I quit my job in September 2023 to embark on the entrepreneurship journey. My lease in New York City was set to end in August 2024, so I gave myself until then to figure things out. As the date crept closer, I faced the inevitable decision: keep trying different business ideas or call it quits. Deep down, I wanted to keep going, but the prospect of continuing to pay sky-high NYC rents, on top of everything else, didn’t sit right. As a compromise, I decided to move back home with my parents in the suburbs of Andover, MA, and keep working on different ideas with a near-zero burn rate.

Anytime I move, the first thing I do is sign up for a gym membership. When I moved to NYC three years prior, I was fixated on joining the best gym. The de facto choice was Equinox. In New York City, there are over 30 Equinox locations spread across different neighborhoods. As an unexpected perk, the membership gets you access to a good bathroom anywhere in the city.

The gyms are known for being posh and a bit boujee, stocked with Kiehl's shampoos and those fancy eucalyptus (a word I just learned to spell) towels. At 300 dollars per month, the place gives off undertones of elitism and attracts a particular kind of crowd. The type of people that would complain when Equinox switched from using Kiehl’s to a different brand of products. But as someone who goes to the gym daily, I prioritized the new equipment and convenience over everything else.

Going to Equinox felt corporate. Job-like. After changing into my gym gear and putting on my AirPods, I would lock in. Everyone would be in a similar state, headphones in, with little interaction. Sometimes, someone might ask for a spot, or there’d be the passive-aggressive person hovering to get you off a machine. But more often, it was one of the Equinox trainers who more likely than not, wasn’t that fit, disrupting your workout to sell you personal training sessions. As if the 300 dollars a month wasn’t already enough. Equinox felt inward-facing. The focus was on me and how I could get everything out of each workout.

When I moved back to Andover, the only real option was the local YMCA (the “Y”). There are obvious foundational differences between Equinox and the Y. Unlike the for-profit Equinox, the Y is a nonprofit organization. And the price? The Y offers a young adult deal at 44 dollars per month, which, surprisingly, includes anyone under 35. That is a fraction of Equinox’s 300 dollar monthly membership. But beyond these surface-level contrasts, the dichotomy really came through in the atmosphere.

The staff at the front desk were either school-aged kids or older women. Inside, there were people from all walks of life. High schoolers lifting and cracking jokes between sets. Old-timers in their 50s and 60s who seemed to chat more than work out. Young parents dropping off their kids for swimming lessons. Volunteers helping people with disabilities. Being in this environment felt different. I felt like I belonged to a community, something bigger than myself.

This dichotomy got me thinking. Was this just at the gym? Or was it a reflection of something deeper?

In New York, life felt inward-facing. My energy was spent on personal development, career goals, and financial success. Everyone was on their own track, optimizing themselves. You didn’t see many young parents day-to-day. You’d walk past homeless people, and over time, the initial feelings of empathy dulled into apathy.

In the suburbs, I was suddenly surrounded by life stages I hadn’t thought much about. Families. Aging. Service. Instead of everyone chasing their own dreams, it felt like people were showing up for each other. That energy rubbed off.

I’ll be moving back to New York City in couple of weeks. I hope that this second stint feels different. I hope I can bring some of what I’ve felt in Andover. The feeling of accomplishment not just from individual accolades but from being a part of something larger. I first came to New York City chasing success for myself. This time around I want to invest more in being of service to the community and contributing to something beyond my own goals. Maybe it manifests in volunteer work, community-based activities, or just being intentional about what projects I pursue. I don’t have it all figured out, but I know I want this next chapter to be about more than just me.