I Walked 10,000+ Steps A Day For 3 Years, Here's What Happened

Summary

In this video, the speaker emphasizes the transformative power of walking, describing how it can reshape one's personality, identity, and overall well-being. Through personal anecdotes, he explains how walking helped him quit nicotine, boost creativity, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The speaker highlights walking as a holistic habit beneficial for mind, body, spirit, and business. He outlines practical steps to incorporate walking into daily life, drawing parallels to the structure and addictiveness of video games. The video encourages viewers to reclaim focus and implement high-leverage habits like walking for a better quality of life.

Takeaways

• 🚶 Walking is a holistic habit that can positively impact mind, body, spirit, and business.
• 🌟 The speaker attributes their success in writing and creating to the habit of walking, suggesting it enhances creativity.
• 💡 To form a new habit like walking, it's beneficial to draw inspiration from the patterns and principles found in video games that facilitate habit formation.
• 🌡️ Walking can be a solution for a variety of issues, including boredom, stress, lack of inspiration, and even weight management.
• 🛑 The speaker used walking as a replacement for nicotine addiction, highlighting its potential as a tool for breaking bad habits.
• 🧘 Walking meditation is a practice that can help in living in the present and decreasing attachment to thoughts, contributing to mental well-being.
• 🏞️ Spending time outside while walking provides health benefits such as increased calorie expenditure and exposure to sunlight, which is crucial for overall health.
• 📚 The speaker recommends using walking time for activities like listening to podcasts, reading, or contemplating ideas to foster creativity and personal growth.
• 🎮 Video games are addictive due to clear goals, feedback, rules, tutorials, and challenges that match skill levels, which are elements that can be applied to walking to make it a habit.
• 🎯 Setting clear daily goals, breaking them into manageable parts, and creating rules for walks can help in achieving a consistent walking habit.
• 🔑 Having a trigger or motivator for walking, such as replacing a bad habit or taking a break from work, can make it easier to start and maintain the habit.

Q & A

Why does the speaker believe most people's identities are subservient to the system that created them?

The speaker believes most people's identities are subservient to the system that created them because their personality and habits are often formed by external influences, such as societal norms and the environment, rather than being consciously chosen by the individuals themselves.

What is the primary habit the speaker attributes to their success in writing and creativity?

The speaker attributes their success in writing and creativity primarily to the habit of walking, which they found to be incredibly beneficial for their mind, body, and spirit.

How did the speaker initially feel about walking, and how did their perspective change?

Initially, the speaker hated walking and preferred sedentary activities or going to the gym. Their perspective changed when they started using walking as a replacement for nicotine, which led to a newfound love for walking and its benefits.

What strategy did the speaker use to quit nicotine and replace it with walking?

The speaker quit nicotine cold turkey and replaced the habit with walking. They trained their brain to immediately go for a walk whenever they felt the urge to use nicotine, making the transition relatively seamless.

What does the speaker mean by 'walking as a holistic habit'?

The speaker refers to walking as a holistic habit because it benefits the mind, body, spirit, and even business, making it a comprehensive and all-encompassing practice for overall well-being.

How does walking contribute to creativity according to the speaker?

Walking contributes to creativity by providing dedicated time for zero distraction, allowing the speaker to think deeply, generate ideas, and solve problems without interruptions. The physical activity also enhances brain activity, which supports creative thinking.

What role does sunlight play in the speaker's health philosophy?

Sunlight plays a significant role in the speaker's health philosophy as it is essential for optimizing circadian rhythms, improving mitochondrial health, and contributing to overall well-being. The speaker integrates principles from various diets and health practices that emphasize the importance of sunlight.

What are some benefits of walking mentioned by the speaker?

The benefits of walking mentioned by the speaker include increased calorie expenditure, improved mental health, enhanced creativity, better focus, reduced stress, and overall improved physical health.

How does the speaker suggest turning walking into a game to form the habit?

The speaker suggests turning walking into a game by implementing elements from video games, such as setting clear goals, providing feedback on progress, creating rules to focus attention, and setting challenges according to skill level. This gamification helps make the habit more engaging and sustainable.

What advice does the speaker give for integrating walking into daily life despite a busy schedule?

The speaker advises setting a daily walking goal, starting small if necessary, breaking up the walking into manageable blocks throughout the day, and finding ways to integrate walking into daily routines. They also emphasize the importance of prioritizing walking over less beneficial habits and using triggers to remind oneself to walk.

