toast the new year have already given up, or dropped out.
"Some will last a few weeks or a month or two, then get discouraged and throw in the towel because they haven't managed to adhere to something that was so overly ambitious to begin with," Samra says.
To battle that, Samra encourages resolution makers to not abandon the practice, but adopt what she has termed a "SMART" way of setting goals for the new year.
"What that means is establishing goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic/relevant, and time-limited," she says.
Sometimes that can mean straying from the more popular resolutions that seem to top the list each year such as losing weight, exercising or quitting smoking.
"I encourage people to think about things that are relevant in their lives and are valuebased," Samra says.
"That would include a resolution to build a stronger bond with your mother. That's one which is intrinsically rewarding because there may be benefits for a lifelong, positive change." One of the dangers of not fulfilling a resolution is the negative cloud that can be associated with breaking it.
"We can end up with a reduced sense of self confidence, self competence, and all of those things make us feel worse," Samra says. "Counter intuitively, we are setting up something that should make us feel good, and the negative side effects make us feel worse about ourselves.
"But when we succeed at something, we're motivated to keep increasing it."
And that could mean making good on a promise to walk your neighbourhood once a week for 30 minutes - an attainable goal - and increase the time and distance from there.
Plus, don't always leave resolutions just for a new year.
"There's nothing magical about Jan. 1. It's just a marker that says, 'Here's a good start point.
"Alternatively, a birthday is another good time to start," Samra says. "But you can pick any day. If you're feeling now is not the right time to eat healthy, or get to the gym, pick a date that works for you."
For Chris Smith, vice president of fitness at Steve Nash Fitness, January is the busiest time of the year for the chain's 18 locations which includes three in Richmond.
"We tend to see probably a 20 per cent increase or so at this time of year," Smith says, adding the rush back into the gym in January follows the slowest month of the year in December.
And a key to longevity in the gym means having a fitness plan in place.
"Some statistics out there that show a lot of people who start a new program actually stop because they hurt themselves because they don't know what they are doing. That's what we try to prevent by giving them a basic plan out of the gate," Smith says.
Over at Thompson Community Centre, Richmond's busiest public gym, January is one of two peak months on the exercise calendar - September is the other, says Roland Neville, the centre's fitness coordinator.
"In January a lot of people come in, because of the resolutions. Right now we are seeing about 11,000 to 12,000 people a month which is a 10 to 15 per cent increase. But in September, that's also busy because a lot of people come back from summer holidays and get back into a routine with kids in school and find time to start exercising again."
