That accountability doesn't work for everybody, of course.

I learned in school that gyms sell more memberships than their facilities have space to support. People think that by buying a membership, they're locking themselves into going and working out because they're paying for it.

Sometimes, however, people conflate paying for the gym membership as actually going to the gym, and then don't go at all.

But yes, as you said: it boils down to accountability.