Outlines

00:00

🚶‍♂️ The Transformative Power of Walking

The speaker emphasizes that one's identity and personality are often shaped by societal systems rather than personal choice. They credit their success in writing and creation to the habit of walking, which they previously detested. The transformation from disliking walks to embracing them as a daily habit was sparked by a desire to quit nicotine and improve health. The speaker also highlights the importance of adopting new habits by drawing parallels with video games, suggesting that walking can be a holistic habit that benefits mind, body, and spirit.

05:02

🌟 Embracing Walking as a Meditation and Health Practice

The speaker discusses their journey of adopting walking as a daily habit, initially as a means to quit nicotine and later recognizing its profound benefits for mental clarity and physical health. They compare walking to meditation, highlighting its ability to free the mind from attachments to thoughts and live more in the present. The speaker also touches on the health benefits of walking, such as increased calorie expenditure and exposure to sunlight, and how it can be integrated into a holistic health philosophy.

10:04

💡 Walking as a Catalyst for Creativity and Focus

The speaker attributes their success in writing and creative endeavors to the practice of walking, which they refer to as a 'creativity block.' They argue that walking provides an opportunity for undistracted engagement with books, podcasts, and ideas, fostering a deeper connection with one's work and life. The speaker also suggests that walking can be a tool for problem-solving, stress relief, and goal clarification, emphasizing the importance of integrating walking into one's daily routine for both mental and physical well-being.

15:04

🎮 Gamifying Walking for Habit Formation

Drawing inspiration from the addictive nature of video games, the speaker outlines strategies for turning walking into a habit-forming activity. They suggest setting clear goals, providing feedback for progress, establishing rules to minimize distractions, and offering challenges that match one's skill level. The speaker believes that by incorporating these elements, walking can be as engaging and rewarding as gaming, leading to a more consistent and enjoyable habit.

20:05

🛣️ Creating Structure and Rules for Walking Habits

The speaker provides a step-by-step approach to establishing a walking habit, starting with clarifying the purpose of walking and setting a daily goal. They recommend breaking down the goal into manageable parts and creating specific rules for each walk to increase focus and enjoyment. Examples of rules include avoiding cracks in the pavement, generating writing ideas, and alternating between walking meditation and learning. The speaker encourages finding personal motivators or triggers to initiate walks and emphasizes the importance of taking the first step.

25:06

🔥 Overcoming Obstacles and Committing to the Walking Habit

In the final paragraph, the speaker addresses common excuses for not walking and encourages overcoming limiting beliefs. They suggest using triggers, such as feelings of boredom or a decline in work quality, as cues to start a walk. The speaker also recommends reducing the barrier to starting a walk to the simplest action, such as standing up or moving a foot, to counteract the inertia of inaction. They conclude by reiterating the benefits of walking for creativity, focus, and overall well-being.

Keywords

💡Personality

Personality refers to the unique set of characteristics, behaviors, and thought patterns that define an individual. In the video, it is mentioned that one's personality and identity are often shaped by external systems rather than being a conscious choice, emphasizing the idea that people can reshape their identity by changing their habits, as illustrated by the speaker's transformation through walking.

💡Habit Formation

Habit formation is the process of developing regular behaviors that become automatic over time. The video discusses the importance of habit formation in personal development, suggesting that by adopting new habits like walking, individuals can change their identity and improve various aspects of their life, such as creativity, health, and focus.

💡Meditation

Meditation, in the context of the video, is presented as a practice for freeing the mind and living in the present moment. The speaker shares their experience of using walking as a form of meditation, which helps in managing thoughts and increasing mindfulness, contrasting with their initial skepticism towards traditional seated meditation.

💡Flow State

The flow state is a psychological term describing a state of deep immersion and focus where one's actions are fully aligned with their awareness. The video explains how walking can induce a flow state, leading to heightened creativity and productivity, as the speaker finds their most successful ideas while walking.

💡Nicotine Abuse

Nicotine abuse is the harmful use of nicotine products, which can lead to addiction and health issues. The speaker in the video describes their personal struggle with nicotine, using it as an example of a habit that was detrimental to their well-being and how they replaced it with the healthier habit of walking.

💡Walking as a Habit

Walking as a habit is central to the video's message, where the speaker extols the virtues of walking as a holistic habit that benefits the mind, body, and spirit. They share their journey from despising walking to making it a daily practice that has positively impacted their life in multiple ways.

💡Sunlight Exposure

Sunlight exposure is highlighted in the video as essential for health, particularly for the production of vitamin D and the regulation of circadian rhythms. The speaker discusses the benefits of being outside in the sun during their walks, which include building a 'solar callus' and potentially improving resilience to sunlight damage.

