Hey Time Dorks,
With the New Year officially here, a lot of people are making fitness goals and plans for the year.
While I applaud the ambition, my personal experience is that resolutions often fall flat. We try for too much change too fast and get discouraged when we fail to live up to our own high standards.
This week, we’ll be talking about one of my favorite Energize tactics, one you can use to make a simple, sustainable, and healthy change in 2024.
🏃♂️Something to Try
Every year, one of the top resolutions is to get in shape.
While this is great and people should be taking care of themselves, it’s so common for people to quickly fall off the wagon. They feel incredibly motivated the first few days. Then the first slip-up happens and they throw in the towel.
You might have started and given up on your fitness goals already. But you shouldn’t beat yourself up about that–although that’s easier said than done!
Just know that most people do not succeed at something on their first try. It’s okay to scale back and start something over again with a new approach.
The thing is, when people try to get in shape, they try to overhaul everything in their lives. They want a whole new diet, fitness routine, eight hours of sleep, to cut out alcohol, to take cold showers… you get the idea. It’s simply too much change.
But one thing we learned from years of running personal experiments is that small shifts to our daily habits (what we call our “defaults”) add up over time. And even better? Some of the tactics we experimented with had benefits in the present moment.
It wasn’t a change we had to wait weeks or months to see. It was a change we could feel today.
So if you want a simple tactic that will:
- Help you lose weight
- Avoid heart disease
- Reduce your risk of cancer
- Lower your blood pressure
- Strengthen your bones
- Improve your mood
And one that will boost your energy and make you feel better today.
Then try this tactic – Pound the Pavement (#62).
The idea is simple: walk more!
Rather than “one more thing to do”, we encourage you to shift your default and substitute some steps for your normal mode of transportation. That’s right, no expensive Peloton required.
To Pound the Pavement, try:
- Taking the stairs when you would normally take the elevator
- Walking instead of driving to your next errand or appointment
- Jumping off the bus or train early and walking a few extra blocks home (or to the office)
- Switching your next meeting or 1:1 to a walking meeting
Walking helps make time you can use to think, daydream, or meditate.
JZ often uses walk time to plan and think about his Highlight. Sometimes he starts drafting a new chapter, blog post, or story in his head.
I love to go on an afternoon walk to clear my head and get a natural energy boost.
But there’s no right or wrong way to go for a walk.
You can listen to podcasts or audiobooks while you walk. Or you can leave your headphones at home and enjoy the peace and quiet.
You can invite a friend for some social connection. Or you can go solo.
You can walk to work to get a morning energy boost. Or you can walk home to switch off.
However you decide to Pound the Pavement, remember it’s all about finding what works for you.
Don’t forget to reflect on the days you try this tactic to see if it’s working for you.
🤖 Tech & Tools
If you are ready to Pound the Pavement, I have a great tool to help you do so.
Pedometer++ is a great way to track your steps. If you already have an Apple Watch or other health tracker, you might have this feature. However, this one is cool because you can also add a widget to your iPhone screen to see your progress.
Here’s how to set it up and make it easy to remember that you are trying to incorporate it into your life.
Personally, I aim for between 8k-10k steps a day but I don’t sweat it if I miss a day or two.
📚 Timely Quotes
Thanks for reading, see you next week!
Connor
