Walking 10,000 Steps a Day -- How to Find Reasons to Do This

Exercise A: Make a list of what motivates you today.

Here are some questions to consider as you make this list:

1. Do you want to be healthier?

For example, do you want to reduce your risk of heart attack? Do you want to lower your body-fat percentage? Do you want to condition your muscles and bones? Do you want to avoid morbid obesity and lose weight? Do you want to cut your chance of developing dementia? Walking 10K steps/day can have all of these health effects on you.

2. Do you want to feel healthier?

This is not necessarily the same as being healthier. You can feel healthier almost immediately -- long before you actually are healthier. For example, do you want to be able to brag that you walked 10K steps/day? This has nothing to do with your long-term health, but it certainly feels healthier in the moment. As another example, do you want to have enough lung capacity to walk a flight of stairs? This is not necessarily a sign of better health, but it sure can feel good to be able to do it. And walking 10K steps/day can help you to get to the point where you can walk that flight of stairs.

3. Do you want to live longer?

One's longevity is not guaranteed. But do you have things you want to do, places you want to see, or people whom you want to meet later in life?

4. Do you want to enjoy your life more?

For example, do you want to increase your sleep quality and sleep duration? Do you want to improve your mental acuity? Do you want a greater sense of calm in your life?

Exercise B: Make a list of what would motivate your loved ones today to encourage you to walk 10K steps/day.

Their motivations might be the same as your motivations that you identified in exercise A. But they could be different. For example, you might care more about putting life in your years (e.g., by sleeping better) than about putting years in your life. But your loved one might care more about your being around to see your children or grandchildren grow up. So you would care more about enjoying your life more whereas they would care more about your longevity.

Exercise C: Combine the lists from exercises A and B to make a super-list of reasons to walk 10K steps/day.