💡Video Games

Video games are used in the video as an analogy for habit formation. The speaker draws parallels between the addictive nature of video games and the potential to make walking addictive by applying similar principles, such as clear goals, feedback, and challenges, to create a rewarding experience.

💡Creativity Block

A creativity block, as mentioned in the video, refers to dedicated time for idea generation and learning without distractions. The speaker uses walking as a creativity block, where they listen to audiobooks, podcasts, or enjoy moments of silence to spark new ideas and solve problems.

💡Four-Hour Workday

The four-hour workday is a concept mentioned by the speaker, which challenges the traditional full-time work schedule. It suggests that by focusing on high-impact tasks and eliminating noise, one can achieve more in less time. The speaker's walking habit is tied to this philosophy, as it allows for clarity and focus during work sessions.

💡Holistic Habit

A holistic habit is a practice that positively affects multiple aspects of one's life. The video emphasizes walking as the ultimate holistic habit because it impacts physical health, mental well-being, creativity, and productivity, contributing to an overall improved lifestyle.

Highlights

Personality and identity are often shaped by systems beyond our control, suggesting the need for habit reinvention.

Walking is attributed as a key factor in the success of writing and creative endeavors.

The concept of adopting video game principles to enhance habit formation for walking is introduced.

Walking is proposed as a universal solution for a range of issues, including boredom, stress, and weight management.

A personal transformation story from despising to loving walking is shared, illustrating habit change potential.

The gym is contrasted with walking, highlighting a shift from traditional exercise to a more integrated lifestyle habit.

The use of nicotine and its eventual replacement with walking as a healthier habit is detailed.

Walking is described as a holistic habit impacting mind, body, spirit, and business.

The importance of sunlight and blue light in health and the benefits of outdoor walking are discussed.

Walking is positioned as a form of meditation, offering mental health benefits.

The role of walking in enhancing creativity and idea generation is emphasized.

A strategy for using walking as a replacement for nicotine cravings is outlined.

The idea of walking as a game with clear goals, feedback, and challenges is presented to foster habit formation.

The significance of setting daily walking goals and breaking them into achievable blocks is discussed.

Creating rules for walks to enhance focus and enjoyment is suggested, drawing parallels to game design.

The importance of having a trigger or motivator for initiating a walk is highlighted.

The final call to action encourages starting the habit of walking with practical steps to overcome inertia.

Transcripts

Most people, their personality,

their identity isn't something that they chose.

It's something

that's subservient to the system that created it.

By definition, meaning if you want to recreate who you are.

Because if I could attribute my writing and creator success

to one thing, it would obviously be walking.

I mean, we can even just have Devin,

if you can just put up an image of like your brain

when it's just sitting around in your brain,

when it's

walking to form this new walking habit

and to get addicted to it.

I believe it's wise to pull the patterns

and principles

from video games

so that we can implement it in our habit formation,

so that you can form the habit.

If you're bored, go on a walk.

If you're stressed, go on a walk.

If you're uninspired, go on a walk.

If you're overweight, go on a walk.

Most, if not all of your problems can be relieved

if not solved by going on a walk.

For those of you that know me,

you know that I truly love walking.

I cannot stop going on a walk.

Even in this 100 degree and increasing Arizona heat.

But what most people don't know

is that I used to absolutely hate walking.

I used to despise walking.

And I don't mean

that I used to just not like going on an intentional walk.

Like going out for a stroll.

I mean, I used to hate walking anywhere.

I was the definition of lazy,

but I prefer to think of myself as efficient over lazy

because I've always loved going to the gym, which is funny.

I didn't like going on walks, but I loved going to the gym.

I've loved going to the gym since 15 years old.

I've been in the gym for, I think that's 12 years now.

So when I was younger I would go to the gym,

I would watch YouTube,

I would work on my little side

businesses that I had at the time.

But aside from that, you'd probably just find me on the couch

or playing video games

most of the time, like World of Warcraft,

Call of Duty, League of Legends,

Teamfight Tactics,

because I've always been the type to do the bare minimum.

And what I find funny

is that

I used to play League of Legends matches and Teamfight Tactics

matches in between

growing my businesses like I would wake up, I'd do my work.

I would then play a match of League of Legends

and then I'd do my work again.

The only reason I did my work

is because I was already at my computer,

and it just made sense to do the work,

but now I don't really play those anymore.

Honestly, they're kind of enticing.

Maybe I'll get back into them one day.

