I've taken a walk 549+ days in a row (and why you should too)
I love walks. And no, I'm not lying about the count of walks I've taken.
I can prove this.
For the 200+ or so walks you can find proof from X (Twitter) by searching for the number.
After a while I realized it's not interesting for others to see my walks, from the same path, every day - so I stopped posting updates about it.
However, I have continued documenting them as proof I've taken them.
My life has totally changed after making this a habit… and yours can too – if you stick to the end of this issue and start experimenting. :)
Here are 2 reasons why you should start walks – after which I give you more tips on how to maximize them.
1) Creativity
I get my best ideas whilst I’m walking. Not when I’m concentrating on work and being productive.
This has its reasons, mainly because your brain is in Default Mode Network (DMN).
I won’t get too far out to explain more about it as I covered it in last week’s issue which you can find here. (I recommend reading it 1st for more context).
When you’re going for walks, you’re not concentrating on a certain thing. Your mind has space to wander. Space to get more ideas.
Your subconscious is working hard even when you’re not working.
And as the subconscious mind holds most information, and consumes most information, that is important for idea generation.
You could say…
When you’re walking, you’re better connected to your subconscious mind.
It’s easier for the ideas to slide to your conscious mind.
So whenever you’re stuck, or need new ideas, just go for a walk. That might be all you need.
2) Exercise health benefits
There are massive health benefits to walking.
Why should you care about your health as a creative?
If you die, you’re out of business.
The less healthy you are, the less time you have to pursue your goals. And the less time your mind stays sharp that you can achieve incredible things.
I’ll get more in-depth into health stuff in future Newsletters as this is incredibly important. (Of course, it’s not as sexy as productivity – but I want to provide you with the best stuff THAT ACTUALLY makes a difference.)
Here’s what the science says of step goals (excerpt from sharp.com)
While taking 10,000 steps is a healthy goal, the researchers determined that walking just 7,000 steps per day may be enough and can reduce the risk of premature death by 50% to 70% in people age 38 to 50. And walking more than 10,000 steps per day does not further reduce that risk.
50-70%!!
Think about it. You’re probably getting at least 4000-5000 steps a day – and by going for at least a small walk, you’ll hit that 7000.
You might have heard of the 10,000 recommendation – but its origins are in a Japanese marketing campaign from 1965 that didn’t have research behind it.
So don’t worry about getting the 10,000. Of course, the more the better – but try to hit 7000 steps first.
How do I achieve the steps?
Mainly I just spend my time at home lol. I don’t really go anywhere – apart from the gym (on a daily basis – I don’t count hikes here).
Every morning, I take a small walk. This is for 15 minutes.
It’s my rule. I can’t skip a day without a 15-minute walk. So in case my day becomes busy as fuck, I have taken my walk – and thus lots of steps.
I’m writing this current segment at 9:31 am – and all I have done is my morning routine (inside) and go for the 15-minute walk. And now I already have 3626 steps.
If I go for another walk today, I probably hit at least 10,000.
It’s been studied that people who walk get more ideas than those who sit still. I believe it’s a no-brainer to take a walk daily. And you get some amazing health benefits – and thus you can chase your dreams for longer.
Bonus: Nature walks health benefits
Now – where should you walk? Thankfully… it doesn't really seem to matter.
Studies show that people who walk in nature do get a little amount of more ideas than those who walk on a treadmill.
If you can surround yourself with nature. Amazing. Being in nature has other benefits too such as…
· improve your mood
· reduce feelings of stress or anger
· help you take time out and feel more relaxed
· improve your physical health
· improve your confidence and self-esteem
· help you be more active
· help you feel more connected to nature
(Source: Mind.org.uk)
But if you live in a massive city – it can be hard to get to nature to have this walk of yours. So just take advantage of your gym, or just walk around the city.
Heck, walk in circles in your room if necessary, just like Scrooge McDuck. Even this actually helps!
