Small Steps, In Either Direction
In 2020, I started walking. Intentionally, that is.
In the 2000s and early 2010s I had passively (though briskly) walked as part of my daily commute. Living in Chicago and using the train to get to work, I walked at least two miles a day. (1/2 mile to the train, 1/2 mile to the office, then the return trip. Rinse, and repeat.)
In 2013 we moved to St. Louis, and my activity level plummeted. But in 2020, I started walking yet again – with a goal of 2.0 miles per day (a nod to my old Chicago commute).
This year has been challenging for a whole host of reasons, and I assumed early on that I’d not be able to hit my annual 2.0 goal. But in the past few days I took a peek at at my average daily walking distance for the year (as tracked by my iPhone, which is not completely accurate, but it’s consistent, so it’s what I go with).
I was very pleasantly shocked.
1.9 miles per day.
So very, very close.
So of course I immediately had to know how many miles I need to walk between today and December 31 to achieve a 2.0 mile/day average for the year. After exporting this and converting that (the iHealth app should make this easy, but it does not) I came to the startling conclusion: to reach the goal of 2.0 miles average walked per day, I need to walk over four miles every day between now and the end of the year.
That’s … a lot of miles.
Right away, I started scanning the spreadsheet that so bluntly summarized my daily activity. Laid out in front of you after the fact, it’s easy to see where steps (literally) could have been taken.
While most days have 2+ miles logged, there’s the 0.4 on a Saturday this month. Or the 0.3 on a Sunday in November. Days like that sprinkled here and there throughout the year amount to a pretty sizable distance.
I know some of those days my activity level couldn’t have been increased even if I wanted it to be – that’s just reality. But on other days, I know I just didn’t feel like it.
It wasn’t a decision as much as it was a delay – a deferral. A non-decision, decision. Honestly, it didn’t seem like it mattered.
I certainly did not wake up on any of those days and actively think to myself that not walking that day would mean that I would have to make up those miles later. That’s partly because, as I’ve already mentioned, at the beginning of the year I thought there was no way I’d be even close to a 2.0 – let alone a 1.9 – average. Frankly, if my average distance was 1.5 miles/day, I’d not even be thinking about any of this.
It’s a funny thing about being just close enough to your goal, isn’t it?
It makes you review the decisions that you made – the little tiny ones that seemed so insignificant at the time that they could barely even be considered decisions.
Any one of those sub-2 mile days was no big deal on its own. Some were no doubt important days of rest. But the sum of all of them together means that hitting my target average for the year is going to require a Herculean push here at the end.
And had I made the decision to get up off the couch and walk two miles on four or five of those days, I’d be much, much closer to my goal.
So as I was reflecting on my cumulative mileage needs this morning, I realized it’s a good illustration of the importance of goal setting, progress tracking, and the impact of the millions of small steps we take – or don’t take – each year.
It is hard to make up for lost time. (And, in my case, distance.) Taking smaller, do-able actions regularly, and early on, means you aren’t faced with an insurmountable task later – when there’s not much time or space to do anything about it.
We’re heading into yet another election year. There are a kazillion things that need to happen between now and Election Day 2024. We don’t have to wait until summer to do them. In fact, the steps that we take early on in the year will reap outsized rewards come November, when the tasks we’ve already banked give us time to work on other urgent items. (I trust that there will be no shortage of urgent items.)
So as we close out 2023, let’s look at what we want to accomplish in 2024 and start banking those miles (err… tasks) early in the year. Let’s do what we can now to make our goals easier, not harder, to achieve.
In the meantime, as you know me, you already know that I will be trying to hit this completely arbitrary 2.0 mile daily walk average. I’ll update you next week on how it’s going.
On that note, please excuse me. I’m going for a walk.
Let’s get to work.
Actions for the Week of December 19, 2023
Support This Spectacular Loser
We hear all the time about those races that are on a knife’s edge. But the unsung heroes are those folks who are running in gerrymandered “unwinnable” districts – even though they are nearly certain to lose. As you know, I’ve made it my mission to support those nominees because I think it’s essential that we contest races everywhere, especially in “unwinnable” districts (Blue Missouri, Blue Ohio, and Blue Texas are all focused on this issue and fund first those nominees that have the least, from the bottom up – you can and should join to make sure every Democratic nominee has support in 2024).