It's been a few years

now since I've actually played a full video game,

because now I just go on a walk in the sun.

Now to set the scene for how I fell in love with walking.

I started using nicotine when Jewel became popular.

You know, the little vapes, the little pod vapes.

I conformed and hopped on the bandwagon during college

and eventually going through jewels and other disposable

vapes.

I eventually came across zines when those first came out,

and I got on those instead.

And for those that don't know what zines are,

they're like tobacco lists, nicotine pouches.

I thought those were healthier, and they arguably are.

But on a random day in 2019, I don't know exactly when

or how or where, but I realized that my nicotine abuse

was hurting the attention

I could give to others, and that I also felt very tired.

So I was kind of just like a corpse of a human being.

I wasn't able to give dedicated attention

to the people in my life that deserved the attention.

And since I was tired all the time, that didn't help.

I would find myself in conversation with someone.

And then randomly, I would just continuously think about,

oh, I need to put in a Zen right now.

I need to put in a Zen right now.

And then they'd be like, hey, Mike, are you listening to me?

They wouldn't say that exactly,

but something along those lines and I'd be like, oh, crap.

And that's when I realized this is actually a problem.

But around that time and again,

I'm not sure how I came

across this random post on social media,

and I'm assuming it talked about the benefits of walking,

and it was closer to the summer.

So I was in the mindset of

I want to lose some weight for the summer,

I want to get shredded, I want to get six pack abs.

And the social media post talked about the benefits of walking

versus cardio.

I'm sure both are very important,

but I talked about how you can walk

10 to 15,000 steps a day and burn X amount of calories,

and that simple habit

can take place for cardio in terms of calorie burn, maybe not

cardiovascular health, but you get what I mean.

So the stars aligned here

where I didn't want to use nicotine anymore.

Walks came onto my radar and I decided to quit nicotine

cold turkey and replace that habit with walks.

So it was like a complete reinvention of myself

in those two domains,

the ones that were occupying the most of my attention.

So I decided, okay, we're going all in on

this, we're going to go on walks,

we're going to quit nicotine.

We're just going to focus on improvement, shredding, business

building, etc. monk mode in a sense.

But like a mental monk mode,

I wasn't disappearing from my friends or anyone else.

I was kind of just disappearing from the habits,

the bad habits in my life.

So my strategy for this was whenever I felt the urge

to use nicotine, I would immediately train my brain.

It was.

It was actually pretty easy at first, honestly.

Just retrain my brain to immediately get up, going to walk,

put in chewing gum,

and I was able to quit relatively seamlessly.

Now, I do believe there are benefits in nicotine.

I still use it.

I don't really want to talk about that or endorse that.

Do your own research, do whatever you want.

But just for transparency, I use nicotine.

Definitely not as often as I used to,

but I still use it for its benefits and work, cognition, etc.

so after a month of walking the glorified 10,000 steps a day,

just like 10 to 15 minute walks around the apartment complex

that I had at the time,

the result was an absolute love for walking.

Now, for five years,

there has never been a time where I have walked under 10,000

steps a day.

It started at 10,000 steps, increased to 15,000.

There was a time when I lived in Austin, Texas

and just didn't spend any time in the house.

I was just outside all day long.

I was averaging 20,000 to 25,000 steps a day,

and now I hover around 15,000.

And those that have been here a while

kind of know that my name has become more or less synonymous

with walking,

where there's even a podcast by Danny Miranda that I went on

while I was in Texas that was literally titled

The King of Walking Danko.

I also discovered

that the greats, or some of the greatest creator

moves were right in that, like Charles Darwin, Steve Jobs,

they considered

walks to be a massively important part of their day.

I discovered the same thing

and now some ask, how do you get work done

if you're walking for multiple hours in a day?

Because it takes time to walk 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 steps.

And my advice to that would be to go watch my four hour

workday videos,

or pick up my book, the Art of focus, or go read chapter

seven of antifragile by an intellect Nassim Nicholas Taleb

I recently read that,

and it actually gave me a new perspective on my own philosophy

of the four hour workday.

Or like procrastination as a natural filter

or a way to filter

signal from noise, meaning that I don't really work.

I mean, I work on my consistent things

every single morning,

but I don't really work unless I have to work.

Because if I don't have to work on something,

then it's usually just noise.

It's usually just a distraction.

And I could be doing much better things with my time.

Like going on a walk,

being outside in sunlight,

getting the health benefits from that, and being happy.

Another thing is that you probably wouldn't

be watching this video if it weren't for walks.

My ideas wouldn't be the same.

