December 12, 2019
In early 2020 GoodGym is teaming with RED January to do as much good as possible throughout January. As part of their goal to be active everyday, six GoodGym ambassadors are taking part in the challenge. Rebecca Clarke spoke to Liz Mills from GoodGym Camden about her plans for the month and why she's excited to be part of RED January in 2020.
I found out about RED January earlier this year after seeing several GoodGymmers recording their RED January 2019 daily activity. I felt like I was missing out as everyone seemed to be having fun while working to achieve their goals.
That’s why, when I heard about GoodGym’s collaboration with RED January for 2020, I jumped at the chance to join in.
The whole point of RED January is to be active every day. That’s something that GoodGym has really helped me achieve over this year. Sometimes I’ll sign up to a GoodGym task because it looks like fun (sledgehammer anyone?. Other times I’ll sign up because I want to hang out with the people attending (too many to name). Other times, particularly for missions, I’ll sign up because it makes me feel useful and needed.
Regardless of my motivation, the effect is the same: I’m more active and less prone to anxiety. It’s like movement removes a lot of the white noise in my brain and makes everything feel more solid again. Annoyingly, I don’t seem to have the motivation to do that just for myself. I need a reason to move, even if the movement itself doesn’t need an extra purpose.
Because I find GoodGym so useful in keeping me active, I’m going to try and do a GoodGym good deed every day in January. This is going to mean finding and posting tasks by myself for certain days. Aside, from showing me what I can achieve when I try, I’m hoping that other people will sign up and join me, which will have knock-on effects for both them and for the task beneficiaries. They may even want to sign up for RED January 2021 and organise their own tasks! :D I don’t really know, but I really like the idea that a movement for movement propagates through human connection.
For anyone who wants to join in with RED January through GoodGym this year, I would say just give it a go. There are lots of different types of tasks performed by a range of people having different fitness and health levels, so you should be able to find something you can do. If a group run is off putting to begin with, try a community mission instead: you’ll get to know people (without any running!) and still be active.
Fundamentally, both GoodGym and RED January try to enable you to become happier through activity, so decide what suits you without being influenced by fears of what could go wrong: you're in control of this and they’re there to help.
Get involved:
- Get involved with one of our group runs
- Sign up to Red January
- Find out about GoodGym in your area
- Follow Liz on Instagram @liquorice_wings