During the summer, I do my walk in front of my home. I just walk back and forth for 15 minutes, lol. Yes… it’s kinda of boring. But that’s the point… I go to that later on.
But now, I hope you see the value of walks – and how easy it is to get to do one – even if you’re super busy. Anyone can fit a 15-minute walk to their day.
Now, let’s maximize your walks.
7 Rules to Maximize Your Walks
I have made rules to maximize my walks. You can take any of these you like. But I’ve found this to be the most helpful from my experience of 549+ daily walks in a row.
Let’s start.
1) No phone
Now, I don’t mean totally don’t use your phone. I do use it whilst walking. And I’d even recommend doing so – but there are ways you should not use your phone during the walks (these are hard rules of mine);
Do not use social media. This will distract you from your thoughts and give you input to your mind you don’t want to get. It’ll kick you back to Task Positive Network which makes your DMN offline – and thus – you’ll not get as many ideas.
I never use social media during walks. Never.
Also, I never check emails. My messages. I don’t answer my calls. Heck, sometimes I put it on aeroplane mode. I go off rogue.
But this all depends on what I want to focus on during the walk.
Most of the time, what I am allowed to do with my phone, is;
- Write notes
- Record Voice memos
- Ask Google for relevant information for my brainstorming
- Play podcasts and audiobooks
Plus one other thing.
I am allowed to write tweets and threads – and heck – even this Newsletter if I wanted to. (But not allowed to check notifications or scroll the timeline!!)
As I know the benefits of walking, I find it easier to write a big thread on my walks compared to sitting in my room.
New ideas flood by what I could include – or exclude – from the thread.
For example, this thread that I wrote to introduce me to everyone who discovered me through my Meme Card this week – I wrote this entirely on my walk – and posted it when I got back home.
The walk took me a little over an hour.
In a nutshell; I allow myself to do only the things on my phone that contribute well to my walk.
Rarely (but this at times is the case), if I am brainstorming about a potential message to a client, I do allow myself to check email to see if they have perhaps answered me or sent me more information.
But I make sure to not check my other emails and so on. I do everything to not get distracted.
Experiment with what works for you.
2) To walk alone – or with someone else?
Now, this depends on your goal.
I like to walk mostly myself – as then I’m most disturbance-free. BUT… walking with someone else can have tremendous benefits.
You could brainstorm with the other person. “Connect your minds” while you walk.
Many people nowadays have “walking meetings”. And many companies have adopted this as well.
For example, (an excerpt from Rest Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang)
Google’s Mountain View campus is laced with walking paths. Facebook’s corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, California, designed by Frank Gehry and opened in early 2015, is a vast open-plan building (supposedly the world’s largest) topped off with a nine-acre garden roof featuring a half-mile walking path.
Your brain activity lights up when you’re walking. This has been proved with many brain scans.
No wonder the biggest companies and CEOs love walking.
To sum it up, whether you’re walking by yourself or not, it’s good for you. Decide depending on your goal to walk alone – or with someone else.
(And if you’re walking with someone else – and you want to be “productive with it” – make sure you select someone who you enjoy chatting with – or who has great insights. Not just a random person – especially someone you can’t stand lol.)
3) Ideally walk the same path
I always walk the same path. Well… if I’m very exact, I have 3 different paths.
1 is basically the back and forth in front of my home.
2 is a longer walk in nature that takes me anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes.
3 is a walk in nature that takes me around 30 minutes to complete.
And sometimes I walk at the gym (but this is extra).
Why should you consider walking the same path, every day?
The Habit
When you walk the same path, every day, for a good amount of time, it becomes second nature.
Your body knows where to walk without you needing to pay conscious attention to it.
You can use this attention to generate ideas and thinking.
I start my walk and often get surprised I’ve already walked this much. This is because my unconscious has taken care of my walk.
The path gets boring after you start walking it every day. You don’t see anything new. But it’s good to embrace boredom.
