A neighbor was preparing to go walking on a frigid day. “Gotta get my steps in,” she said.
The idea of 10,000 steps has been ingrained in people’s minds as the benchmark for exercise. It’s specific and measurable, and as a result, it has helped many people engage in more fitness activity than they otherwise would have.
Other entities that want to affect behavioral change would be wise to emulate the 10,000 steps idea. It is so much more concrete than “exercise,” which leaves it to the person to guess whether they have done enough or even more than yesterday. If you could track calories as seamlessly and painlessly as you can track steps, I believe people would eat much less.
How can you define the behavior you desire in a defined and trackable way? The more you can help people know and monitor their progress, the more likely you are that their competitive nature will kick in and they will overcome the headwinds to accomplish their goal.
