Sacrificing your health for work is not admirable.

It’s a surefire way to an early grave.

And if not an early grave, then a life that’s less than you could have imagined.

A life where people don’t want to be around you because of your erratic moods.

A life where you have no energy for your favourite things.

Anxiety that’s always humming in the background.

A body that hurts whenever you take a step.

Your mind isn’t as sharp or focused.

Stress that keeps you up at night.

I almost fell into the trap of letting work become my life.

Between working full-time, studying for my honours and writing online, I had little time to do anything.

I either had to wake up early to go to the gym and train.

Or stay up really late to finish assignments because I went to the gym after work.

This routine lasted a few months before it became unsustainable and strenuous.

On top of that, I was having issues with my gym and considered switching to another gym.

So I cancelled my membership, and with the free time, I had more time to sleep and chill.

(Most of it went to work and studying, but at least I had the option to chill guilt-free if I chose to).

I thought giving up my health for work and extra free time was okay.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The first two weeks were okay.

I had more time to sleep and immediately thought I’d solved my problems.

But the weeks that followed had something else in store for me.

The temporary energy I gained vanished.

I was tired and lethargic a lot.

I tried sleeping more, but even when I had 9 hours in bed, I still woke up tired.

The longer I went without the gym or any kind of training, the more negatives I attracted.

Soon, my body started to ache, and I’d have to do a stretching routine to help relieve the pain.

I was also losing strength and muscle size.

I felt ‘deflated’, which didn’t help my self-image and confidence.

Not only did my self-image take a hit, but I was more irritable and struggled to regulate my mood.

And if I wasn’t regulating it with music or TV, it was food, which only had one place to go on my body: fat cells.

Between the increased food intake and fatigue, my mind took a hit as well.

It was harder for me to focus or think clearly and come up with ideas.

This made everything harder: work, studying and writing.

It was clear I was headed down a path that wasn’t aligned with my desired life.

Sacrificing my health for more free time and work was not the answer.

Something had to change.

And it needed to change fast.

I needed to move my body.

Realising that movement was a non-negotiable for me, I decided to go back to the gym.

I renewed my membership for two reasons:

But I was back at square one with training times: early mornings or late nights.

Instead of jumping back into my old routine, I decided to start slow.

I settled on training during the weekend with my sister.

But as with anything, you can't make progress if you're doing something at low volumes.

Any progress I made during the week disappeared during the week.

This is obvious if you’re training for 2 days and then doing nothing for 5 days.

I was stuck and running out of options.

Part of me felt defeated, and it seemed that early morning and after-work sessions were the only way out.

But the Universe had other plans for me.

And those plans came in the form of a tweet from Dan Koe:

The Universe works in mysterious (marvellous) ways.

So that’s exactly what I did.

I went on a walk.

And then more walks.

And more walks for longer.

And it was the best thing I could have done for myself.

The obvious reason I started walking was to increase my physical health and movement.

Research shows that sitting for extended periods of time increases health risks.

According to Mayo Clinic, sitting more than 8 hours a day "had a risk of dying similar to smoking and obesity".

Sitting for so long wreaks havoc on your joints and muscles, leading to mobility issues.

For many in the workplace, work keeps you inside and glued to your screens and desks. This means you’re not getting sunlight or fresh air.

We stay in positions that not only our ancestors didn’t spend much time in, but we as children didn’t either.

Even when we went to high school, we’d spend 45 - 50 minutes seated before the bell rang, and we’d get up to walk to the next class.

There are reports that more people in their 20s and 30s are experiencing back pain and joint-related issues. Issues that were commonly seen in older adults.

Sure, engaging in some kind of physical activity is better than nothing. But 1 - 2 hours a day is not enough to make up for the long hours of sitting.

Walking is the most natural and easily accessible form of movement. It's one of the core skills you learn as an infant, and it sticks with you for life.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the recommended physical activity for adults (aged 18 - 64) is at least:

Translated to walking, that would be ~21 mins walking 7 days a week or 30 mins walking 5 days a week at a brisk pace.

If you only get up to go to the bathroom, get a cup of coffee, or do chores around your house, you’re nowhere near 10k steps. (Not that I’m saying you should aim for that).

But walking 15 to 20 minutes a day, which gives you an extra 1,500 to 2,500 steps a day, will benefit you greatly.

Walking daily was a really effective way for me to stay active during the week, and slowly trim off the fat. Once I got into a routine at the gym, all that extra weight stood no chance.

If you want to build your walking habit, but you’re short on time, here are times I’d recommend scheduling them:

If you care about maximising your strength, you can wear a weighted vest. Or pack a bunch of books in a backpack that you carry around when you walk.

The added weight helps strengthen your bones and joints. This is important if you want to be healthy and mobile on your own in your 70’s and 80’s.

Additionally, you can take these walks outside. Not only will the fresh air do you a lot of good, but exposure to light will help in regulating your circadian rhythm. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is a region in your brain responsible for regulating your sleep-wake cycle. By taking morning and evening walks and exposing your eyes and brain to natural light, the SCN can then sync hormone release for sleep and alertness.