When your brain is bored – it literally starts to come up with stuff to get you out of that state.
You might have seen some videos – or heard of experiments – where people are locked up for 24 hours in a white room with nothing interesting.
They end up going crazy and seeing hallucinations.
Now, I’m not saying to go for a white room for a long time – or even for a bit. I wouldn’t (although now thinking to an extent that’d be interesting – but not for 24 hours lol.) But… knowing your brain hates boredom and is going to do anything to get you out of that, take advantage of this.
Of course, depending on your goals, it can be beneficial to go for a walk in a new interesting environment. This can spark up new ideas.
Maybe you go to an art gallery. Maybe you take a road trip and discover the streets of a new city.
If you do this, make sure to still not pay attention to your phone. Pay attention to your environment – and perhaps – try to notice things you usually don’t pay attention to.
It could be the details of the leaves – or maybe the reflections of a building.
These might spark you up with new ideas too.
4) The ideal time to walk
As mentioned previously, I do at least 15 minutes of walking. This isn’t ideal – but it’s the minimum I allow myself to do.
Now, I’d say 45 minutes is the ideal time. Why? Because it usually takes you 15 minutes to get into the flow state.
What is this state?
“Flow—the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
And in this state, you’re the most productive. You get the most done.
I feel ideas flowing in even in 15 minutes, but if I need to make progress on something, I don’t rely on 15 minutes. I go for at least 30 minutes.
5) Have a notebook – or notes app ready to go
You’ll get lots of different thoughts on your walks, I promise you. You’ll process a lot of information as your DMN is active.
But you’ll forget most of them.
Guess how many thoughts a human has on average a day?
75,000.
How many of these 75,000 thoughts you had yesterday you can recall?
Yeah, not that many.
Most of the thoughts are subconscious – so we won’t even notice them. But they’re there – they’re speaking to us. And they alter our behaviour and thus our future.
And when you’re on a walk, these thoughts from your subconscious flow better to your mind when it’s not cluttered with random inputs from social media and stuff.
The bad thing is… we also often forget our best ideas.
You might know this feeling. You tell yourself “Please remember this… I will remember. I will remember…”
And then you notice you totally forgot it. And it bothers you not remembering what was this idea… and you might never find out.
But the good news is that it doesn't need to be this way.
Just take a notebook. Or a notes app on your phone. Or a voice memo. That’s it.
When you get an idea – write it down.
You’ll remember it then – but you’ll also process the information better – thus you’ll understand that new thought better.
This is how you also block the creative block many of us have experienced.
When I started to write ideas down, I was closer to drowning in them than lacking them.
Used by one of the most creative people ever
Leonardo Da Vinci is known for many things – and a lot of his notebooks FULL of his ideas remain with us to this day.
He used to keep a book always with him wherever he was. Whenever he got the idea, he’d write it, or sketch it out.
And that’s how he made a ton of different books of notes during his lifetime.
He had a great source of ideas he could later combine. Thus, coming up with lots of new interesting and innovative stuff.
I believe after you start doing this, you’ll not get a massive creative block. Ever. And you’ll be closer to drowning in ideas.
I have a ton of ideas for;
- my art
- this Newsletter
- Tweets
- threads
- what to read
- and much much more
I already have ideas for 3 more Newsletters – at least. So for 3 weeks more of content.
And now I’ve not been taking massive walks in the past few days dedicated to idea generation (as it’s been busy preparing for my Meme card drop).
Once I go for one again, I believe I’ll get 5 more ideas.
Idea generation is also down to the RAS (reticular activation system) in your brain. Basically, what this means is;
What you’re looking for, you’ll find.
I might go deeper into this in a later Newsletter (and there I just generated another idea. I’m looking for new ideas, and thus I find them more easily).
6) Music, Audiobooks & Podcasts
Most of the time I don’t listen to audiobooks, podcasts, or music. But at times I have tried it out – it’s fascinating what kind of a difference it makes.
