Reflection: All It Takes Is 10,000 Steps

This is one of those conscious check in moments. As time flourishes like a budding rose, I sit here reflecting on the path I have walked over the last 3 weeks. There have been changes, challenges, knockdowns, and a big WIN!

I want to start with the Big WIN! My beloved Spirit Animal Ally; Mystic Magick Cat (look him up on Instagram) does not like leaving the cosmic castle within which he dwells. He feels safe here so when there is a vet trip or a fire alarm - he is generally not willing to travel. The fire alarm has caused me anxiety for in the event of a real emergency, he runs and hides in small unaccessible places.

Today...we had a fire alarm. I live in an industrial building so these alarms are really loud and disruptive. I hear them go off in the building before they trigger in my apartment, brace for impact both audible decibles and the scramble to try and whisp Mr. Magick to safety. Being part feral, it's dangerous like wrangling a jungle jaguar. He is wild, quick, smart, and willing to defend. By the luck of the draw, or maybe relationship growth, today I quickly closed the bedroom door so he couldn't run in. Instead he ran under the couch. Like the Hulk I threw the couch aside, moved the computer desk, grabbed his harness and attempted to put it on. Part successful. I gave up and went full body over him, pulled him up and put him to the front of his carrier which he miraculously went IN with EASE! I closed the door in complete gratitude. We went outside. He was trembling, BUT if there was a real event - I knew he was safe. He trusted me... TODAY! It was a huge relief. Thankfully, it was not a real incident. After the fire alarm, I took him up to the roof where he seemed to calm down. My thinking was that maybe if I took him somewhere pleasant, he wouldn't associate the cat carrier with the vet and fire alarms only. When we came back into the apartment, he adjusted into the space after inspecting it and got comfortable relatively quickly. It felt like a HUGE bonding moment as he has never trusted me to sweep him away to safety. This was the win. It gave me hope.

SHIFTING GEARS

Along all paths, it is imperative to check the flight path. To where are you headed? Is it where you intended to go?

When something is working and the change is not evident, it's common to find oneself "trying to figure it out" or waiting for "clarity" before taking the next step. "I don't know what to do." There is so much care and attention to taking the "right step". What if there is no RIGHT Step? What if the "right step" is the one that invokes movement and follows the wrong step, which follows.... A STEP!

BUZZ WORDS: Get your 10,000 steps in daily. Are you actually doing that? I had notable people tell me that 10,000 steps is the miracle number to solve issues. Whose counting? Oh, right... your phone. So, walk, jog for 5 miles a day. Make excuses, procrastinate all you want, however when it comes down to the grind - it's you with yourself getting to hold yourself accountable to take some action whether you want to or not.

Look: Not doing because you are not inspired or don't want to - is the same as purposeless doing to distract and avoid. One is getting you no where but where you are - and that may be the purpose. While the other is taking you on side quests, which also may be what is necessary. At some point though, the opportunity is to be honest with yourself. What are you doing, why, what direction are you heading?

MAKE IT COUNT

In thinking about this, 10,000 steps, I wondered where does 10,000 steps get me. I started walking. This gets me 5 miles at 3.5 miles per hour on foot. I decided to begin my day this way and found that I was looking forward to the daily mini urban adventure. I befriended a family of stray cats down by the river that I am now attempting to find a rescue for. Work in progress.

MINDSET

I had fallen behind on my blog posts, stopped posting content, and had given into the comfort of snuggling with Mr. Magick Cat, who is good at snuggles and love. It's hard to resist and why would I. I did notice that when it came to the areas of speaking, communicating, and writing as a creative practice I was starting to go into a withdrawn silent phase. In plain terms, this means I was overthinking and allowing the creative energy to get stuck within me rather than move and have expression.

• Before coaching clients, I talked myself out of making and posting speaking content.

• After coaching clients, I talked myself out of creating and posting writing content.

• I never stopped showing up for myself = journaling

  
  

When it comes to making and posting content, I would tell myself that I have nothing to say. Even though, I could open my journal and write. The reality is that it can be easy to avoid doing the work to convert the energy into expression and was hiding behind a journal that allowed me to write whatever I wanted yet did not hold me accountable to an outcome. I have 30 years of journals spinning the same loop. This contributes to creative energy stagnation, overthinking, getting stuck in thoughts, or distracting the self with cat snuggles or podcasts. Cat snuggles and podcasts are not inherently bad, the issue is that they are being used to avoid doing the work of energy conversion. It's different when I post content.

Limiting Beliefs:

1. Limited Time: Cat snuggles and podcasts vs Speaking and writing. There is time for all of it. Perhaps it is not an either or but a both and.

2. "I Don't Have Anything to Say", "I Don't Know What I Want to Say." Waiting for the AHA! Rather than waiting for the epiphany moment, consider building to the key message by sharing the message snippets and letting the audience go along on the journey too. Perhaps it is about speaking from the abstract unkown and allowing the message to come together vs planning it in advance.