My content wouldn't be the same,

my body wouldn't be the same,

my identity wouldn't be the same.

So in this video, I want to share with you

the raw power of walking

so you have multiple ways to keep you going with this habit,

and how to turn walking into a game

so you can seamlessly form the habit yourself.

My hope with

this is to transform your life with one simple habit.

So let's begin

by talking about how walking is the ultimate holistic habit,

and what I mean

by holistic habit means comprehensive or all encompassing.

So mind, body, spirit, business, business can be exchanged

for work or life's work or whatever it is that you do.

And a popular tweet of mine a few years ago

when I was tweeting all the time about walking, is long walks

are the secret to a lean to body and mind.

Now I hope that I can get this point across to you.

This point is extremely important

for understanding

the importance of walking and just good habits in general.

You only have so much time in the day,

meaning there are only so many habits you can adopt.

Also meaning the habits

you choose to implement are of utmost importance

because they create your future

and influence your quality of life.

Most people aren't in control of the habits

they choose, so their life is on a trajectory

that they didn't set,

and it becomes increasingly hard to change who you are.

Habits aren't only physical, but mental.

You distract yourself

by scrolling on your phone,

your attention span

shrinks because your mind is in the habit

of receiving novel information every 30s,

so you can't focus on meaningful conversations.

You can't focus on building a business.

You can't focus on putting on your shoes and going to the gym.

Your mind reacts

to almost everything with memes and random bits

that others programed into your mind.

You can't take anything seriously.

You think anything worthwhile is a joke.

Meanwhile, you feel depressed and hopeless.

But there isn't a solution

because your mind is too busy stuck

bouncing on the surface to see one.

So let's stop and think about that for a bit.

You can only have so many habits in your life.

Most of the habits that you have right now

were not chosen by you.

If your identity determines what your habits are,

then that means the habits that you do right now

reflect your identity and your habits.

Reinforce that identity through conditioning

because you become what you repeatedly do.

So most people, their personality,

their identity isn't something that they chose.

It's something

that's subservient to the system that created it.

By definition, meaning, if you want to recreate who you are,

you need to focus on changing the habits that occupy your day,

the very few habits that can be there,

because that will create a new conditioning cycle

that will eventually turn into a new identity of your choice.

And if your habits and identity

bounce back and forth

to create the quality

of your human experience, then the reason you feel depressed

or bad

or anxious or overwhelmed

all the time is because you aren't in control of it.

So the solution to most of your problems is this

you must reclaim your focus so you can implement new habits.

You must implement new habits

because you can only choose a few.

The habits you

choose must be high leverage,

high impact, and highly enjoyable.

The habits you choose

refocus your attention on the depth of life

where you focus your attention.

Programs your mind creates who you are and determines

your future.

Walking as a habit covers

all bases mind, body, spirit, and business.

So first let's talk about walking as meditation.

So walking for the mind.

I personally used to be very skeptical about meditation.

I always thought it was for hippies

who were just sitting there channeling some divine energy

so they could become like avatar from The Last Airbender.

And it turns out,

like most things I dislike or dislike,

I just didn't understand the concept.

Meditation is the act of freeing your mind.

Meditation is decreasing your attachment to thoughts.

Meditation is the practice of being at one with reality,

not expectations for the future or happenings of the past.

In other words, with a consistent meditation

habit, life gets better because you're actually living it.

Most people don't realize how surface level their lives are.

They bounce around in their heads, creating problems

that don't exist and spiral

out of control into a state of deep anxiety and overwhelm.

Their lives are ruled by stressful past situations

that influence how they perceive the future.

The boss that yelled at you yesterday

makes you dread going to work today.

The writing that sucked yesterday

makes you worried that it won't get done tomorrow,

and you continue projecting into a future

where you don't get it done.

Your side business fails

and you start creating a plan B

without realizing you're creating

that reality with your thoughts.

Because your actions will follow you trap yourself in a narrow

minded state of suffering,

and your only path out is by reprograming your mind

with meditation.

Now, the problem

here, for me

at least, is that I always failed

with a seated meditation habit.

So I decided to try that out with a walk

into a walking meditation because that's actually a thing.

So some of my walks I do what we're going to talk about later,

but in a lot of my walks, mainly morning walks,

like first thing in the morning,

I will try to just meditate on the walk.

I'll focus on the feeling of the ground, on my feet

or the breath going into my nose,

especially if it's cold or hot.

I will count in my head and breathe.

And if any time my attention floats to a thought

or a task or something that I need to do,

I simply refocus on my breath.