If I want to visualize something on a walk, I might put some music on that helps me on that task.
If I want to feel more creative, I might put some music that I feel makes me more creative. (Recently this has been Oppenheimer music by Ludwig Göransson.)
If you know your walk’s goal, feel free to add music to enhance you go get the result you want.
Watch this video, if you want to learn more about how music truly affects your mind.
Aubiobooks and podcasts on the other hand can be super useful during the walks. You can get much input of information during it, especially if you listen at 1.5-3.5x speed.
The information might help you come up with a new great idea. A breakthrough… and that’s what we talk about next.
7) The Breakthrough formula
Now, lastly, the most important point of all this;
Not all of your life’s challenges will be solved by taking a walk.
You need to first have enough information in your subconscious mind to get the answers you’re looking for.
Thus you need to consume information. From books, Podcasts, Twitter Threads… whatever.
Maybe you journal and try to find the answer that way.
Maybe you try new things and fail and get feedback that way.
Walking can’t solve your problems without you giving your brain the input first.
Overall, work hard. And then give yourself time to rest. And then many ideas will pop up.
If you only walk 24/7, you’ll be in shape. But you won’t find the results you’re looking for.
First input. Then walking.
Just like Pang put it in his book Why You Get More Done When You Work Less;
Many famous stories of problem-solving or creative breakthroughs begin with a period of intense work and focus, during which the scientist or artist or writer pores over evidence, labors over theories, and struggles toward an answer. Frustrated and tired, she stops for a break and turns her attention to something else. Days or weeks later, a solution suddenly appears; she hadn’t been thinking about the problem, but in a flash, the answer is suddenly present in her mind, as clear as day. She then returns to the problem and verifies that the insight is correct.
Bonus:
I recommend that you take a walk on a daily basis. No matter the length of it.
You might think it’s incredibly difficult to achieve over 549+ days of walks in a row…
but it’s not really.
The first 3 weeks are difficult. And actually, around days 4-7 when I first started this, I failed. I missed a day.
I think it wasn’t because I didn’t want to take one, I just forgot.
It hadn’t yet become a habit.
Now after 549+ daily walks, I rather rip my toenail off than miss a walk.
Imagine missing a day now?? How much would that hurt?
Truly, I believe I won’t miss a bloody walk ever again.
Sure, if something happens to my legs, maybe. But maybe I’d count it as a walk if I’d crawl for 15 minutes, lol.
I’d find a way for it to work.
Even when I’m the busiest.
Heck, sometimes I’ve walked back and forth in front of a gate at the Airport to get my walk in.
(I did this when I was flying back from NFC Lisbon this summer. I probably seemed like a bloody maniac doing that for 15 minutes in a row lol - but I got it in - and that’s what matters.)
How can you make walks a habit?
I’d recommend making it a game. Count the days. I personally did lose count of my days in a row by now (until I checked it for this article), but I still take a photograph of every walk I take.
It serves as (1) proof I have taken the walk and (2) it’s a nice way to gamify the walks.
Then you can also see how your particular path has changed over the seasons and years - which is fun.
After you've done 3 weeks or so in a row, it has most likely become a habit. And then it'd hurt you anyway to break a streak of that long.
I say this from the bottom of my heart;
Please take walks. Try them out.
You might be someone who is trying to work super hard – or you try to concentrate on many things at the same time.
But you might just get the breakthrough, by taking a simple walk.
Walks have changed my life, and I believe, they’ll change yours.
Now, schedule a walk, or go for a walk (you just got input from this Newsletter – so you could get a breakthrough moment).
Or read this for more input. I talk about the science of why walks (and other forms of rest) work so well.
If you found this issue helpful, feel free to share this with a friend.
Make sure to subscribe - if you already haven’t - so you won’t miss the next issues. You can do so from here;
Until next week, and have great walks!
Hugo