3. Perfection Expectations: Waiting for inspiration/motivation and thinking of writing and speaking as a task vs a creative practice. Perfection and mastery come from putting in the reps. If I am not practicing, then I am not going to arrive at mastery. Inspiration and motivation build from taking small steps. Sometimes we are gifted with a burst of inspiration which fuels us forward, however many artists and creative people know that there are lulls in creation where nothing happens because there is no inspiration. It becomes a waiting game. This is flawed thinking. These lulls are times where it is imperative to practice the craft and keep doing the reps.

   
   

   TIP: Identify small, easy, baby steps to take in low motivation moments knowing that it's infinitely harder to push the practice forward when motivation is low. These are fundamental moments. The inner critic wants mastery. Challenging moments require inner fortitude and perseverance to forge the sword of mastery. This is where most people fall off course. They wait, stop, distract themself, make excuses, or hide behind the practice never holding themself accountable to growth.

This is where the 10,000 steps comes in. Yes. It is imperative to start with 1 small step. That alone is a good start. However, it will not take you anywhere. We know that when making changes early, small wins increase the likelihood of forward momentum and achieving goals. So, what would happen if you committed to 10,000 practice steps daily?

The first day after my walk, I noticed my mood had shifted and I had more energy through the day. The second day, I noticed my body felt more agile. The third day, I was exploring the environment and getting curious about the route. The fourth day, I was looking forward to it. The fifth day, it was transferring into other areas of life. I started to consider, what is the equivalent of 10,000 steps in my writing and speaking practice.

The first step, change my mindset to thinking of it as a practice rather than expecting it to be a perfectly crafted well thought out message with an intended destination. The second step, make it simple. What is the bare minimum I could commit to and stay consistent with even when all forces are trying to stop me from doing it.

Third step, how will I take responsibility and hold myself accountable.

The 10,000 steps? Commit to make some form of a post daily, a blog post monthly, regardless of who reads it, how perfect it is, or how many likes it gets. It is NOT about that. It IS about PRACTICE. Taking the 10,000 steps. This is how to walk ourselves toward mastery, one step at a time while staying consistent.

Let's put this in perspective! If someone takes 1 step a day, it would take 27.4 years to get to 10,000 steps. If you do something every day for 27.4 years, you are likely going to be quite skilled in it. Of course, what and how one practices is important. A skill can be practiced with incorrect technique and in 27 years someone will have mastered sloppy technique. The reality of this is, that they would still be far better than most in that most do not stick with things that long. It is less about how good you are at it now. It is more about your commitment to take the steps and stick with it.

The whole point that I am making here is that thinking about things has it's place. When the rubber meets the road, it's action that determines whether you arrive at your destination and have a fun journey or 27 years later look back wishing you would have.

WHAT ARE YOU PRACTICING

What is it that you are doing daily, over and over again because whatever it is, that is what you are perfecting. IS IT WHAT YOU INTEND TO BE PERFECTING? If not, change it. Do not spend any energy repeating what you do not want to grow.

I hear from clients, "When I am more consistent, I will..." My reply: Consistency doesn't just happen, it comes from building reps. What will you begin doing now to develop the consistency that you seek? You get to choose your interval of consistency just as much as you get to define your 10,000 steps. What is the equivalent of walking 5 miles a day in your life? This will take the average person 1.5 - 2 hours depending on walking speed. In perspective, what actions can you take in a 1.5 hour time frame that you want to practice? Also, what are you doing in a 1.5 hour time frame that you do not want to keep practicing?

• Responsibility is the obligation to complete a task.

• Accountability is being answerable for the final outcome of that task..

The idea here is to leave enough flexibiity so that you are more likely to follow through as well as not too much in that the boundaries are easily bent leaving you feeling discouraged and confused.

CHALLENGES AND KNOCK DOWNS

There will be challenges along the way and here is my reflection on this. I started with sharing the WIN and offered you some points to contemplate regarding the changes I made and what led to those changes as well as how I responded to them. The reason I left the challenges and knockdowns for the end:

The changes outweighed the challenges.

I recall the changes and my responses to them as well as the good feeling from the effort, while barely able to recount the challenges and knock downs that seemed potent then. In the big picture, the challenge ends up being irrelevant. The 10,000 steps are what have lasting power

You could take 1 step a day for 27 years to get to 10,000 or 10,000 steps a day for 27 years and would have taken 98,550,000 steps. So whether it is steps, words written, notes played, conversations had, whatever your craft....just start and keep taking some action. It is inevitable and something will grow from your effort.

It is my intention that this has been insightful and wisdom provoking for you journey.

In Peace and Resonance,

Sequoia Rose