When you do start going on more walks, you might be tempted to grab your earphones and listen to some music. But I encourage you to do something else during that time.

Use the walking time to learn.

Instead of listening to your favourite artist’s new album, listen to a podcast, an audiobook, a lecture or an educational video.

Not only are you surrounded by fewer distractions on your walk, but your brain and body are actually primed for learning while you walk.

When you walk, you fall into a rhythm of walking where you lean left and right. This motion is called bilateral stimulation.

Bilateral stimulation refers to activities requiring both sides of the body (left and right) to work together in a coordinated manner, essential for motor control, brain integration, and balance. It strengthens the corpus callosum, enhancing cognitive function and emotional regulation.

Walking is one of the most basic and powerful ways to activate bilateral activation. Walking is not only a great time to learn more but also a great time for problem-solving and greater creativity.

I wish I could tell you the number of walks that led to breakthroughs in problems I was facing or that led to greater ideas for my writing and work.

But don’t just take it from me.

This has been seen in so many of the greatest minds and creators as well. In his book, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, Mason Currey explores the routines of many of the famous artists and creative figures. Many of whom took long walks as part of their daily routines, undoubtedly leading to some of their most famous works.

Some of them include:

Walking helps improve cognitive function, and it would be a waste for you not maximise it.

It’s a great time for learning, accessing greater creativity and problem-solving.

So if you’re stuck on a problem or experiencing writer’s block, get up and take a walk.

The most surprising benefit of walking was how much it improved my mental health.

Sure, I knew that exercise and physical movement played huge roles in my mental health and emotional well-being (as per my experiences in 2019, 2020 and last year), but I never considered how ‘small’ the dosage could be.

Once I got into a routine of walking daily, I noticed that whenever I got stressed, lethargic or overwhelmed, my default became to take a walk. My mood was always better after a walk, and if I was overthinking, my mind was always clearer after the walk.

And so I researched what was happening.

Dr Andrew Huberman talks about optic flow. Optic flow is the visual experience of the world moving past you as you move through space. This experience has an active effect on your brain.

The forward movement, also known as “forward ambulation”, has a direct calming effect on your amygdala — the part of your brain responsible for processing your emotions and controlling the ‘flight-fight’ stress response.

So as you walk, you fall into a steady, predictable rhythm of seeing objects move past you. And as you move, this helps quiet the neural activity in your amygdala, which then lowers your baseline anxiety.

And as someone with anxiety, I could immediately tell the difference in my anxiety levels before and after I formed my walking habit.

Research also shows this isn’t limited only to walking.

Any motion where you are moving forward, i.e. riding a bike, creates this visual flow pattern that acts like a reset button for your nervous system.

Remember the bilateral stimulation we discussed earlier—the left-right rhythm of walking that enhances cognitive function and emotional regulation?

That same mechanism is also used therapeutically in EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing). A psychotherapy that helps people process difficult emotions and traumatic memories.

When you walk, you're getting both the bilateral stimulation from your alternating steps and the optic flow from moving forward through space. These two mechanisms work together, creating a powerful one-two punch for mental clarity and emotional wellness.

So you can think of your walks as a kind of therapy (not that it should negate or deter you from seeking professional therapy).

I know it seems dramatic and exaggerated when someone says one habit changed their life, but there are so many incredible things that happen when one takes daily walks (especially outside) that it doesn’t feel like an exaggeration:

One simple activity with so many incredible benefits.

Between the industrial revolution and the accelerated growth of technology and AI, we’re moving less than ever.

We have washing machines to do our laundry.

We can order food to our doorsteps.

Vacuum robots to clean our floors

And endless entertainment at our fingertips.

Most people are on their bums and backs (sitting and sleeping) more than they are on their feet. And this goes against our very nature and health.

Sure, one hour of exercise is better than nothing, but if you want:

You need to get moving.

And make movement your default.

Building the habit of walking 15 minutes a day is a great place to start.

I’m sure that as you start experiencing some of these benefits for yourself, you’ll be eager to walk more and potentially walk for an hour or so.

(This is where I’m at now.)

Whenever I notice my thoughts spiralling, my stress building or creativity stalling, I don’t try to think my way out of it.

I don't reach for my phone or try to distract myself.

I put on my shoes and walk.

Ten minutes into the walk, I can feel my thoughts beginning to untangle.

Twenty minutes in, problems that felt overwhelming start to seem manageable.

By the time I return, I’m not just calmer, I’m clearer.

I can see solutions I couldn’t access while sitting at my desk, stewing in the problem.

This has become my favourite tool for brain, body and work performance.

Simple movement.

Putting one foot in front of the other.

The barrier to entry is almost zero, and the return on investment is infinite.

All you need to do is start.

Thank you for reading.

I hope you enjoyed it.

See you in the next one.

— Shana