First, a teaser. At the end of this post, you’ll get a chance to see Barry Gibb’s house on Miami Beach. Does anyone even remember Barry Gibb? He was in the Bee Gees. Do you remember the Bee Gees? Man, I’m getting old.
If the pictures aren’t showing up for you, click through. (There’s also a Bee Gees video you don’t want to miss!)
I’ve Got to Get a Message to You
Walking is good for you. I’m no scientist, but the scientists have decided that walking makes a fitness difference.
Even a two-minute walk is a step in the right direction.
Walking is an especially good thing compared to sitting at your desk. In fact, doing pretty much anything (like just standing up) is supposed to be better for you than sitting at your desk all day.
Odds are that you’re sitting right now, right? Did I catch you sitting? Sitting is the new smoking. According to the scientists, you might as well put a gun in your mouth as you sit there right now. You’re killing yourself!
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?
The solution? Walking. The more you walk, the healthier you’ll get. Moving is a good thing.
I’ve written all of the above to justify bragging about my walking. Here’s a screenshot of the iPhone record of a recent week of my walking. You’ll notice that I walked more than 100 miles that week (that’s more than 160 kilometers for you kilometer people). That’s a bunch of walking.
That week of walking more than 100 miles included a walk by Barry Gibb’s house. I’ve been wanting to see his house since I discovered that he lives on Miami Beach. I wondered whether I might bump into him as I strolled by and figured we’d do some “Jive Talkin‘.”
You Should Be Dancing
You should be walking too. Walking has significant benefits. It:
- improves fitness,
- enhances creativity,
- elevates your mood, and
- reduces your stress.
What’s not good about all of that?
Of course, living on Miami Beach makes walking pretty pleasant.
I get to look at views like this:
and like this:
and I see a never-ending stream of thong-bikini-clad women (whom I do not photograph).
But how do you find time to walk when you’re so busy working? Exactly. Do the walking while you’re working.
I do most of my walking while working. You can too. Here’s how to make it happen if you’d like to avoid death.
Love You Inside and Out
Walking tips:
- Phone calls are your best walking time. The best time for walking is when you’re on the phone. I do lots of long phone calls. I talk while I walk. That’s going to be my focus for helping you increase your steps. You can talk to clients and walk at the same time. I promise.
- Prepare for the calls. Be ready to walk when the calls start (that might mean you can walk all day). You’ll want to review your file before the call. You may need to jot down a few notes in advance. However, most calls can be done without any preparation.
- Make/take all calls on mobile phone only. Stop using your desktop phone (in fact, toss it out the window). Make all calls route to your mobile device so it’s easy for you to get up and go. Just assume you’re heading out when you connect.
- Put your earbuds in before the call. Be ready for unexpected calls. Have your earbuds in and connected to your phone. You’ll want to make it quick and easy to walk out the door.
- Wear a quick-drying shirt. Wear the right shirts for walking. You might sweat. You want a shirt that dries quickly. I have no idea what women should wear, but I’ve had great luck with dress shirts by Ministry of Supply. They look good and stay dry.
- Wear walking shoes. You’re going to need comfortable shoes that still look the part. Ecco works. They’re not incredibly ugly, and they’re very comfortable for walking, even when you’re dressed like a lawyer. They sell designs for men and women.
- Be ready for odor. You might return from an hour-long call/walk and stink. Be prepared with whatever you need to attack the odor. Keep it in the drawer ready to go.
- Carry a pad/pen. Have a pad and pen in your pocket. I use a tiny little Space Pen and a folded piece of paper. Sometimes you’ll have to take down a note during the call. Be prepared. Some lawyers take notes on their phone while talking. Do whatever works for you.
- Exit carefully. You need an advance plan for getting out of the building without disconnecting. That might involve a back stairwell. Do some tests and develop a route that permits your exit while maintaining a cell signal.
- Plan your route. You need a walking route without noisy traffic. My routes avoid busses, trucks, and Ferraris (incredibly common on South Beach). I have long routes when I know it’s a long call, and I go round and round certain nearby blocks when I’m not sure how long the call will last. Use standard routes and keep it simple. One of my current favorite paths is in Maurice Gibb Memorial Park—he was a member of the Bee Gees. Be sure the route is cell-phone-signal friendly.
- Plan for disconnect. Have a plan for who’s going to call whom in the event of disconnect. Decide at the outset of the call and make sure everyone involved knows what to do if the call is dropped.
- Get moving. There’s no reason not to walk while you talk. You can easily get an hour of client meetings done while talking each day. There’s nothing holding you back. Of course, if you don’t want to walk, you’ll come up with a good reason. It’ll be something like “I need my computer in front of me,” “They’ll hear noise in the background and it’ll be unprofessional,” or “I’ve got to be in the office in case…” Don’t make excuses. Just get moving.
That’s it. Go. Stop reading. Start walking and, before you go, here’s the picture I promised. This is the street side of Barry Gibb’s house. Sadly, there’s not much to see from this spot. The “front” is really the part facing Biscayne Bay, but the “back” is still impressive if you sneak up to the fence and peer in (which I did). However, you will need to get moving and walk on by if you want to see more of it for yourself.
Now get moving. I’ll see you on the sidewalk.
