Walking

Lesson 4: Staying Motivated, Setting Goals, Measuring Progress

Once you get going with your walking program, it is important to keep it up. This lessons reviews methods of staying motivated, setting goals, measuring progress and expanding your horizons.

Staying Motivated

No matter how enthusiastic you are, and how good you feel as a result of your walking program, resistance still has a way of creeping in. It may be a day that you just don't feel like it, or you may decide you're too busy, or too tired. Or you may find that you put other commitments first and the day gets away from you. It's tricky. You let it go one day, then something comes up the next day and it becomes all that much harder to get back on track. And then you think ahead to next week when you expect to have a sizeable chunk of time. This pattern can take many forms, but it all boils down to the same problem. You stop walking and it gets harder and harder to start again. My experience is that the most important thing is to never stop. Even if you miss a day or two (or even a week or more) to not let that become a trend. It is best to treat it as a slip and not a fall and just pick up where you left off. Truly, though, it is easiest not to allow that slip, and some of the following suggestions will help keep you on course day after day.

1. Find a walking partner. It is much easier to show up day after day if you know someone else is counting on you. Many people also enjoy the companionship of having a walking partner.

2. Walk with a friend, spouse, child or dog. Again, having someone with whom you can share your walk can add to the enjoyment. It can also be a great time for bonding. If you have more than one child, you can walk with them together or, you can go with one child at a time, do a special activity and have that be some precious alone time. Your dog (or your neighbor's dog) will always appreciate a good long walk. I do not currently have my own dog, but enjoy walking with friends' dogs because I tend to see the world from a slightly different perspective. Also, because dogs are so openly enthusiastic, I feel energized when walking with them.

3. Join a walking club. If your community has a walking club, you may elect to join them. Again, this provides you with company during your walk and, after a while, there is an expectation that you will show up. By joining such a group, you may make new friends. If your community doesn't have a walking club, you can create your own! There is a very popular walking club, The American Volkssport Association , that organizes walks and walking events all over the U.S. The international affiliate of this organization, International Federation of Popular Sports, organizes events worldwide.

4. Enter a walking event. The event can either be a competitive event like a 5K, 10K or marathon, or it can be a charitable event where you do fundraising by walking a certain number of miles. Having these types of goals can provide great incentive for getting in your regular walks during the week.

5. Add variety to your walks. Adding variety can be anything from walking your usual loop in the opposite direction, to going to neighboring communities, to joining a group once a week, to going hiking once a month. The key is to spice it up. Keep it interesting.

6. Use walking as a means of transportation. I'm not suggesting that you walk 10 miles to and from work. However, there are many errands that we do using a car that we could elect to do on foot. Instead of going to the supermarket to buy a carton of milk, walk to a nearby convenience store. Instead of driving to the post office to get stamps, walk.

7. Plan a walking vacation. A walking vacation is something you can plan on your own using guidebooks, or you can join one of the many outfitters who specialize in this kind of travel.

8. Make a minimum commitment each day. On those days that you feel pressed for time or for whatever reason don't feel like going for your walk, yet don't really want to cop out, try setting a minimum commitment. Let's say you had planned to go for 45 minutes, but found yourself procrastinating. So, you make a minimum commitment of 10 minutes, 5 minutes in each direction. Once you get going, you can re-negotiate your commitment, but don't feel obligated to do that unless you really want to. Sometimes it's better to simply stick with your minimum commitment in order to make it okay with yourself to use minimum commitment as an option. Sometimes even 10 minutes seems too long. I have had days where my minimum commitment was simply to change into my walking clothes and re-evaluate. Once I change into those clothes, I am more motivated to start walking. I am a firm believer that you do whatever you have to do to keep the momentum going.

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