Because that's

how you recondition your mind to detach from the thoughts

and give less attention to them,

so you can live more in the present

and truly pay attention to the signal around you

rather than the noise and we will discuss this more later.

How to do it

when we actually turn walking into a game

so you can form the habit.

Now, walking for health is a very important aspect of walking.

So what I'm trying to illustrate to you here

is that walking is more than just going on a walk.

It has so many different benefits for your mind, body,

spirit business.

So for your health, this one isn't difficult to understand.

Walking equals increased calorie expenditure

and I don't know how true this is,

but I read somewhere

that if you walk and run the same distance,

time doesn't really matter

because obviously you're going to run there

faster than you walk.

So it's going to take longer to walk.

But walking

and running

the same distance burns around the same amount of calories.

So I personally would rather go on a 45 minute

walk than a 20 minute run or a 15 minute run.

That's just me, because I can do more on that walk.

I can actually get into some kind of meditation,

or I can listen to a podcast or read an audiobook, or jot down

ideas on my phone,

or literally write my newsletters

or my books or outline things.

So if you struggle to lose weight

or you just want to get outside,

you want to increase the benefits of just getting outside

and getting sunlight,

then walking could help you

and you don't really need to worry about,

oh, I'm not exercising today. I'm not doing cardio.

This is just a good first step.

The next thing is that being outside equals sunlight

and the lack of blue light.

Now we can go deep into this.

I personally haven't collected, and I'm not able

to articulate my thoughts on my own health philosophy

very much.

All I can do is point

you towards the people that I've learned from,

because

many people are not ready to hear this health philosophy.

But at the same time, I also feel like way too many people

take it way too seriously, to their own detriment.

So I'm talking about a blend between flexible dieting,

the repeat diet, the ancestral diet, and the carnivore diet,

and how those have kind of evolved over the years.

I integrate patterns and principles from those diets

to create my own.

But they're not just diets,

they're also lifestyles

and sunlight

and blue light are very big topics within those domains.

So blue light is quite a bit more dangerous than just like,

oh, you're not going to be able to sleep at night.

It destroys your mitochondrial health

and definitely contributes to chronic disease.

Now, a lot of people have heard about Andrew Huberman

advice to get sunlight first thing in the morning.

This has a lot more benefit

than just optimizing your circadian rhythm.

And of course, I don't want to get too deep into this.

I don't want to contribute to hearsay.

So I'm just going to list off

a few people that you can follow.

The first is Zaid Kadosh, both on Instagram and X.

The next is Analyze and Optimize on YouTube X and Instagram.

The next is Grimwood, mainly on X

and then kind of following them

and see who they interact with to get the gist of everything.

It's going to take a while to kind of absorb the knowledge,

but for reference of something that I recently discovered

or not recently, a few years have recently discovered,

an implement implemented is I'm like the palest guy

you will ever meet.

Or at least I was.

I get extremely white during the winter, or at least I did.

And now that I'm out walking shirtless 15,000 steps a day,

I can be out in the Arizona heat on the top of the roof

for 45 minutes at a time, and I do not burn.

And that's mostly contributed to building my solar callus,

which is a tan, pretty much, and easing your way into that,

as well as diet

and the certain foods that contribute to inflammation

and other things.

I don't know the science too well.

I'm just stating

what could be possible

if you had an open mind and chose

to integrate some of their perspectives.

Now, what I'm saying

here is I'm not dogmatic about any one of their diets.

If I'm presented with different information,

I'm going to experiment with it

and see what I experience in my direct experience.

So what I'm saying here

is that if you go and follow these people, please do not.

If they tweet a belief, do not assume that my belief is that.

So moving on.

Let's talk about walking for creativity.

Because if I could attribute my writing and creator success

to one thing, it would obviously be walking.

I mean, we can even just have Devon,

if you can just put up an image of like your brain

when it's just sitting around in your brain when it's walking,

and you can see the massive difference in brain activity.

And that's pretty good argument for walking, in my opinion.

So to me, walking is a creativity block.

What I mean

by creativity block is we all have productivity box

where we're sitting at our computer

and doing our thing and getting work done with the ideas

that we've generated throughout the week.

But how many of you actually sit down and read?

How many of you sit and listen to long form content?

I would argue that it's very little.

And because of that,

I would argue that the depth in your life is very little

and that you're missing out on so much of life

because of that.

So a creativity block getting outside for 15, 30, 45 minutes,

however long it takes,

that's dedicated time for zero distraction.

