In The Joy of Movement, Dr. Kelly McGonigal tells us:
“In the United States, daily physical activity—as captured by an accelerometer—is correlated with a sense of purpose in life. Real-time tracking also shows that people are happier during moments when they are physically active than when they are sedentary. And on days when people are more active than their usual, they report greater satisfaction with their lives. Other experiments in the U.S. and UK have forced moderately active adults to become sedentary for a period of time, only to watch their well-being wither. Regular exercisers who replace physical activity with a sedentary activity for two weeks become more anxious, tired, and hostile. When adults are randomly assigned to reduce their daily step count, 88 percent become more depressed. Within one week of becoming more sedentary, they report a 31 percent decline in life satisfaction. The average daily step count required to induce feelings of anxiety and depression and decrease satisfaction with life is 5,649. The typical American takes 4,774 steps per day. Across the globe, the average is 4,961.”
Yikes! Let’s remember to get 5,649 steps to sidestep depression, anxiety, and decreased satisfaction with life. I have an outcome of reaching 5,649 steps on my masterpiece day checklist.
But even more important than trying to reach an outcome or aspiration is crafting behaviors that will move us toward that aspiration, like parking farther away from the building or traveling to the farthest bathroom in the building and back.
