Almost six years ago I made it a point to walk 6,000 steps daily.
The original motivation behind these walks was to lose weight and stay in shape.
As I evolved, I realized that while these walks were good for my physical health, they were even better for my mental and professional health.
To be clear, this was not an overnight change. It must have taken at least two years before I started to recognize the additional benefits, and probably another year before I learned how to fully leverage these walks to better myself.
I cannot guarantee that you will get there faster, but what I can do is explain my approach. It might help you skip some of the teething phase and experiment with my four steps to see if they work for you.
Let’s begin.
01The First Step
This one is the most difficult. Convincing yourself to do it daily.
I could write a book on the excuses I have made to avoid going for a walk. Maybe two books.
It took me a long time to figure it out but the resistance does not come from the physical effort. It comes from the mental effort required to make the choice to walk every day. Most of the walking we do in daily life is purpose-driven. We move from the bedroom to the kitchen, from the house to the car, from point A to point B with a reason. But when you walk to lose weight or stay fit, it becomes an exercise event.
If you are not someone who exercises regularly, there will naturally be a lot of friction. You might do it for a few weeks, maybe a month, and then slowly the excuses start creeping in. Before you know it, you are back to your old habits.
Changing your perspective about why you are walking is the key to doing it consistently. The easiest way to do this is to treat your walk as an escape from everything that is weighing you down.
What is negative depends on your life and your experiences. It can be anything from financial difficulties to loneliness. There are no limits, except the ones you place on yourself.
Recognize your negativity. Treat the walk as a temporary escape from it.
This is the first step.
02The Second Step
This one will require some trial and error. But once you figure it out, you will understand why it matters.
When you start walking, you will find yourself ruminating. Your mind will bombard you with possibilities, often negative ones. This can trigger anxiety or anger. You will naturally fixate on the negative if negativity is all you know.
This is where you have to go to war with yourself. And I do not say that lightly.
Your subconscious will always be one step ahead of you. The goal is not to beat it. The goal is to retrain it to fixate on the positive.
Train it to ask:
- What if it works out?
- What if instead of panicking, I list solutions?
- What if instead of doubting myself, I act with confidence?
- What if instead of hating myself, I show myself the love I have been denied?
It sounds easy when you read it. It is not.
When you are deep in rumination, your mental energy is fully occupied. You have to sneak in these questions by staying aware of what you are experiencing and what it is doing to your mood.
Start with these questions. Adapt them as needed. Prime yourself to respond whenever you find your mind spiraling.
This is the second step.
03The Third Step
This one requires a good amount of self-awareness around your mood and behavior.
Whenever you find yourself in a negative state of mind, angry, sad, depressed, confused, doubtful, stuck
Then you must immediately tell yourself: “I need a walk.”
At first, you will do this by force. But over time, it becomes a reflex which deepens the association we built in the first step. It also allows your brain to process problems passively, which is often more effective than active thinking.
On top of all of this, it creates a ritual for you to bring your mental state to a baseline level by removing you from a situation that is causing you distress.
When you walk:
- If you are angry, you will blow off steam.
- If you are stuck, you will shift your perspective.
- If you are confused, you will run through possibilities.
Active thinking is noisy. Passive thinking is slow but powerful.
No one in history has ever forced a breakthrough. Many of our greatest discoveries happened during a walk, through passive thought. I am not saying you will discover the next big thing for the world. But you might discover the next big thing for you.
This is the third step.
04The Fourth Step
This one will require you to set a boundary and accept that no matter what, it must be respected. Think of it as a contract you make with yourself. I consider this step one of the most important steps to a good walk.
You are going to go for your walks alone. This is your time. These walks are not meant to be shared. These are not social events. You have to set this rule in stone.
The reason why I state this is that if you turn your walks into a social event, then you are not working through what needs to be worked through, and more importantly, you are not taking the time to understand yourself, your problems, your behavior, and you as a person.
Another way I can explain this to you and something I noted myself, is that when I turned these into a social event, I found myself constantly seeking advice and accepting it, thinking that it was the solution I was looking for. This may have been true in maybe 5% of the cases.
On top of that, I found that I was not learning anything and nothing was really changing for me. I was relying on an external entity to solve my problems and create solutions for me.
This stifles independence and growth.
There is also the case of honesty. It is highly unlikely that you are going to share the full gravity of your situation and the depth of your thinking with someone, even if they are your loved one.
The only time we are truly honest is when we are with ourselves. So, set aside an hour and block it off for yourself.
This is the fourth step.
05The Fifth Step
This one is yours to take.
Whenever you are ready, your first step is waiting for you.