If you can stay off of your phone or just use your phone

for a good purpose,

like listening to a podcast for longer than five minutes,

or actually getting through an audiobook

over the course of a month on your walks.

So I use these creativity blocks to listen to audiobooks

and long YouTube lectures like Actualized.org.

He's my favorite to read physical books.

Yes, I have literally brought physical books with me

on walks in the morning, so sometimes I do the meditation.

I've been experimenting with literally

bringing a book with me on a walk

when nobody's outside at 5:30 a.m.

in the morning

and reading it for 30 minutes to write down ideas

that I want to write about.

And if you don't have ideas to write about

or know how to capture ideas correctly,

I have a free course called seven Days to Genius Ideas.

You can download that

with the link in the description,

and that will actually lead into cortex, the software,

because that is one of the initial ideas

that led to, to our writer, the course and the system in

that is being used as the foundation of our writing app

that we're building.

Cortex.

And lastly,

I also use these creativity blocks to walk in silence,

to allow my mind

to solve a problem, release stress,

or bring clarity to my goals. Provision.

Okay,

we have made it past the whys or the reasons

why you should go on a walk, and I feel like that's ample.

Everyone could use those benefits in their life.

This isn't a oh, walking is only suitable for this niche,

or this niche is suitable to everyone

because everyone has legs and everyone can go outside.

I take that back.

I know

some people don't have legs, but you can still get outside.

The only reason I say that

is because you get the point of what I'm saying.

But there's always the people in the comments

where they're like, you're enable is like you,

I can't focus, and you're saying,

I should do this, this and this.

Just click off the video if this doesn't apply to you.

So let's get into it.

Why do we get addicted to video games?

One there is a clear hierarchy of goals.

So how to win or quest two there is clear

feedback for progress like leveling up or milestones three

there are rules that narrow

your attention and remove distractions,

for there are tutorials to get you up to speed with the game.

And five

there are challenges according to your skill level

so you don't get anxious or overwhelmed.

In a nutshell, video games are addictive

because they put us into the flow state.

The flow state is characterized by absolute clarity.

Zero distractions, pure progress

that is like no other feeling in the world.

And you can tap into it with most habits, especially walking,

you know what you need to do,

how to do it, when to do it, and it isn't easy or well known,

so it is meaningful.

And the extra dopamine

from novelty

doesn't hurt either in terms of getting into the flow state.

So to form this new walking habit and to get addicted to it,

I believe it's wise to pull the patterns

and principles from video games so that we can implement it

in our habit formation, so that you can form the habit.

Because one. That's what I did without realizing it.

And two,

four years in five years in now, four years into walking

that much every single day, I have this cornerstone habit

in my lifestyle and lifestyle trumps almost everything.

Even diet, I would argue, and certain work hacks.

Just having a healthy lifestyle covers so many bases.

That's like at the top of the health pyramid,

so I don't really have to worry about getting overweight

or being unhealthy,

or not being able

to come up with creative ideas

that help me build businesses and make an income.

All because I walk in.

That's the a pillar of my lifestyle.

So step one to turning.

Walking into a game is to clarify why you are walking.

That means vision and anti vision.

The things that I continue saying and drilling into your head

because they are absolutely important.

Vision and anticipation for both your life, for your business.

They need a vision for everything.

If you are not making decisions in alignment with a vision

for the future,

you're making decisions in alignment

for someone else's vision for your future.

Whether you think of it that way or not, that's

what's happening.

The memes and everything that you're scrolling your attention,

where your attention goes,

where your focus goes into your app, the actions that result

of that information

programing your brain is moving you towards a specific goal.

If you're watching self-deprecating memes all day

or just content all day, you're working towards

a vision of mediocre and destruction, and that's not good.

So to form this vision or anti vision, think deeply

about how walking as a habit can revolutionize your life.

Do you want the benefits that come from quitting a bad habit?

Walking can be a replacement for that habit.

Do you want to be more creative in your work?

Do you always struggle to write

or come up with ideas that will change your future?

Can you see how a simple walk

can change the direction of your life?

Do you want to drop

10 pounds of fat,

get a tan and reap the benefits

of consistent sunlight exposure?

If your mental health is in shambles, isn't it worth a shot?

So list out

every single thing that you don't like in your life right now.

From that list, think about the opposite.

List out

every single thing that you want in your life,

or you think you want in your life one year from now.

Then contemplate how walking

10,000 plus steps a day can contribute to that.

Step number two is to set a daily goal and break it up.

All behavior starts with a conscious or unconscious goal.