To my total delight, a Democratic state senate nominee is running on the fact she’s in an unwinnable district. Kate Barr is running for North Carolina Senate. As her website URL makes clear: https://www.katebarrcantwin.com/ it’s more than a long shot proposition. But that’s beside the point. As she says:
District 37 is so gerrymandered that I don’t stand a chance. But we deserve to have two names on the ballot.
If I’m going to lose, we might as well have a little fun, raise a little hell, and shine a light on the impacts of gerrymandering along the way.
Get in losers, we’re (not) going to the Senate.
Kate Barr is my spirit animal.
This is a video to watch. Go to https://www.katebarrcantwin.com/!
Thank Candidates For Running
I do love a good thank you note… don’t you? Markers For Democracy is taking that to a new level by creating a program thanking candidates for running in some of the toughest districts. If you believe we should have candidates running in every district (see Kate Barr’s website above!) then this is a great project for you.
From Markers for Democracy:
As our friend, David Pepper, reminds us, “Running for office IS public service. Especially so when lack of accountability & competition is fueling extremism all over.”
Running in an election is hard work and especially difficult if you don’t win your race. Join us in thanking the candidates who had a tough Election Day for their effort, commitment & public service. These candidates presented voters with a choice, lifted turnout, and informed debate. Especially where the race was not close, these candidates stepped up, brought accountability, and waged a battle that needed to be waged and that few people were willing to take on.
Let’s recognize this particularly patriotic & essential form of public service by thanking candidates for their service by sending them heartfelt handwritten thank you postcards. Request thank you note template(s) & addresses HERE.
Postcard Projects With Activate America
Activate America has some excellent postcarding opportunities:
New York: Tom Suozzi is the NY Democrat running for George Santos’s seat – he held it for 6 years before he left to run for governor. Activate America will be alerting voters to this “pop-up” election and boosting name recognition Suozzi. Cards need to be mailed as you complete them and by Feb. 3 at the latest.
Arizona: Support Gallego for Senate and share Democratic accomplishments on cutting prescription drug costs! Democrats passed a cap on insulin costs for seniors covered by Medicare and lowered costs of other prescription drugs. While 83% of Americans support this policy, only 29% know it happened. Write to infrequent Democratic voters to make sure they know Ruben Gallego helped lower the costs of prescriptions and will continue to fight for better health care in the US Senate. Please mail these postcards within 3 weeks of receiving the materials.
Reproductive rights – California: Reach out to pro-choice voters who have not voted in recent elections to make sure they know that abortion rights are in danger everywhere when Republicans control Congress. Top priorities in California: the seats held by Republican Congressmen David Valadao (CA-22), Ken Calvert (CA-41) and Mike Garcia (CA-27). These are seats we can flip to help take back Congress in 2024. Please mail postcards as you complete them, and within 3 weeks of receiving the materials.
Nevada: Re Elect Senator Rosen! Write to Democratic leaning independent voters under 50 years old to make sure they know that Senator Rosen has brought well paying jobs and clean tech industry to Nevada. Reaching out early to these voters, who often are not contacted by other campaigns, not only will help us hold the Senate but can also get them to the polls to support Democrats up and down the ticket. Please mail postcards as you complete them, and within 3 weeks of receiving the materials.
Go here to request addresses from Activate America: https://www.activateamerica.vote/postcards?sourceid=1041199&emci=cd333799-f51e-ec11-981f-0050f271a1a2&emdi=f6a09605-fe1e-ec11-981f-0050f271a1a2&ceid=6122232
Every Letter Matters!
Hat tip to the wonderful Susan Rogan of Rogan’s List for highlighting this data presentation from Vote Forward. This is a recording, and it’s well worth your time to listen to the data-backed presentation. Take a listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV3jJ_9aWQc
WHEW! GO TEAM!
P.S.: Why don’t you make someone’s day and send this pep talk to a friend or two? I bet they need it.
If you’d like to sign up to get this pep talk and action list in your in-box each week, you can do that here. Welcome, friend!
P.P.S.: If you want to help support this work you can do so via Patreon at
https://www.patreon.com/smalldeedsdone or via paypal at https://www.paypal.me/smalldeeds
My deepest gratitude in advance.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for writing. I read and respond to every email! We’re in this together. Don’t you forget it.