Quitter’s Day May Be the Start of a Healthier Way to Live
- L Everhart
- Jan 22
- 4 min read
by L'Taundra Everhart, M.Ed
Here’s the thing: January 23rd is known as Quitter’s Day, the point when resolutions quietly fall apart.
By now, 43% of Americans have already abandoned their New Year’s resolutions. Only about 9% will make it to December. The gym parking lots are thinning out. The meal prep containers are headed back to the cabinet.
But I didn’t quit mine.
Probably because I didn’t make a resolution.
I made a refusal.
Most resolutions are about addition: more gym time, more vegetables, more journaling, more 5 a.m. wake-ups. We treat January like a chance to become better versions of ourselves — as if our current selves are unfinished drafts that need editing.
But the trends actually taking hold in 2026 aren’t additive.They’re subtractive.
Instead of asking what we can add, more people are asking what they can finally put down.
1. We’re Paying to Nap — and That Tells You Everything
Napercise began as 45-minute group napping sessions in climate-controlled studios. Beds, blankets, ambient music. And yes, people pay for it.
At first glance, it sounds absurd. Why pay to do something you could do at home for free?
Because one in three Americans isn’t getting enough sleep. Seventy million people live with sleep disorders. About half of American workers report feeling tired during the workday.
We’ve been running on fumes for so long that being well-rested feels like a luxury lifestyle.
The slow-living movement is growing for the same reason. People are deleting productivity apps in favor of pottery classes.
Choosing quiet vacations. Replacing nightlife with four-hour Sunday lunches.
Not because they failed at hustle culture, but because they succeeded at it and realized the prize was burnout.
Paying to nap isn’t ridiculous.
It’s permission.
2. Gen Z Is Buying Physical Books Like It’s 1995
In 2024, physical books made up roughly 78% of book market revenue. Not audiobooks. Not e-readers. Paper.
Here’s the surprising part: TikTok helped drive tens of millions of print book sales. A video platform selling physical books.
The generation raised on screens is deliberately choosing tactile experiences as a break from constant digital input. Independent bookstores are thriving. Libraries are full.
This isn’t nostalgia.
Every physical book is a small rebellion against the algorithm deciding what you read next, against notifications interrupting your focus, against battery percentages dictating your attention span.
3. Movie Theaters Are Seeing Teenagers
As a teen, I went to the movie theater at least once a month. Sticky floors, unhealthy popcorn, and 20 minutes of previews were the precursor to an unforgettable time with friends.
Gen Z is following suit.
They increased their movie theater attendance by 25% last year and are averaging more theater visits now than just a few years ago.
This matters because this is the same generation accused of having eight-second attention spans.
They have streaming services at home. They could watch anything in pajamas while scrolling.
Instead, they’re choosing to leave the house, pay for parking, sit with strangers for three hours, and give their full attention to one shared experience.
Watching a movie on your phone while half-scrolling isn’t the same as watching it on a screen the size of your apartment while a room full of people collectively gasp at the same moment.
We optimized for convenience and accidentally eliminated experience.
Third spaces are returning — bookstores with chairs you’re meant to use, coffee shops where people sit instead of rush, places where community is a feature, not a bug.
4. Our Attention Spans Aren’t Broken — They’re Selective
Everyone loves to repeat the statistic that the average attention span has dropped to just over eight seconds.
Mine has shifted, too. But not because I’ve lost focus.
I’ve learned to quickly discern what feels meaningful.
That’s true for others as well.
The same person who can’t sit through a meeting will watch an eight-hour video essay about a game they don’t even play. The same person who skips ads will spend hours researching a mattress.
Our attention spans aren’t broken.
They’re selective.
The problem isn’t an inability to focus. It’s exhaustion from being told to give attention to everything.
When people stop splitting focus across dozens of tabs, apps, notifications, and expectations, attention doesn’t disappear. It stabilizes.
5. The Pilates Studio Has a Waitlist
I started Pilates almost seven years ago and had to stop due to an arm injury. What drew me in was the controlled strength, mindful mobility, and low-impact conditioning.
That shift hasn’t gone away.
Fitness in 2026 is moving away from high-intensity gyms.
Not because people got lazy but because destroying your body six days a week and calling it discipline was never strength.
It was just well-branded self-harm.
Slower movement supports alignment, reduces inflammation, and builds capacity instead of draining it. It’s accessible to real bodies living real lives.
The status symbol used to be “I’m so busy.”
Now it’s “I had nothing scheduled.”
Time affluence is the new flex.
The Pattern
Communal napping. Physical books. Movie theaters. Selective attention. Sustainable movement.
It’s all the same refusal.
People are done carrying what exhausts them.
What this shift actually requires isn’t more discipline. It’s awareness. Noticing what drains you. Giving yourself permission to stop. Choosing responses that regulate instead of deplete. Letting alignment — not pressure — set the pace.
The resolutions dying today demanded you become someone else. Someone who loves 5 a.m. alarms. Someone who never wants seconds. Someone who treats their body like a project.
They were designed to fail because they started from the premise that you weren’t enough.
The practices that are sticking ask something different.
They ask you to rest when you’re tired.
To choose depth over speed.
To protect your attention like it matters.
To move in ways that feel good.
It’s January 23rd. Most resolutions are dead.
Good.
What are you refusing to carry in 2026?
If you’re ready to slow down, think more clearly, and live with intention, The Emotional Freedom Framework™ Guided Journal offers practical tools to begin — available on Amazon.
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