Several months ago, two friends and I each got a Fitbit, a small sensor you clip to your clothes or wear around your wrist. It syncs with your mobile device and tells you how many steps you’ve taken, your mileage, exertion level and calories burned. It will even tell you how many hours you slept and whether or not you were restless while you were asleep!
My friends and I committed to walking 10,000 steps a day, which is equal to about 4 ½ miles. Before I bought this little device, I may have told you walking was my priority, that I really wanted to do another half-marathon and take another big hike, but I wasn’t doing it. Much to my surprise and delight, once I committed, I started doing it. I walk a couple of miles every morning, then look for ways to incorporate walking into my day: to and from the gym, a weekly breakfast meeting, to buy shoes, to get a manicure. I take the stairs whenever possible and make lunch dates at restaurants that are walking distance from my office. It’s almost become a game. Where can I walk today?
Those 10,000 steps have become a sine qua nonof my day – an essential part.
All of us have one or more things we keep meaning to do but we just don’t. Why? Because we have not made that thing a sine qua non, something we can’t live without.
Do you know YOUR Sine Qua Non? What is essential in your life that you may not be making time for:
- Exercising
- Meditating
- Reading for business
- Reading for pleasure
- Writing your book
- Spending time with your sweetheart
- Keeping a journal
- Tending your garden
- Entertaining
- Learning a new skill
Decide! Then just do it – a day at a time or a week at a time. After all, it is an essential part – your sine qua non.
Until next Tuesday. YIPPEE!
Elizabeth