Every single action you take can be mapped to a goal

you are pursuing.

The question is, did you set that goal

or were you quietly programed by the media?

Your parents, your teachers, and your friends?

A simple habit is no different.

Set a goal and start small.

The goal should be in alignment with your vision,

and the habit should be so frictionless

that it's nearly impossible not to actually do.

The thing here is, is

that many people will argue

that they don't have the time to go on 10,000 steps a day,

and while that's fine, you can believe that.

I would also try to be honest with yourself here,

considering the gravity and importance of going on a walk

and potentially walking 10,000 steps,

I think that should be a baseline.

You can start with less

if you like,

but if you are realistic with how you can reprioritize

and reorganize your life,

I think you can find the time to walk 10,000 steps a day.

You can wake up earlier,

you don't have to indulge in bad habits at night.

You don't have to do really anything that you're doing

if walking holds more importance to you.

But if walking 10,000 steps a day makes you anxious

and you don't think you'll be able to stick to it,

then it's okay to start lower.

And you can think of walking 10,000 steps a day as level 100,

and think of maybe 3000 steps a day as level one.

And then you progress

and you can create these subgoals for yourself,

where level one is 3000, level two is 4000, etc., etc.

and maybe you can treat yourself to some kind of reward

by achieving those things.

So now that you have a daily walk

goal, it's

smart to break those down into specific blocks

that you can knock out throughout your day.

Are you going to knock it all out all in one walk?

Are you going to space them out?

What route are you going to take on the walk?

Are you going to walk to a specific landmark or location,

or are you going to walk to the local cafe for focused work?

Bring clarity to your new habit by sticking to these goals

until they just become habit,

until they are programed into you.

Step number three is to create rules for your walk.

Now flow state.

The flow state is about narrowing your attention on a task

and it becoming the only thing

you becoming at one with the task.

So if we want to narrow our attention further and increase

the enjoyment of the walk,

we need to create rules like rules of a game.

And if we don't, then we don't have structure in our mind.

We don't have something to refocus on,

and our mind will default to thinking about something

it better.

It could be doing,

or just complaining about how it's too hot outside or whatever

it may be like.

I don't like walking.

It's too hot or cold outside. Boo hoo.

I need my comfortable, air conditioned box.

I don't live in a walkable city.

All of these are excuses and you can walk

even if you don't feel like walking.

You go in a sauna and you don't care that it's not.

Your expectations and limiting

beliefs are ruining your potential.

So here are some rules that you can play with.

But you weren't bound to these.

You can create your own

never step on a crack in the road as you walk.

Come back with three ideas

to write about from a book or audiobook.

Get 15 minutes of sun on each side of your body.

Alternate 5 to 10 minutes of walking meditation

and 5 to 10 minutes of learning.

Finish one chapter of a book or module of a course.

Write one section of your newsletter,

or write a few content pieces for the writers out there.

Just try one out.

So step number four is to go on the walk

and have a trigger for going on the walk,

because the walk is the easiest part.

But getting yourself to go on the walk is the hardest part.

If you have a trigger, like I did with nicotine

and whenever I had a craving, I opted for going on a walk.

Then use that moment to immediately get up and go on a walk.

This could be like

the moment you feel bored or uninspired

in your focus work session.

That's another reason I go on a walk now is like,

if my work starts to suffer

and I've only been sitting for an hour and a half

and I'm supposed to knock out

four hours of focus work, I'm going to get up and go on a walk

so I can realign and set the intention for my next work block

so I can get straight into it.

Because if I didn't do that,

then I probably be sitting there

for two hours getting less work

than I'd be able to get done

if I went on a walk,

realign, came back and actually had pure focus.

Now, if you don't have any motivator or trigger,

then you need to just reduce the action

that you are going to take

into the most frictionless and small action

you can take right now.

It's like the whole tip of going to

the gym is to just put on your shoes,

to put on your gym shoes,

and by then it's like you've already

invested some energy into it.

You might as well get in the car,

you might as well go to the gym then.

And if that's too difficult for you,

ask yourself why you can't even control your body to the point

of walking a few feet and putting on a shoe,

and then at the same time, just break it down further.

Can you walk to your room?

No. Can you at least stand up?

No. Okay.

Move your foot. Still no.

And at that point, nobody can save you except for yourself.

So that's it.

Start walking.

Have a good rest of your day.

Check out the links in the description.

If you want more on walking, creativity and focused work

in the one person business by my book, the Art of focus.

Just check out the links down there.

If you like them,

click on them.

Thanks for watching. Bye.