The Two Mile Walk

And now for a slight detour.  Or is it?  I want to talk about motivation, and our ability as humans to fully engage our minds and bodies in what we do.  How often have you gone to work, done your thing, and remembered almost none of it afterwards?  This is going through life on auto-pilot, and I think a lot of it has to do with not using our bodies.  At least in the tech industry this seems to be a real problem.  ;)

One of the things I have tried to institute for myself is a nice long walk in the morning.  Right after I drop my kids off at school, I find someplace new to go, and I start walking.  Now, it doesn't hurt that I live in a beautiful place, but I think just about any environment could work.  I put on my headphones, order my thoughts, and start moving.  I think about what I am going to write for that day, what Sprint task is due, when I need to get my girls later on.  Sometimes I don't think about anything besides satisfying my curiosity about the world around me.

And I use my body.  It has been far too long since I have hiked two miles before nine in the morning.  Now I can say I have done it most every day this week.  And you know what, every single day I wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep some more.  No joke.  But I knew if I did I would be cheating myself out of accomplishing the very things I set out to do for that day.  So, instead of going back home and crawling under those deliciously sweet covers, I went on a hike.

IT WAS AWESOME!

I haven't felt this good in years.  When I got home, I found myself ready to take on the challenges of the day, and energized.  Strangely more energized than if I had spent that same amount of time sleeping.  Everyone likes to say how our minds and body are interconnected, but it seems to me that very few people actually act on that knowledge.  Please, for yourself, DO.  The energy you bring back to your work, your projects, your life is astounding.  I am kicking myself for never having made the time to do this when I was working.  I am certain I would have been a more effective employee had I stopped to walk a half an hour in the morning before diving headlong into the insanity that is our modern fast paced software development process in Silicon Valley.

And I got to see cows.  And flowers.  Don't believe me.  Here, let me prove it:

So, in short, do yourself a favor.  Go on a walk.  You won't regret it.