Another lesson from yoga – sort of. For about 9 months, I’ve been practicing yoga almost daily at a studio in Simsbury, CT. There are a number of different options for purchasing classes, either individually or in blocks of classes or time. Since I’ve begun, I’ve been purchasing one month at a time for a number of reasons. Another option is pay by the month but to have the funds automatically deducted from your banking account. The benefit of this is that the price/month is much lower than buying individual months, but it requires a 6-month commitment. Today, my month was up and I told the owner, Richard that I wanted to switch to the autopay for 6 months. His reaction: “Oh my gosh, you’re committing!” I just smiled and said, “I thought you would have known by now that I’m committed.”
A couple of hours later, I was talking to a former exercise instructor who told me that a high percentage of the people who used to sign up for one year memberships at her club would never show up.
So where’s the commitment? Is it in the signature on the contract, or in the credit card? No, it’s in the person. It’s in the person who shows up everyday at the yoga studio to practice or at the gym to workout. Not in the credit card payment that goes through and not in the unused gym membership. As always, actions speak louder than words–and ink. And what makes me feel good about my choice at the yoga studio is that even though Richard would have financially benefited more from me continuing to pay by the month, he was more excited that I chose the 6-month commitment. This reaction speaks very loudly to me that he’s committed too. : )
